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"Fans of cult television have been put through the ringer of late - first, Merlin departed from BBC One&amp;#039;s schedules and then last week came the news that sister channel BBC Three was also calling time on Being Human. Some have even complained that we&amp;#039;re getting less Doctor Who in 2013 than we&amp;#039;ve become accustomed to - a mere eight episodes and a Christmas special, they cry, forgetting those cold, dark years between 1989 and 2005 when we had (practically) no new Who at all. That 16-year period when Who was off our screens was a pretty grim time for cult television in the UK in general - shows like Crime Traveller and Strange never really got off the ground. But post-2005 - post the Doctor&amp;#039;s spectacular revival - things changed, big time.  Suddenly, we were experiencing a second golden age - there were wizards and aliens and dinosaurs on primetime television again. But seven years on and it seems that the shine might&amp;#039;ve come off cult TV a little - Merlin is gone, Being Human is ending its run, Primeval - at least in its original form - is dead and Doctor Who now feels like the genre&amp;#039;s sole surviving representative. So is sci-fi and fantasy television in danger of becoming niche again? Will ghosts and vampires and werewolves go back to being the preserve of the hardcore cult fan? Or are we simply overreacting in the wake of our favourite shows&amp;#039; conclusion? &amp;gt; Week in Geek - Thunderbirds returns: F.A.B. or a big mistake? &amp;gt; Week in Geek - Lost, Fringe, Person of Interest: JJ Abrams cult TV hits First, let&amp;#039;s address the rawest wound - the Being Human &amp;#039;axe&amp;#039;. It&amp;#039;s creatively a baffling decision - Toby Whithouse&amp;#039;s paranormal drama went to great lengths to reinvent itself last year following a complete cast overhaul and it absolutely paid off - the show is as strong and fresh now as it&amp;#039;s ever been. One can only imagine then that the decision has been taken on a purely business level; Whithouse likely has a desire to move on to new projects - he&amp;#039;s penned new Cold War spy thriller The Game for BBC One - and Being Human&amp;#039;s current ratings, while solid, are not stellar. Still, the end of Being Human feels premature - it stings in a way that Merlin wrapping up didn&amp;#039;t, chiefly because the general consensus seemed to be that the adventures of Colin Morgan&amp;#039;s young warlock had run their natural course. A few dissenting voices called for more, of course, but plenty of Merlin fans were happy with the five years we got. Being Human has run for five years too, but the revamped show - with the Hal / Tom / Alex dynamic - feels like a very different series to the one that premiered in 2009. We&amp;#039;re only getting two years of Being Human 2.0 and we want more.  But back to the point in hand - does the double blow of losing Merlin and Being Human from our screens spell the end - at least temporarily - for populist cult television? It might feel that way right now, but all things considered, the answer is simply... no. Merlin might be done, but the show&amp;#039;s creators are already working with Misfits producer Howard Overman on new fantasy drama Atlantis - which will follow a young boy&amp;#039;s voyage of discovery within the mythic underwater city. Rather than shying away from primetime cult television, the BBC are actively seeking to replicate Merlin&amp;#039;s success. And while The Fades faded away and Being Human is going bye-bye, BBC Three isn&amp;#039;t giving up on the sci-fi / fantasy / horror genre either - new zombie drama In The Flesh started shooting last October and will hit our screens later this year.  Plus, of course, there&amp;#039;s always that science-fiction stalwart Doctor Who - still going strong after 50 years. Ignore the cynics and the naysayers, 2013 is set to be a spectacular year for the BBC&amp;#039;s cult gem. What&amp;#039;s more, if we were to widen our remit, you&amp;#039;d see that cult television is positively thriving outside of the UK - just last night (February 11), comic book adaptation Arrow and cult favourites Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries were all picked up for new seasons, while US zombie hit The Walking Dead reported its highest-ever ratings - an incredible 12.3m. That&amp;#039;s a basic cable record - undeniable proof that sci-fi and fantasy has never been less niche. So while we should absolutely mourn our favourite shows, let&amp;#039;s not call time on cult television just yet - one era might be coming to an end, but it looks like another is just beginning... Is cult television in trouble or is the genre in rude health? Share your thoughts below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/being-human/news/a458237/merlin-being-human-bid-farewell-is-cult-tv-dying-out/>