From
Broadcastnow.co.uk
ITV has axed Norfolk based drama Kingdom, after three series on the commercial broadcaster.
The news was revealed by lead actor Stephen Fry on his blog and twitter feed this morning.
He said: “Our masters at ITV have decided that there shan’t be a fourth series of the television series Kingdom. I am sorry because it was such a pleasure making them in my beloved Norfolk. I am sorry because the crew of mostly local East Anglians was so cheerful, professional and delightful to work with.”
Fry also paid tribute to “the cast of local people who cheerfully subjected themselves to the indignities of a background artist’s day”.
“They will all be missed and their memories cherished. It was a charming and cheerful experience for us all. I am lucky to live there much of the time – for the rest of the Kingdom cast and crew it will be a sad farewell that was never properly said.”
ITV has this year axed several long running dramas including Wire in the Blood while “resting” production on The Royal, Heartbeat and Taggart. It also axed tea-time dinosaur drama Primeval, but reversed the decision last week following an innovative funding model offer by indie Impossible Pictures.
The last series of Kingdom ended in July, with an average of 5m viewers (20.1%) for the series. Just under 5.2m tuned in for the final episode.
An ITV spokesman said: “Kingdom has performed well for us over the last three years but we will not be developing any further episode. As has always been the case, we are constantly looking at ways to refresh the mix of drama on ITV1 to ensure that we get the balance right between both old and new titles.”
