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The seventh series of Shameless is expected to be cut from sixteen episodes to eight due to cost-cutting at Channel 4.

Filming for the award-winning comedy-drama, which is produced by Company Television, will resume next year. The episodes are currently pencilled in for transmission in early 2010.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the programme's lead actor David Threlfall (Frank Gallagher) confirmed that funding problems at Channel 4 are likely to affect the seventh run.

"There will be a series seven, but we only know there'll be eight episodes instead of 16 because of the credit crunch - but hopefully that might change," Threlfall told the newspaper. "There are discussions at the highest level about it."

The programme's fifth series consisted of sixteen episodes earlier this year. Series six, which starts in 2009, will also run for sixteen weeks.

A show insider told The Guardian: "Obviously Company want to make 16 episodes but at the moment Channel 4 is insistent that there will only be eight. It is a delicate situation and David has rather let the cat out of the bag. We are hoping that this might change."

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 said that the network could not confirm the length of series seven, adding: "Budgets for that year are still under negotiation."

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a1371...be-halved.html