THE stock of one of Scotland's leading media entrepreneurs took a tumble yesterday when ITV finally dropped its popular drama Bad Girls.
The decision to cut the melodramatic show about women in prison is another blow to Shed Productions, the company formed by Eileen Gallagher, the Scot considered one of the most powerful figures in the broadcast media.
ITV confirmed yesterday it would not recommission the soap opera, which has run for seven years on its main network.
The decision follows the end of another of Shed's high-profile shows, Footballers' Wives, which was removed from the schedules in May.
Last night, ITV said Bad Girls was being cut to keep the network ?refreshed and relevant" for the modern audience.
Ms Gallagher, chief executive of Shed, said: ?Naturally we're disappointed Bad Girls has not been recommissioned, especially as the last series performed well during a tough summer for ITV."
Shed Productions, which also makes Extra Time, Supernanny and Waterloo Road, saw its shares fall 9per cent yesterday but the company - which Ms Gallagher formed with fellow Scots Brian Park and Ann McManus in 1998 - said it was already working on new shows.
Rock Rivals will be set in the music industry and they are producing a pilot, or trial, version of Bad Girls for the US market, while Footballers' Wives is being developed for the South American market.
Bad Girls, set in HMP Larkhall, was a success for ITV - even in its last series, the final episode drew more than four million viewers and was the most watched show in its 9pm time slot.
A spokeswoman for ITV said yesterday: ?Bad Girls has been a terrific show for us over the years, performing consistently in the peak-time schedule.
?But we need to make way for new series ideas in order to keep ITV1 refreshed and relevant for the modern audience."
Ms Gallagher, has been tipped as a potential new chief of the ITV network in recent months, following the announced departure of current chief executive, Charles Allen.
She has said of the post: ?Running ITV is the toughest job in TV.
?The company needs someone who understands the broadcasting business, the market and what is happening when it comes to content."
Shed, estimated to be worth more than GBP40m, has been one of the most successful production companies in London, based on the success of its two ?tent pole" productions, both long-running dramas perhaps short on subtlety but high on entertainment.
Shed recently bought a distribution company, Screentime Partners, and a maker of factual programmes, Ricochet, for around GBP25m in 2005.
Ms Gallagher was born in Hamilton and educated in Ayr. She attended Glasgow University, where she studied politics.
She worked briefly in the newsroom of The Herald but joined STV after impressing the station's then boss Gus (now Lord) MacDonald, before moving to LWT in London, where she became managing director.
She also held leading positions at Granada and was managing director of Ginger Productions.
Ms Gallagher has acknowledged her two most famous shows were based almost solely on entertainment value.
Of Bad Girls, she once said: ?We do a deal with the audience - we say 'We will entertain you and, at the same time, we will put messages in it'.
?And the message is that 80per cent of women who are in prison shouldn't be there."
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