MediaGuardian.co.uk - ITV ultimatum over London's Burning
Jason Deans
Wednesday November 27, 2002
As real - life firefighters tackle their biggest industrial dispute in decades, their fictional equivalents are facing their own fight for survival. London's Burning, one of ITV's longest - running dramas, is facing the axe amid falling ratings.
ITV has given Granada executives an ultimatum to come up with fresh ideas for the ailing fire service drama - or see it dropped from the schedules.
The future of the show has been in question since the ITV drama controller, Nick Elliott, revealed last summer he wanted to "freshen up" the channel's long running dramas.
Mr Elliott said in June 2001 he would be commissioning shorter runs of dramas including London's Burning, Peak Practice and Where the Heart is, as part of a move to try and reinvigorate the shows.
Carlton's Peak Practice was axed in June after a 10-year run and now the future of London's Burning hangs in the balance.
"We've not lost hope on London's Burning," a Granada spokeswoman said. "We're putting forward lots of proposals on how it can be refreshed. There's still plenty of talking to be done."
Granada executives are waiting to have a meeting with Mr Elliott and newly appointed ITV director of programmes Nigel Pickard about the show's future.
London's Burning is ITV's longest running drama after Coronation Street and Emmerdale. It first saw the light of day in 1986 as a gritty one-off drama written by Jack Rosenthal.
LWT, which is now a Granada subsidiary, saw the potential for London's Burning to become a long runner and it returned as a series in early 1988.
London's Burning became famous for its large scale, elaborate fires, which required meticulous planning and cost up to £1m.
At the height of its popularity in 1994 the show attracted more than 16 million viewers.
But for the last series of the show, it was moved from its usual winter berth to a summer slot and the pyrotechnics were toned down, with more emphasis on the personal lives of the firefighters.
The series began with respectable ratings of around 8 million viewers, but subsided to below 5 million over the course of the run.