BBC Axing One Of Its Longest-Running Shows But Ploughing More Money Into Scottish Drama

deadline.com:

One of the BBC’s longest-running shows is being axed in Scotland but nearly £100M ($130M) will be spent on drama in the nation over the next three years, an increase of around 25%.

Soap River City, which has aired since 2002, will end next fall, the BBC has just announced, with actors union Equity and Directors UK reacting angrily to the news.

But with the criticism that canceling long-running shows attracts front and center of its mind, the corporation has already said that its investment in Scottish drama will rise to more than £95M cumulatively between 2026 and 2028, an average of at least £30M per year.

A spokeswoman for BBC Scotland said this figure has been around the £25M mark for the past five years. BBC Scotland content boss Louise Thornton has already unveiled three new dramas: darkly comic thriller Grams from Line of Duty producer World Productions, The Young Team adapted from Scottish author Graeme Armstrong’s debut novel and Counsels, which is being co-created by Skins creator Bryan Elsley. “River City has been a wonderful adventure and of course we’ll all be sad to see it go,” said BBC Scotland Director Hayley Valentine. “The team have done a brilliant job and I know they have some big plans for the finale next year.