Huge ITV drama 'facing axe' in devastating blow as show creator talks quitting

Despite growing a loyal fanbase shortly after its launch a decade ago, the cold case series Unforgotten appears to be slowly falling apart. Things started to spiral out of control back in 2023 when Nicola Walker was replaced, then this year's series was slammed by critics for its woke storylines.

Now the brains behind the ITV thriller Chris Lang has confessed that he wants to quit as the lead writer on the show after next year's run comes to an end. He told The Sun: "I'll probably hand on the baton after the series. I'll still be involved, but I've written 42 episodes and don't want to repeat myself."

In an interview with the Royal Television Society, Chris added: "I wouldn't write it if I didn't have something to say about the state of the nation. Because Unforgotten has an inherent and robust structure, that allows me space to hold up a mirror to British society - it's a Trojan horse show."

But the show, which also stars Sanjeev Bhaskar as DI Sunil Khanm has been slammed by some fans for these 'Trojan horse' storylines that deal with themes including immigration, racism, and the Covid crisis.

Taking to X - formerly known as Twitter - one user remarked: "I reckon one more series and this show will get mothballed or even fully axed. Unfortunately this one is a real box-ticking leftie crowd-pleaser."

Another added: "The woke mind virus has even taken hold of #Unforgotten" as a third chimed in with: "#Unforgotten is forgettable. Another drama has gone woke."

A fourth echoed: "#itv how many woke boxes did you tick in that first episode? Lecturing your audience is so tedious." Another stated: "Given up on this load of woke garbage, supposed to be entertainment not propaganda."

The first episode of the last series, which hit the airwaves in February, peaked at 7.4million viewers, making it the second-highest performing drama of last year.

But Chris admitted that many viewers still hadn't forgiven the show for losing Nicola, who played DCI Cassie Stuart and replacing her with Sinead Keenan as new department chief, DCI Jessica James.

He recalled how he was with his wife on holiday last year and met someone American fans who were initially thrilled to discover Chris had written the show.

But he said: "The mood suddenly soured. One of the women went full Kathy Bates and said, 'You killed Nicola Walker!'" Fans will have to stay tuned to see what will come next from the ITV thriller.