Tuesday, May 17, 2011

‘There’s been a murder’, ITV axes popular TV show Taggart, the show that made Mark McManus a cult star of police drama!













Dear All

‘There’s been a murder’!

Broadcaster ITV has axed the popular Scottish police drama Taggart.

Taggart developed a cult following with its star Mark McManus during his 11 year stint before he passed away.

A good solid character actor, it was his show all the way.

ITV unfortunately decided not to commission any further series of STV's flagship drama for the ITV network.

Taggart had a good run but like all shows, its time has passed despite a decent cast following on from Mark McManus.

The series sees DCI Matt Burke, played by Alex Norton, head up investigations into crime in Glasgow.

Murder!

The latest series of the hit show premiered on STV last year and had a decent average 33% of audience share.

A spokeswoman for STV confirmed the decision not to commission any further series of the drama.

She said:

"STV is exploring a range of options for Taggart with a number of broadcasters.

"We are committed to the brand and recognise the continuing popularity of this long-running series."

A spokesman for the show's distributor DRG said:

"Taggart is a hugely-popular series internationally.

"For example, it is aired across three different TV channels in Australia and the most recent seasons have achieved their best reception yet.

"It's our shared ambition to return Taggart to UK screens and we can confirm we're currently working closely with STV as we explore options to achieve this."

Ironically, it could be the reception that Taggart receives abroad that might one day sees a return of the gritty crime drama to the small screen.

‘There’s been a murder’!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

No comments: