BBC axes major soap after 23 years where countless big names started out
Doctors has been axed after 23 years on the BBC, with its final airing date already being confirmed.
The BBC medical drama has been on our screens since 2000, regularly taking the lunchtime slot, but the show will now be no more. Showrunner Kate Oates has promised the programme will get the finale it deserves.
This latest bank of episodes being filmed will be the last, as the show is said to be no longer affordable in the BBC's budget for daytime. Filming will end in March 2024, with the final episodes set to air in December.
In a statement, the BBC said: "We have taken the very difficult decision to bring daytime drama Doctors to an end after 23 years. With super inflation in drama production, the cost of the programme has increased significantly, and further investment is also now required to refurbish the site where the show is made, or to relocate it to another home.
The show has been axed (BBC/Kieron McCarron)"With a flat licence-fee, the BBC’s funding challenges mean we have to make tough choices in order to deliver greater value to audiences. We remain fully committed to the West Midlands and all of the funding for Doctors will be reinvested into new programming in the region. We would like to thank all the Doctors cast and crew who have been involved in the show since 2000."
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Promising they will continue to support new talent, they added: "We know the crucial role Doctors has played in nurturing talent, and we will work to develop new opportunities to support skills in scripted programming. The final episode will screen in December 2024 and we are working closely with BBC Studios to give it the finale it deserves."
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Doctors follows the story of those who work in the NHS doctor's surgery and nearby university campus surgery in the fictional town of Letherbridge in the West Midlands. The drama followed the lives of those on the front line as well as their families and friends.
Known for its huge host of guest stars, Doctors has always had a great number of extras, including some famous faces before they made it big. Series producer Peter Eryl Lloyd had once estimated that they have over 800 guest stars on the drama in one year.
Fans had long suspected the show might be cut when it went on its usual summer break even earlier this year. Back in June, they confirmed the show would be off air again until Monday 4th September." One viewer had wrote at the time: "This is madness!! It’s getting earlier each year? You always used to break in July when Wimbledon started. Why so early? I fear this may be headed for the chop," as a second added: "Why does this have to happen? I get stop for the tennis but goodness start back in August!"
Fans will be devastated to see the soap axedSources have told The Sun of the 'seismic' effect the end of the drama will have on the industry: "Doctors has ticked along fairly quietly around the 1.3million viewers mark for years now without any word of cancellation, but the news will still come as a shock. A full cast and crew meeting was held today where the news was shared and then a lunch was laid on in the Drama Village café.
"Some of the cast and crew have been there since the soap first began and it really felt like a job for life, plus the soap is such a central pillar for the entire community - it employs so many contractors and freelance and is known to be a real rung on the ladders for British acting talent. While the impact on viewers might not seem huge, in terms of the industry this is seismic."
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