BBC axes Robin Hood

The BBC has put Robin Hood to the sword in another blow for Saturday tea-time television. The show, produced by Tiger Aspect and filmed in Hungary, was axed after three seasons when the eponymous hero, played by Jonas Armstrong, met a violent end when he was murdered with a poison-tipped sword.

A BBC spokesman said, "Viewers have enjoyed three fantastic series of Robin Hood but with the death of Robin in last week's finale, we feel that the show has reached its natural conclusion."

The news comes just two weeks after ITV said it was axing its Saturday evening Robin Hood rival, Primeval. The struggling commercial channel also announced it would not be commissioning a second series of Demons, another Saturday tea-time show made by Eilsabeth Murdoch's production company Shine. A spokesman said at the time, "High-quality drama remains a key part of the ITV schedule although our current focus is on post-watershed productions."

When Robin Hood returned for its third series in March, it was beating Primeval in the ratings but still only averaging between 4 and 5 million viewers. The final episode on Saturday attracted a mere 1.7 million, mainly because of its move to BBC2 from its regular slot on BBC1 in order to make way for coverage of Andy Murray at Wimbledon.

The death of Robin Hood leaves Doctor Who and Merlin - recently sold to American TV - as the only Saturday tea-time dramas on any terrestrial channel. The BBC will be nervously watching the ratings when the new series of Doctor Who starts later this year - particularly as David Tennant has vacated the Tardis in favour of new Timelord, the relatively unknown Matt Smith.