# Is it common on British television series for main characters to be routinely killed off?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-on-british-television-series-for-main-characters-to-be-routinely-killed-off/547359>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 20, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-on-british-television-series-for-main-characters-to-be-routinely-killed-off/547359 "2010-07-20T16:28:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-on-british-television-series-for-main-characters-to-be-routinely-killed-off/547359/21 "2010-07-21T05:07:40Z")

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> [@Yllaria](#):
>
> Sorry, but I have to do this:

You undercounted John Pertwee and Sylvester McCoy by 1 each and overcounted David Tennant by 1 (even accepting the “year of specials” as a full season). So that changes the averages for old and new to 3.7 (3.2 if you arbitrarily and conveniently discount Tom Baker) and 2.5 respectively.

ETA: Actually, I’m not sure it’s fair to count McCoy as leaving after three seasons. The series was canceled (or put on a very long hiatus for extensive retooling). He wasn’t actually replaced until the 1996 movie (in which he had a brief appearance). If he’s removed from the calculation, the “old” average goes up slightly.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-on-british-television-series-for-main-characters-to-be-routinely-killed-off/547359/22 "2010-07-21T06:26:52Z")

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> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#):
>
> If it’s a Spooks only thing, was it because of contract negotiations in particular to that show, funding cuts, or just the flow of the show?

It’s mainly a Spooks thing. Yes, main characters get killed in other shows but not with such frequency. Actually, Spooks does it with such frequency that it’s become a parody of itself. Indeed, it was a real shock in the last series that

Malcolm retired in the normal way

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**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-on-british-television-series-for-main-characters-to-be-routinely-killed-off/547359/23 "2010-07-21T16:43:25Z")

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Don’t forget Blackadder.

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