Stephen Mangan Upset Over Dirk Gently Axe

Stephen Mangan has said he is “bitterly upset” over the BBC‘s decision to axe the quirky detective drama Dirk Gently.

Last month the BBC revealed it had decided not to order a second series drama Dirk Gently, based on the books by Douglas Adams. The drama originally started life as a pilot episode in 2010 which drew over 1 million viewers to BBC Four and a series was subsequently commissioned. However, the three-part series, which aired earlier this year, did not perform as well as the original pilot. Lower ratings coupled with cuts to BBC Four‘s drama budget resulted in Dirk Gently being dropped.

“You wonder whether it’s just you that’s bitterly upset.   You put your heart and soul into it, and I wasn’t the only one. A lot of people worked really hard to produce something that, by all accounts, is a triumph and then doesn’t go on.” – Stephen Mangan speaking to the BBC News Website

Mangan was the first to break the news, last month, via Twitter that Dirk Gently would not be returning. He told the BBC News website he understood the BBC “had to cut their budgets” but he had “hoped that another channel could have taken it in and found a place for it. The politics of that are devastatingly complicated.” Mangan played the title role in the drama with Darren Boyd and Helen Baxendale also starring in the short-lived drama.