Wire In The Blood axed from ITV
Feb 6 2009 by Katy Simpson, The Journal
Click here to revisit our webchat with Wire In The Blood writer Val McDermid
THE writer behind Robson Green’s series Wire in the Blood has hit out at ITV’s decision to axe the show.
Film-making in the North East suffered a bitter blow after ITV announced it would not be commissioning another series of the internationally acclaimed police drama – despite it netting audience figures of 4.5 million an episode in the last series, and being broadcast in around 30 countries across the globe.
The series is produced by Robson’s Newcastle-based company, Coastal Productions, which is thought to have generated more than £13m for the region’s economy by choosing to film at sites across Newcastle, Northumberland and County Durham.
Northumberland-based crime author Val McDermid, who wrote the books on which the series was based, branded the move a “disgrace”.
She said: “When Sandra Jobling (Wire in the Blood’s producer) was given a Royal Television Society award a couple of years ago, it was estimated she had brought in about £13m to the economy in the North East.
“She has been so committed to filming in Newcastle, Northumberland and Durham, even at times when there were a lot of easier options elsewhere.
“There are jobs there that will leave because of this. There are people who come back to the North East year after year to work on Wire in the Blood.
“Those jobs will go, and they will go down south to London or Manchester, and the North East will lose its voice on TV. It’s just a disgrace. People could say it’s self-serving, because it’s my book. But it’s not about the money, it’s about the voice of the North East.
“It seems that ITV are commissioning programmes from production companies in London rather than the North East, and it makes me extremely angry on a personal, political and social level.”
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