Deadwood star hits back

Who’d have thought it, eh? The one person you really don’t want to piss off in Hollywood is that fluffy haired fella who used to play Lovejoy.

The superb Ian McShane is riled and reeling over HBO's cancellation of award-winning drama Deadwood.

Set in a small, lawless town in South Dakota in 1876, McShane plays Al Swearengen, saloon owner and the man who keeps the sordid and dirty side of Deadwood ticking over.

"I thought the whole thing was handled shabbily,” the former Brit TV star told The New York Daily News. “Deadwood is one of the most acclaimed series on TV, a truly great show, so I was initially shocked. And now I'm sad but what the fuck, HBO and Deadwood have been very good to me.”

The word around the network is that they are planning two TV movies to complete the story at the end of season three – currently being aired in the US. This is an idea that McShane thinks would go some way to making up for cutting the show.

“We'll see if the two-hour movies come to fruition or not. Part of me prefers it to six one-hour shows, because you can cover more material.”

Still, the leather-skinned former antique-hunter won’t let the network off the hook that easily…

“I love the way HBO handled everything up to this point. I think we needed four or five seasons because the fucking story of Deadwood wasn't finished, man. So I'm sad about it being cancelled like this.”

At least there are still some passionate Englishmen flying the flag abroad… take note Mr Beckham.