BBC highlights £280m of 'commitment to Birmingham' - days before flagship show is axed

The BBC has insisted it is committed to Birmingham and the wider West Midlands - days before axed soap Doctors airs its last episode after 24 years. Viewers and former cast members erupted in fury when it was last year announced the daytime show, filmed in the city, would end for financial reasons.

The final instalment of the long-running drama - which provided a helping hand to a string of aspiring stars before they found fame - will air on Thursday, November 14. But the BBC said today it would reinvest all the funding into new programming in the region and "support the retention and development of scripted skills".

It is moving to a new base in Digbeth and said primetime TV shows Silent Witness and MasterChef were already in pre-production from from new bases in the area. The BBC said Radio 1Xtra had relocated shows and the Asian Network would be based entirely in Birmingham by next April.

READ MORE: BBC gives update on MasterChef coming to Birmingham and says 'progress'

And it highlighted an independent study which claimed the BBC's commitment to the West Midlands would generate an extra £282 million and create an additional estimated 900 jobs by 2031.

BBC director-general Tim Davie said: "This report highlights the scale of the opportunity for both the BBC and the region in the years ahead. We believe in making world-class content from Digbeth, putting the people and the place at the epicentre of the creative industries while reflecting their stories.

"We will continue to work closely with our partners and the authorities across the sector to keep pace with our ambition to unlock the full potential of the West Midlands."