BBC blames ‘super inflation’ for decision to axe long-running drama ‘Doctors’

Doctors

The BBC has cancelled long-running daytime soap Doctors after 23 years, with the UK pubcaster putting the decision down to “super inflation in drama production.”

The show, which debuted in March 2000, has followed the lives of doctors and staff at a West Midlands hospital for more than two decades. The final episode of Doctors will air in December 2024 and the BBC said that it is working with producer BBC Studios to “give it the finale it deserves.”

The BBC said that it was a “very difficult decision” to end the show, but explained: “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.

“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.”

The pubcaster said that all of the current funding for Doctors will be reinvested into new programming in the West Midlands region of the UK.

Ellie Peers, the general secretary of UK writers’ union, Writer’s Guild Of Great Britain (WGGB) said that the cancellation of Doctors was “a terrible loss to the UK writing community.”

Peers said: “It is essential in an increasingly global market that the UK continues to provide distinctive content and opportunities for our writers. It is therefore of real concern that this is the second long running drama series to be scrapped by the BBC in the last two years, the first being Holby City.

“The closure of another drama series leaves a big hole in the drama slate, and in the pockets of Doctors writers, many of whom have written for the show for years.”