The award-winning VisionTV production team is gearing up to launch new seasons of the original signature series 360 Vision and Credo.

Season four of 360 Vision, the multi-faith network's flagship current affairs series, will air o­n Thursdays, starting Oct. 6, at 10 p.m. ET. (The show repeats o­n Mondays, starting Oct. 10 at 10 p.m. ET.) VisionTV will produce 32 episodes this season, with a new look and a new half-hour format.

Sadia Zaman, VisionTV's Director, In-House Production, said 360 Vision will build o­n its strengths to deliver a weekly magazine program that is more provocative and challenging than ever.

Last season, the 360 Vision team broke several national news stories, including the birth of a controversial union drive among United Church of Canada clergy. Zaman said the show will continue to resist "pack" journalism and pursue its own original stories.

Said Zaman: "It's our aim to be a program of record: a definitive weekly examination of the way Canadians today are experiencing faith and spirituality. More than that, we want to be the best current affairs show in this country - period."

In addition to producing more original stories, 360 Vision will introduce a new feature called "The Heretics": a series of full-edition interviews with prominent figures from different faiths who are challenging religious orthodoxies - among them Mexican liberation theologian Bishop Samuel Ruiz and American Muslim activist Asra Nomani.

Returning features include commentaries by Marianne Meed Ward and a weekly look at spirituality in popular culture.

Said 360 Vision Senior Producer John Scully: "Viewers who tune in this season will see a dynamic show with polish and professionalism, dedicated to revealing important truths about spirituality in contemporary Canadian society."

Credo, a weekly series in which prominent Canadians open up about the spiritual and moral values that have shaped their lives, launches its fourth season o­n Mondays, starting Oct. 10, at 10 p.m. ET. Confirmed guests include politician Svend Robinson, journalist and diplomat Pamela Wallin, chef Susur Lee and opera sensation Measha Brueggergosman.

The half-hour program, taped at VisionTV's studio facility, will maintain its hostless format, to preserve the feeling of an intimate conversation between guest and viewer.

Said Credo Senior Producer Kevin O'Keefe: "We believe the format is o­ne of the show's great strengths. Our guests are talking about deeply personal issues - often for the first time o­n camera. It's important to give them the space to think out loud, to give shape to feelings and ideas that can be difficult to articulate. I can't think of another Canadian program that does this."