ACKLEY BRIDGE TO CLOSE AFTER FIVE SERIES ON CHANNEL 4

EXCLUSIVE Channel 4 have called time on drama Ackley Bridge after five series.

Ackley Bridge is a Channel 4 school drama set in a Yorkshire mill town, home to largely divided white and Asian populations. Like the communities, the school systems have also become segregated. However as two formerly isolated comprehensives are merged into a brand new academy, Ackley Bridge College, the lives and cultures of each collide.

Channel 4 told TV Zone: "As a broadcaster, we’re immensely proud of Ackley Bridge, which over the last five series has received praise for the way in which it has tackled real-life situations and issues in an irreverent and insightful way...

They continued: "However, Channel 4 has a responsibility to continuously look for new and innovative ideas and we have made the difficult decision to not greenlight another series. We’d like to thank The Forge, the wonderful cast and all those involved in the show’s success over the years and we look forward to working with them again on future projects."

The first series attracted an average consolidated audience of 2.2 million viewers per episode and an 11% share, significantly out-performing Channel 4’s slot average. It was also Channel 4’s highest rating commission for 10-15 year olds that year.

Across its five series, the lead cast has included Jo Joyner, Paul Nicholls, Sunetra Sarker, Liz White, Adil Ray, Samuel Bottomley, Tony Jayawardena and most recently Ryan Dean, Yasmin Al-Khudhairi, Robyn Cara and Carla Woodcock.

Previous episodes of Ackley Bridge are available to stream on All4.