June 11th, 2009 4:03 pm

‘All Saints’ trimmed for new drama

‘All Saints’ will be trimmed to 22-28 episodes next year, down from its current 40 episodes a year, with the savings headed to production on a new drama series.

Reports that Seven’s medical drama ‘All Saints’ will be going under the knife next season have been confirmed.

The series will be trimmed down to 22 – 28 episodes in 2010, down from the current 40 episodes per season.

Cast and crew will conclude production on the series three months earlier in August, instead of November.

Ratings on the long running drama have slumped against strong competition from competing networks. Ratings have been hovering around 1.1 million viewers in the new 8.30pm timeslot, compared to the 1.6 million peak in its post ‘Packed to the Rafters’ slot.

Seven have said that the savings they’ll reap from ‘All Saints’ will be put towards a new drama series.

‘All Saints’ airs 8.30pm Tuesdays on Seven.