McDonald & Dodds: Series cancelled by ITV after four series
By Helen Fear | Fri Jan 17 2025McDonald & Dodds has been cancelled after four seasons on ITV - meaning that viewers hoping for a series 5 of the detective drama will be left bitterly disappointed.
It's sad news for fans of the cosy crime series. The Bath-based drama first landed on our screens in 2020, and famously had one magic ingredient - leading man Jason Watkins. He who can do no wrong. Yes, we bloody love him.
Sadly, we won't see him play DS Dodds again. But why was McDonald & Dodds cancelled? Here's everything you need to know...
Is there a series 5 of McDonald & Dodds?
There will be no series 5 of McDonald & Dodds. Sadly, ITV has confirmed that the detective drama starring Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia has been cancelled after four seasons.
It's a damn shame, especially as series 4 had finished with such hope. The final ever episode saw McDonald make a call saying "the answer is yes". Fans leapt to the conclusion that she had accepted her partner's wedding proposal. But there'll be no subsequent series with (wedding) bells on.
In the closing moments of the series, DS Dodds told his partner DCI Lauren McDonald: "All we have is tomorrow." But sadly there'll be no tomorrow for the show.
Why was McDonald & Dodds cancelled?
Confirming the show has been cancelled to RadioTimes.com, ITV revealed that ratings for the final series didn't meet the threshold for a recommission.
Not enough viewers means no more series. Unlike Vera, which took the same Sunday night two hour time slot, McDonald & Dodds did not reach the peak of 8 million viewers.
Obviously ITV viewers like a more gritty detective drama, rather than the undulating cosy crime series McDonald & Dodds.
What is replacing it?
Although there'll be a DS Dodd's shaped hole in the ITV schedules from now on, crime drama fans will still have plenty of options on ITV.
Other crime dramas coming in 2025 include Karen Pirie series 2, Unforgotten series 6, and The Bay series 5. Adrian Dunbar will also be back as retired detective Alex Ridley in Ridley series 2.
Fans of cosy crime dramas should perhaps head over the Channel 5, where The Madame Blanc Mysteries will soon land. The Good Ship Murder is also currently voyaging every Friday night.
Is Tala Gouveia in Death in Paradise?
Although leading stars Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins won't be back as McDonald & Dodds, it certainly won't be the last we see of them on our screens.
Tala will be guest starring as Kelly Herbert in the subsequent series of Death in Paradise, coming later this month.
Meanwhile, beloved actor Jason Watkins will soon appear in four-part detective thriller Catch You Later, alongside Grantchester's Robson Green, and Playing Nice's Sunetra Sarker.
Watkins will play police detective Huw Miller, who's long been haunted by a cold case of his: a stalking serial killer who wreaked havoc in his town. We'll be watching!
READ NOW: Everything we know about the upcoming series 6 of Unforgotten
