Series creator Kurt Sutter and FX are closing the book on The Bastard Executioner. The period drama, which was shot on location in Wales, has been cancelled after one ten episode season, TVWise has confirmed.
In something of an unusual move, Sutter and FX decided to announce the cancellation in a series of full-page ads in the Hollywood Trades (The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline etc). The decision to cancel The Bastard Executioner was one that was reached recently due to low ratings, with FX Networks CEO John Landgraf allowing Sutter to decide how and when to announce the end of the series.
Created by Sutter, The Bastard Executioner tells the story of a warrior knight in King Edward I’s charge who is broken by the ravages of war and vows to lay down his sword. But when that violence finds him again he is forced to pick up the bloodiest sword of all. The drama series is produced by FX Productions, Fox 21 Television Studios and Imagine Television and stars Lee Jones, Stephen Moyer, Katey Sagal, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, Kurt Sutter, Sam Spruell, Darren Evans, Danny Sapani, Timothy V. Murphy, Sarah White, Sarah Sweeney, Elen Rhys, and Ethan Griffiths. The executive producers are Kurt Sutter, Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo and Paris Barclay.
The Bastard Executioner, which was put on a fast track at FX owing to the network’s strong relationship with Kurt Sutter, premiered back in September to 2.11 million viewers and a 0.8 rating in the A18-49 demographic. Ratings dropped in subsequent weeks, with several episodes dropping below one million viewers. That coupled with the fact that the series did not see much of a sizeable bump in DVR viewership is what ultimately sealed its fate.
Even with today’s cancellation, FX execs are keen to stay in business with Sutter and are understood to be pursuing the Sons Of Anarchy spin-off, which will revolve around biker gang The Mayans. “The network is very hot on the Mayans project, and I won’t run that show”, Sutter told Deadline. “For me, this is about finding the right writer and the next thing I will be doing is sitting down and interviewing to find a Latino writer, someone who understands the world and the culture. I don’t want to just throw some white guy at it.”
