Fans angered as Dick Gently dropped (From Messenger Newspapers)

Fans angered as Dick Gently dropped

6:01pm Monday 28th May 2012 in Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Stephen Mangan has revealed that the BBC has dropped his series Dirk Gently.

Disgruntled fans then re-posted his announcement to make it one of the most popular topics on Twitter.

More than a million viewers watched the pilot show - based on the character created by Douglas Adams - when it was screened on BBC4 18 months ago.

A three-part series about "holistic" detective Gently ran on the channel earlier this year.

But Stephen - who starred in the title role - said in a message on Twitter: "It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to report that the BBC have decided not to make any more."

The show also featured actor Darren Boyd as Gently's sidekick Richard MacDuff.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We've loved having Dirk on the channel but the licence fee freeze means less British drama on BBC4.

"In future we will focus on the best dramas from around the globe, like The Killing and Borgen, whilst BBC1 and BBC2 become the main homes of original British drama."