ITV cancel major drama adored by fans as bosses pull the plug

Jimmy Akingbola and Gemma Whelan in ITV's The Tower (Image: ITV)

ITV drama The Tower, with a cast featuring former EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite, has reportedly been axed after just three series due to declining viewer numbers.

The show's writer had already begun creating scripts for the fourth season when the bad news was broken. According to the Sun, a spokesperson for the channel confirmed: “The Tower was much loved by the audience who watched the drama but the viewing figures for the last series did not reach expectations so sadly we won’t be recommissioning.”

When the series first began in 2021, it was achieving a respectable 5.5 million viewers on average per episode, but the tides gradually began to turn. When it came to the third series in September 2024, ratings had shrunk to less than half the original number of viewers, at 2.5 million.

Meanwhile, a million fans were lost over the course of those four episodes alone, spelling trouble for the show's future. The brutal decision comes after writer Patrick Harbinson, who'd adapted Kate London's Met Police book series into the beloved TV drama, shared his hopes for the show's future.

He'd told The Sun’s TV Mag just three months ago: “I’m already writing the first episode of The Tower four just to show to ITV that we’re ready to go, because Kate [London] has already written a brilliant fourth novel, The Misper, on which the new series would be based." He added: "There are more brilliant stories to tell, involving Gemma Whelan’s character DS Sarah Collins and PC Lizzie Adama, played by Tahirah Sharif.

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ITV's The Tower has been cancelled after three series (Image: ITV)

“Both those characters still have a long way to go. The world of crime in England is fast changing. Different crimes, different fears, different heroes. I’d love to do more about them.”

Meanwhile, Game Of Thrones legend Gemma Whelan had also expressed her enthusiasm about continuing, as she stated that The Tower had "grown so beautifully as a series" and that she'd "definitely like to do more".

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She said: "I’m trying to send all the thoughts to TV and all the people to tune in, it’s going to be numbers, the numbers."

Unfortunately, the fourth series is not to be - and the news is likely to devastate fans.

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Former EastEnder Tamzin Outhwaite in The Tower (Image: ITV) SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

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The thrilling crime drama had featured numerous favourites, including Emmett J Scanlan - the Irish actor who played Billy Grade in Peaky Blinders, before going on to become Inspector Kieran Shaw.

Jimmy Akingbola also made an appearance as DC Steve Bradshaw, following on from his role as Antoine Malik in Holby City.

Tamzin Outhwaite, known for performing in Strictly and EastEnders, also joined in series two as recovering addict Cathy Teel, and viewers were glued to the screens as they watched her daughter become the victim of coercive control.

At the time, she told The Daily Mail of rehearsing for the role: "I’ve had a lot of pain and endured a lot of loss, and with the human emotions involved in this drama I felt like my own life was the research."

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