Brits and Aussies, can you tell me why so many terrific TV shows kill off, or otherwise disappear, their actors?

Funding. The Doctor Blake Mysteries was cancelled because its funder, the Australian Broadcasting Authority, has decided not to continue to provide funding. The ABC has had its funding reduced and as a result, its ability to fund programs is reduced.

I think Downton Abbey had just run its course. It ran for six seasons.

I can’t speak for the others shows. I do like Doc Martin, but I don’t watch it regularly and had no idea it had been cancelled.

I’m not exactly referring to shows that have been cancelled, rather, characters that have been killed off, or mysteriously written out of the story.

Another one, that had several characters written out was Midsomer Murders.

Oh God! Nobody stays alive in Midsomer! I often joke that the one place in the UK I’d never move to is Midsomer! (I know it’s not a real place.) However, it’s the most dangerous place in the world.

And sorry I missed the point. I’ll think on your question more.

That’s OK. My mom and I joke that Midsomer and Kembleford (Father Brown territory) are the least safe places in England, due to their fictitious murder rates, Lol.

But again, I’m more concerned about the disposing of the main charcters, not the random folks who get bumped off in each particular episode.

Laser eyes at Misfits…... Only a few people could survive a season. This is the most egregious case of the cast getting rotated out fast. But it works. It is up there as one of my favorite shows.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1548850/

I hate super-hero stuff but Misfits is so fugood.

I’ve added it to my Netflix list @JP.

Great question. I love British shows, but just about the time I become fully invested in one, it’s gone. One example: RIVER. One riviting season and then poof. (Stellan Skarsgård is such a wonderful actor.)

PLEASE don’t let that happen too soon with THE CROWN.

@Pachy I loved River! I fell so hard for Stellen Skarsgard. I wasn’t really familiar with him before I that show.

I also love The Crown. John Lithgow’s portrayal of Winston Churchill was one of my favorite performances by any actor, ever!

Simple.

Popular characters demand higher salaries.

The episodes in which the character dies/leaves the show, bring higher ratings.

So. They save money, and increase ratings…

Better that than keep the character & change the bleedin actor, been done so many times, mainly in soaps. It really is taking the piss, like Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie…who dat, who her, who him?

@Kardamom, I TOTALLY agree with you on both counts. I loved RIVER’s concept, and Skarsgard is sooo good in the series. I discovered him years ago in a superior De Niro caper movie called RONIN and have made it a point to watch any film he’s in.

By the way, his son is a fine actor, too. Alexander Skarsgard. Catch him in a terrific end-of-days film called Melancholia.

I loved River too. It would be great if there was another series. The whole Skarsgard family seem to be good actors. I’m looking forward to watching It with Bill Skarsgard and Alexander was great (if not horrible) in Big Little Lies.

Any time an character in a show suffers a life threatening accident, I suspect it’s because the actor playing the part is being blackmailed by the show producer to sign the renewal contract or die.

I’m a fan of British TV as well, and it’s often contract disputes or other work.

Brendan Coyle, for instance, left Lark Rise to Candleford in order to take the role of Mr. Bates in Downton Abbey (they wrote out his character saying he’d gone away to find work). Lark Rise never recovered from his loss – the first series without him was the last.

Yes @ Maud dib, I had forgotten about that. I watched Downton Abbey first, so I didn’t realize that Brendan Coyle went straight fro Larkrise to Downton.

Free Bates!