Why Are UK Television Series Shorter Than American Seasons?

When the critically acclaimed and commercially successful television series The Office was adapted for American audiences, one of the many changes that was immediately evident was the number of episodes that would be produced.

The entire UK run of The Office would last only 14 episodes, half the length of the fifth season of the US version alone, which lasted for nine seasons and 201 episodes in total.

This highlights a unique difference in how TV production agencies, broadcasters and audiences see the medium of television, how budgets are allocated and partitioned, and how these practical necessities shape the final product.

Why do UK TV series tend to be so short? Why are production runs so variable? And have changing audiences and broadcast platforms narrowed what used to be a gulf in quantity as sizable as the Atlantic Ocean?

Before all of that, however, is it always true that British series are shorter than equivalent production runs around the world?

How Long Are Typical Television Series?

Traditionally, American television series are produced in seasons that last between 20 and 26 episodes, which lasts for most of the year. Some series are longer, whilst others are slightly shorter.

By contrast, many British series, particularly those that become popular overseas, will consist of six-episode series, often packaged and sold to broadcasters as a complete series that is shown during primetime hours.

Are British Television Series Always Shorter Than American Seasons?

Whilst there is an assumption that all British television is produced in such small amounts, this is far from always the case and has not always historically been the case.

Soap operas such as Coronation Street, Eastenders, and previously Brookside often broadcast hundreds of episodes a year around the world, benefitting from ensemble casts, relatively static sets, modest and fairly fixed budgets and huge viewing numbers.

Similarly, educational, current affairs, game shows and sports programming will typically have much longer series.

However, even when it comes to dramas, serials and sitcoms, the three genres most associated with short episode counts, the episode counts can be longer.

Whilst Fawlty Towers, Peep Show, The Office and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace all had six-episode seasons, some sitcoms such as The Upper Hand had 12 or more per season.

Similarly, Doctor Who initially had over 40 episodes per series in 1963, before that was reduced to 25 episodes in 1970, 14 episodes by the mid-1980s and when the show was revived in 2005, and to eight episodes per season starting in 2024.

Finally, there are procedural genres that have even longer series lengths. The Bill would peak with over 150 episodes per season, whilst shows such as Casualty, Holby City, and Waterloo Road would have over 30 per season.

Why Do TV Shows Have Such Variable Lengths?

Ultimately, the biggest reasons for such variable season lengths are based on practical necessity, both on the part of production companies and broadcasters, which is why American television seasons and UK television series diverge as much as they do.

One of the biggest reasons for long television series in the United States is the nature of the television market, which historically revolved around the syndication market, where the rights to broadcast television shows are sold to other channels to air, often as a repeat broadcast.

Historically, this required an overall production run of at least 100 episodes, as that could be shown every weekday for 20 weeks without repeating an episode and consequently can be sold for a higher rate.

A show that lasts for at least five seasons of around 20 episodes would fill that quota, which encourages longer season runs.

For new series, this typically involves a 12 or 13 episode initial run with a “back nine” ordered if the show is successful enough not to be cancelled.

By contrast, UK TV series have no rules regarding syndication and are typically produced in their entirety before broadcast. Indeed, some of the most popular shows syndicated internationally have fewer episodes than a single typical American season, such as Fawlty Towers.

As well as this, factors such as lower audiences, smaller production teams and the ever-unpredictable British weather have been cited as factors.

Has The Gap Narrowed?

In recent years, there has been a distinct shift in the production and consumption of American television, with popular shows such as Stranger Things having between eight and 12 episodes per season.

A big reason for this change is the rise of binge-watching and streaming television. A strategy made famous by Netflix is to release an entire season of a TV show at once, allowing people to watch every episode in one go, should they choose to. 

It has also decreased the strict requirement for 100 episodes, as many shows are sold to streaming services as they are broadcast, shortly after their initial run or are made for streaming services.

As well as this, the decrease in episodes has allowed for increasing budgets per episode, which has increased the trend amongst prestige television.