‘The Hour’ canceled after two seasons

“The Hour,” the BBC’s drama about a British news program in the 1950s, will not be continuing past its second season.

The series, which had drawn comparisons to AMC’s “Mad Men,” was critically acclaimed but low-rated. In Britain, the series averaged just 1.24 million viewers per episode in its second season, down from an average of 2.02 million viewers in its first season in 2011.

The series aired in the U.S. on BBC America.

During the course of its two seasons, it received four Golden Globe nominations and four BAFTA nominations. Series stars Dominic West and Romola Garai each received a Golden Globe nomination for their performances as, respectively, the anchor and producer of “The Hour,” the news program at the center of the drama.

The cancellation comes a day after BBC Controller of Drama Ben Stephenson announced several new series and TV movies, including “Burton & Taylor,” about the tumultuous romance of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Helena Bonham Carter is set to play Taylor and West is to play Burton.

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