ITV has decided to cease production on Heartbeat and its spin-off show The Royal after its current production run has been completed, however they have stock piled enough episodes to air another two series of the once popular traditional dramas this year and in 2010 - so don’t panic yet!
An ITV representative said:-
“Heartbeat and The Royal are an important part of ITV’s schedule and are currently in production,”
However, they didn’t want to comment on the future of the programmes after 2010.
Heartbeat, originally showed up on our screens in 1992 and at its peak brought in about 10million in viewers at its peak. The Royal is a spin off drama from Heartbeat and was launched in 2003 however, in recently both the shows figures have been suffering.
ITV has been reeling it in from the success of programmes such as Dancing On Ice and I’m A Celebrity. This success has been partly to blame for the end of these dramas and these shows may not be the only casualties as last week it was announced that ITV will be drawing back on production on police drama The Bill.