<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"The Hour has been axed by BBC Two. The newsroom drama - which starred Dominic West and Ben Whishaw - will not return for a third series, Broadcast reports.  A BBC spokesperson said: &amp;quot;We loved the show but have to make hard choices to bring new shows through.&amp;quot; Jane Featherstone, chief executive of producers Kudos Film and Television, said that she was &amp;quot;sad and disappointed&amp;quot; by the BBC&amp;#039;s decision. The first series of The Hour launched with 2.89 million viewers in July 2011, but the show&amp;#039;s second run fared less well in the ratings, opening with just 1.68 million.  The period thriller&amp;#039;s creator Abi Morgan previously admitted that she would &amp;quot;love&amp;quot; to write a third series. &amp;quot;I love those characters and I&amp;#039;m really excited to create more characters, so fundamentally I&amp;#039;d love to see it develop and grow,&amp;quot; she said in November. Romola Garai - who played Bel Rowley - also told Digital Spy that she would be interested in starring in more The Hour episodes. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t think the format of this show lends itself to running for 10 or 15 years, but hopefully we&amp;#039;ll do some more,&amp;quot; said the actress. &amp;gt; Ben Whishaw: &amp;#039;The Hour is darker, more shocking than ever before&amp;#039; Watch a trailer for the last series of The Hour below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-hour/news/a458257/the-hour-axed-by-bbc-two-after-two-series/>