BBC axes 'Survivors'

The sci-fi drama will go, while insiders claim 'Doctors' is next...

09:56 14 April 2010

The post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama 'Survivors' has been axed by the BBC after two seasons.

Falling ratings was the reasoning behind the choice to drop the 21st century version of the 1970s cult show, which was originally created by Doctor Who writer Terry Nation.

The ratings for 'Survivors' dropped during its recent run to just 4.4m viewers. The first run opened to nearly 7m viewers.

A BBC spokeswoman confirmed: "The BBC is committed to making a broad range of varied and ambitious drama, but in order to achieve this we do have to move on from some pieces in order to allow new work to come through. After two series, Survivors will not be returning."

It has also been reported that the BBC's medical soap drama 'Doctors' could be axed as well, as the corporation shakes up its schedule to make way for new material.

The Mirror state that the BBC Trust is reviewing whether the daytime soap is value for money as BBC1 already screens two other major medical dramas - 'Casualty' and 'Holby City'.

'Doctors' brought in 2.9 million viewers for its best-rated episode this year. It regularly wins its time slot with a 24% share of the audience.

However, a show executive is not optimistic for its future, stating: "We're preparing to find ourselves on the chopping block. Three long-running shows with a similar audience, themes and storylines are up for review and Doctors is probably the weakest in ratings terms."