Being Human, BBC Three’s award winning and critically-acclaimed drama series, will return for a fifth series.

The unconventional trio of a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost will live on as six more sixty-minute episodes, commissioned for BBC Three next year.

Creator and Exec Producer Toby Whithouse is keeping plans closely under wraps, but he can confirm that werewolf Tom (Michael Socha) and vampire Hal (Damien Molony) will return.

The first confirmation was broadcast at the end of the series 4 finale last night (25th March). Over on the Being Human Blog an official video was released to announce officially the departure Of Annie, played by Lenora Crichlow.

“Sometimes, you have to just respect that a story [and] a character has come to a natural end,” said Whithouse. “Lenora completely understood that and completely agreed with it.”

Crichlow added: “I don’t know if there’s much more for her to do, if I’m honest. [But] I really will miss playing Annie – she’s such a fantastic character to play.”

Toby says: “Being Human lives on! The response to series four has been terrific. We’re thrilled that the audience has taken the new cast into their hearts with such enthusiasm and affection and we’re delighted to have this opportunity to expand their world further, exploring new characters and telling new stories. A heartfelt thank-you to all the fans for their unstinting support and to the BBC for letting us mess up the sandpit for a fifth year.”

Zai Bennet, Controller of BBC Three, says: “In Being Human, Toby has created an extraordinary, funny, touching, supernatural world and I’m thrilled to be bringing it back for a fifth series.”

Series four launched with 1.2m viewers and consolidated figures show the series has sustained an average 950,000 viewers across the run.

Rob Pursey, Executive Producer, Touchpaper Television says: “When we first made the pilot episode for Being Human we knew we had something special. But we didn’t dream we’d be making a fifth series. It’s a testament to the ambition of the writing and the performances that it’s stayed so fresh. We’re very grateful to the BBC for continuing to support a drama that doesn’t play by the usual rules.”

Being Human is written by Toby Whithouse (Torchwood, Doctor Who) and Executive Producers are Toby Whithouse, Rob Pursey, and Philip Trethowan.

Being Human will return in 2013.