ITV drama axed after 3 series despite pulling in 5,000,000 viewers during first run-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

The Tower won’t be returning for a fourth series (Picture: ITV/Vishal Sharma/Shutterstock)

ITV has scrapped The Tower after just three series.

The crime drama, which featured Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan, Peaky Blinders actor Emmett J Scanlan and upcoming Strictly star Tamzin Outhwaite, proved a hit with fans but there are no plans for another season.

An ITV spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘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.’

The show followed Gemma as DS Sarah Collins, who was part of a team of detectives focused on serious crime in central London, although it was mainly filmed in Liverpool and Manchester

Emmett played inspector Kieran Shaw – known for bending the rules – while Jimmy Akingbola played DC Steve Bradshaw.

The series – based on author Kate London’s Met Police series – was a huge hit when it launched in November 2021, with an audience of over 5,500,000.

ITV has confirmed declining viewing figures mean they haven’t recommissioned the drama (Picture: ITV/Vishal Sharma/Shutterstock)

However, the third series struggled in September, dropping over a million viewers over its four episodes, ending at just over 2.5m.

Still, the move to scrap the series will have come as a surprise to some people involved, as Patrick Harbinson – who adapted the books for television – had been working on a fourth series.

He revealed over the summer he was ‘already’ starting to pen the next run, insisting everyone was ‘ready to go’.

‘I’m already writing the first episode of The Tower four just to show to ITV that we’re ready to go,’ he told The Sun.

He pointed out that Kate had already penned a ‘brilliant fourth novel’ to take inspiration from, noting there are ‘more brilliant stories to tell’.

‘The world of crime in England is fast changing. Different crimes, different fears, different eras,’ he added. I would love to do more.’

Gemma Whelan wanted to keep the show going (Picture: ITV/Vishal Sharma/Shutterstock)

Gemma herself was keen to continue in the role too, and she previously urged fans to ‘tune in’ to make sure they could stay on the air.

‘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,’ she said at the time.

‘This has grown so beautifully as a series… We would definitely like to do more. Yes, please.’

The Tower is available to stream on ITVX.

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