ITV bosses announce axe of popular documentary series

ITV bosses have confirmed its programme Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport will not return for a ninth series.

The documentary series followed the daily action at Britain’s largest international airport, London Heathrow, as staff from a variety of departments worked to see the transport hub run as smoothly as possible.

It is not clear why the show has been cancelled although viewing figures had declined in recent series.

Audience numbers for its eighth series totalled at 1.5 million, whereas the previous year saw 3.3 million. 

The last episode of Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport, made by Raw TV, aired on 24 August last year.

Telling the tale: The documentary series followed the daily action at Britain’s largest international airport, London Heathrow

Since it first aired in 2015, a total of 53 episodes were made.

Filming for the seventh series was severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic as producers were forced to film the first half of the season a year before the second half after the UK was put into lockdown. 

Episodes of the docu-series covered topics including how the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee impacted the aviation industry and how intense extratropical cyclone Storm Eunice affected airport operations in 2022.

Elsewhere, the story of a passenger who was detained after he was suspected of carrying firearms was told in another episode, while missing passengers, luggage, and unauthorised pets were also frequently featured.

The programme was narrated by a number of well known stars, including Dame Julie Walters and Dame Joanna Lumley.

Fans of the show took to its official Instagram page after the last episode of episode eight aired to praised the programme and its makers.

One person wrote: ‘Thank you for the brilliant programme!! All the best in the future to one and all!!’

Someone else wrote: ‘Thanks for your time guys always a pleasure sharing the airfield with you.’

Decline: Audience numbers for its eighth series last year totalled at 1.5 million, whereas the previous year saw 3.3 million

Another fan posted: ‘Thank you “HBB” team! When you’re in a hotel room near Heathrow on a Wednesday evening and you love Heathrow and aviation, what do you do? 

‘Well, you link up the laptop to the widescreen TV, log on to the ITV hub and watch “Heathrow Britain’s Busiest”, of course!’

While another fan posted: ‘Loved the series. Serious yet funny at the same time.’

Series six, seven and eight of Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport are available for viewing on ITVX.