Axe hangs over drama

Doubts hang over the future of the BBC's £5m drama series Seaforth. A decision is expected before Christmas, Alan Yentob, the controller of BBC1 said yesterday.

Although scripts have been commissioned for a second seriesMr Yentob said the BBC was still deciding whether to go ahead.

"This is a very big drama. We would like to do 12 programmes which is a very large cost and it would mean that other things could not be made," he said.

The first series attracted an average weekly audience of around 7 million, a good performanceagainst ITV's London's Burning, but the BBC accepts that the often grim storylines were not always ideal Sunday evening viewing.