ITV undecided on Monroe's fate

ITV has yet to decide the fate of its medical drama Monroe starring James Nesbitt and Sarah Parish.

The six-part drama aired on ITV1 in March and was created by Peter Bowker. James Nesbitt played Gabriel Monroe, a neurologist. Monroe was one of several dramas commissioned by ITV in the wake of its cancellation of The Bill in 2010. The money saved from axing the long-running police-drama, ITV stated, would be reinvested in new dramas of which Monroe was one.

The drama launched with 6.6 million viewers but, as ever, ratings dropped over following episodes and the series ended with just 4.9 million viewers – the penultimate episode had a low of 4.7 million viewers. However, it might not be Monroe‘s ratings which has delayed ITV’s decision over renewal – the availability of actor James Nesbitt may be the reason. The actor is currently in New Zealand filming Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit.

However, Martin Freeman, who has been cast as Bilbo Baggins in the movie, has been released from filming to record the second series of BBC One’s Sherlock. So it could be possible, if ITV ordered a second series of Monroe, for Nesbitt to become available for a short time.