Melissa George spy drama, which has faced plummeting audiences, will not be recommissioned for second series

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Hunted, the struggling BBC1 Melissa George spy drama, has been put out of its misery, with no second series to be commissioned.

The BBC1 drama, which aimed to be a replacement for Spooks, has seen its average audience fall by nearly half over six episodes, with a plot that left many viewers, including BBC executives, confused.

BBC sources directly involved with commissioning the eight-part series from Kudos, the producer of Spooks, confirmed next week's eighth episode will be the last. "It hasn't found the mainstream audience it was hoped," said a BBC spokesperson.

The show's average overnight ratings have dropped from a debut of 4.5 million and a 19.3% share in early October to 2.6 million and an 11.2 share for last Thursday's sixth episode.

Last week Hunted was almost beaten by BBC2's Michael Portillo series Great Continental Railway Journeys, which averaged 2.5 million.

The drama, set in Morocco, London and Scotland, was made in a collaboration with HBO Cinemax. The writer and creator is Frank Spotnitz, who wrote and produced The X Files.

The story revolves around a female spy, Sam, played by former Home and Away actor George, who works for a privately owned security company, called Byzantium, rather than MI5 or MI6.

It opened with her being hunted down and nearly killed in Tangier, forcing her to ascertain which of her colleagues betrayed her.

BBC executives are sanguine about the decision, pointing out that not all new dramas work out, and that there have been plenty of successes on both BBC1 and BBC2 to compensate.

Kudos, part of News Corporation-owned Shine, also makes The Hour, which returns for a second series on Wednesday night after critical acclaim and healthy audiences for its first run on BBC2 last year.

The company also made last year's underperforming BBC1 sci-fi drama Outcasts, which was dumped from its 9pm peaktime slot in February after only three out of eight episodes and switched to 10.25pm on Sunday nights.

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