THE SHOWS MUST GO ON
MARION McMULLEN looks looks at TV series that went on without their lead characters
1 THE sixth and final season of American political thriller House Of Cards will stream on Netflix from Friday, November 2... without Kevin Spacey as US president Francis Underwood.
He was sacked after being accused of sexual misconduct and the scandal nearly led to the show being cancelled.
The new series will open with his on-screen wife Claire Underwood, played by Robin Wright, as president.
2 PRODUCTION was halted during the eighth season of Two And A Half Men after Charlie Sheen (below) made disparaging remarks about TV company CBS and creator Chuck Lorre. His contract was later terminated and Ashton Kutcher replaced him in the next series.
3 MICHAEL J FOX left his role of political aide Mike Flaherty (pictured below) in US comedy Spin City after announcing he had Parkinson’s Disease. He often hid his left hand in his pocket during filming to hide shaking caused by the illness.
The series continued with Charlie Sheen filming 45 episodes.
4 WHEN Meghan Markle got engaged to Prince Harry, fans of US legal comedy drama Suits knew she’d have to quit her role as Rachel Zane.
They didn’t bank on Patrick J Adams, who played her on-screen husband, Mike – one of the show’s two main leads – leaving with her halfway through season eight.
Yet a season nine is still on the cards.
5 THE X-Files saw David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson investigating the unexplained as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. It looked like the case files might be closed forever though when Duchovny called it a day after 193 epidodes, but instead Scully got a new partner in the shape of Robert Patrick as FBI Special Agent John Doggett.
6 CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON starred as an ex-cop in ITV drama Safe House in 2015 and was due to appear in the second series, but then dropped out. The crime series could have been cancelled, but ITV instead had the script rewritten, recast and relocated from the Lake District to Wales for the 2017 sequel with True Blood’s Stephen Moyer.
7 HOMELAND saw Damian Lewis (below left) as American serviceman Nicholas Brody trying to evade suspicion as he plotted a terrorist attack on home soil. The award-winning drama continued even after his lead character was killed off with Carrie (Claire Danes) continuing the fight against terrorism.
8 THE revival of US comedy Roseanne came to an abrupt end earlier this year after ABC cancelled the show following a racist tweet from the show’s star Roseanne Barr about President Obama’s African-American aide
Valerie Jarrett. Spin-off The Connors has just premiered in America with Roseanne’s character written out as dead from an accidental overdose.
9 SCI-FI TV series Stargate survived despite the departure of Richard Dean Anderson who played Jack O’Neill, the head of the secret military unit who used alien technology to travel to other worlds.
His role was cut back in seasons seven and eight and he left in 2005, but did appear in 2009 in spin-off SGU Stargate Universe.
10 THE US version of The Office ran for two more years following the departure of comedy star Steve Carell in 2011 as boss Michael Scott, pictured. He said he felt it was the right time to leave. Will Ferrell and James Spader both stepped in as temporary bosses.