He told CultBox: “I really loved doing The Fixer, but I think it was always a hard premise to sustain as a returning series. It was hard to generate a story of the week.”

Asked whether there was any chance the show would return, he stated: “No, none whatsoever!”.

Following the life of an ex-British special forces soldier who was recruited from prison to serve as a government-backed assassin, The Fixer ran for two series and last aired in October 2009. The cast included Andrew Buchan, Tamzin Outhwaite (EastEnders) and Jody Latham (Shameless).

Looking back, he commented: “I think ideally it might have worked dramatically better a four-part series of a hitman with a proper pay-off.”

The first episode of Ben Richards’ new show, Outcasts, aired on BBC One on Monday.