Homeland season 6 will focus on a female president, won't be based on Hilary Clinton

Claire Danes described the character as a 'composite' of all the current candidates

(Stephan Rabold/SHOWTIME)

Following the bombshell that 2015 will be a Homeland-less year, details of the upcoming sixth season have manifested via Carrie Mathison herself, Claire Danes.

It's emerged that the next instalment of the US drama will focus on a female president-elect, continuing in the past few seasons' knack of echoing current affairs.

Regarding the real-life presidential race, in which Hilary Clinton is the official Democratic nomination, Danes described the character to EW as 'a composite of all of the different candidates' adding: "[She's] kind of - not rebellious necessarily - but she’s challenging norms and is a little threatening for that reason.”

The new season, set in New York, will pick up a matter of months after the climax of season five and will comprise the days between the election and the president's inauguration. There is currently no word on who will play the character but it'll no doubt provide an actor with one meaty role prime for awards success.

Alongside the news that Homeland's sixth season has been pushed back by four months, Showtime has renewed the series for a further two seasons meaning it'll be on-air until 2019 at least.

The series debuted in the States in 2011 (it originally aired in the UK the following February) earning rave reviews for its depiction of Claire Danes' CIA officer Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis), a U.S. marine she suspects is working for al-Quaeda.