Last week, news broke that the BBC cancelled its hugely popular Saturday night drama Atlantis. The show, which is inspired by Greek mythology, was a huge hit pulling in over six million viewers when it launched its second series in November. However, to the dismay of many fans, the BBC have decided to drop the show to make way for new projects.
A BBC Spokesperson confirmed this with the Radiotimes.com stating
“The final seven episodes of Atlantis will transmit on BBC1 in spring. We would like to thank Urban Myth Films and all the cast and crew but the series will not be re-commissioned.
“We are very proud of both series but to keep increasing the range of BBC1 drama we have to make difficult decisions to bring new shows through.”
The news has caused a huge backlash from fans on twitter.
@TheChosenPun tweeted “Beyond devastated that @BBCAtlantis has been cancelled. Such a brilliant show with an equally brilliant cast. Big mistake, BBC. #Atlantis”
@weirdbuthatsok expressed sadness at the decision, tweeting “ATLANTIS IS BEING CANCELLED, I’M ACTUALLY IN TEARS”
@bae_can_san angrily tweeted “TILL THE DAY I DIE I WILL NEVER ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THE BBC CANCELED ATLANTIS #SaveAtlantis”
@suspectsnargles suggested Fridays are now a thing to fear, tweeting “Last Friday: In the Flesh was cancelled. This Friday: Atlantis was cancelled. I’m scared about next Friday”
It is true that this is not the first popular BBC drama to be cancelled due to budget cuts. In the Flesh, a BAFTA award-winning series about a zombie teenager who returns to school, was cancelled last Friday despite its finale pulling in just over half a million viewers. Again, the BBC say their reasoning behind cancelling the show was also due to budget restrictions and the need to produce new shows. The official twitter feed for BBC Three commented on the decision stating
“Given there is only budget for one original drama series a year on the channel it won’t be returning,”
“We loved the show but have to make hard choices to bring new shows through and create room for emerging talent.
“Huge thanks to the BAFTA award-winning writer Dominic Mitchell and the superb cast.”
We are yet to hear whether other BBC Dramas have been affected by the cuts.
Atlantis is midway through series two and is due to return in the spring where the adventures of Jason, Pythagoras and Hercules will come to an end. Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy, who created the show after their Saturday-night drama Merlin was cancelled, are yet to comment on the decision.
