The final episode of BBC medical drama Doctors will now air earlier than expected, the broadcaster has confirmed, as the soap prepares to bow out in style after 23 years on screen

After 23 years on our screens, BBC medical drama Doctors will finally come to it’s ultimate conclusion next month, with the network having confirmed the final transmission date for the last ever episode.

Although filming wrapped on the long running soap several months ago, up until this week, many fans had believed that the show would continue to run until the very end of the year, as show bosses had always indicated that the finale would air at Christmas. Yet in a surprising twist, the BBC have since revealed that the final episode is now just five weeks away, and the medics of Letherbridge will officially bow out for good on Thursday November 14.

The decision to end the show was first announced in October last year, when the BBC confirmed that with a heavy heart, several key factors had influenced the decision to bring the show to a close.

Speaking at the time, the network said: “We have taken the very difficult decision to bring daytime drama Doctors to an end after 23 years. With super inflation in drama production, the cost of the programme has increased significantly, and further investment is also now required to refurbish the site where the show is made, or to relocate it to another home.”

“With a flat licence-fee, the BBC’s funding challenges mean we have to make tough choices in order to deliver greater value to audiences. We remain fully committed to the West Midlands and all of the funding for Doctors will be reinvested into new programming in the region.

“We would like to thank all the Doctors cast and crew who have been involved in the show since 2000. We know the crucial role Doctors has played in nurturing talent, and we will work to develop new opportunities to support skills in scripted programming. The final episode will screen in December 2024 and we are working closely with BBC Studios to give it the finale it deserves.”

Doctors was primarily shot in Birmingham, with the final scenes filmed back in March. Throughout it’s two decade long run, the show traditionally aired on BBC One at lunchtime immediately after the news, although it did briefly enjoy a stint on prime time TV, when it moved to a 7pm slot on BBC Two for eight weeks in 2022.

Originally only 41 episodes of the series were commissioned when hit first began airing back in March 2000, but the show proved to be so popular with fans at home, the BBC ordered it as a continuing soap opera.

Doctors is the second medical drama to have been axed by the BBC in recent years, following the decision to scrap Holby City in 2022. Just like Doctors, it ran for 23 years before BBC bosses decided to make the difficult decision to end the series.