Rufus Sewell's Zen was axed from BBC1 because there was 'too much crime' on TV, controller Danny Cohen has revealed. Cohen said the number of male-led crime shows in particular had also fuelled his decision to axe the Rome-based series earlier this year after just three episodes. He said he was hoping to 'broaden the range' of shows commissioned for BBC1. Zen, starring Rufus as Italian policeman Aurelio Zen, drew nearly six million viewers when it was broadcast in January. But Cohen, who took over the running of the channel four months ago, announced it was being axed just weeks later. He said today: "I felt that we risked having too many male detectives and arguably we had maybe too much crime. "I want to broaden the range and make sure we've got enough that wasn't detectives and crime." He added: "Detectives and crime is the real staple of quite a lot of BBC, but also a huge amount of ITV drama, and one of the things I want to do is to broaden the palette a bit." He said the channel would still retain a number of quality crime shows: "We've got Sherlock, we've got Wallander." Cohen added that some programmes had to go if the channel was to commission any new series. "You can't keep doing everything if you want to bring in new things," he said. His comments about male detectives come just weeks after actress Caroline Quentin raised concerns about the number of male-led dramas on UK TV.
