Shameless is to end after 11 series, it has been announced.

The comedy-drama's final 14 episodes - again starring David Threlfall as layabout drunk Frank Gallagher - are currently filming in Manchester and will air on Channel 4 in early 2013.



Series creator - who will storyline the final series - said: "Its 10th anniversary seems a fitting time to shut the book on Shameless,cheap dvd deals. We've had an absolute ball making this stuff up for a living. We've given back in spades and got away with absolute murder, on behalf of such a fantastically outspoken audience.

"But this is also the year my dad died and he was, in abstract, my core inspiration for starting the whole Shameless party rolling, I wanted to make invisible people vivid. Closing the two eras in the same year feels very right. Now I'm off to build the next whatever-it-is."

Channel 4's Chief Creative Officer Jay Hunt added that Shameless was "groundbreaking when it launched" and has been "gob-smacking ever since".


"We are in Paul Abbott's debt for bringing his defiantly dysfunctional band of characters to Channel 4 and I'm delighted to say we have other drama projects with Paul in the pipeline," Hunt said.

"It's not over yet and I wait to see how Paul, David Threlfall and the talented team at Company Pictures create a fitting farewell to Frank and co on screen early next year."

Shameless began filming in 2003, with 2013 marking the show's 10th year in production. The series first aired on Channel 4 in January 2004, winning a series of BAFTAs, British Comedy Awards and more.

A US remake - - currently airs on Showtime, with its third season set to premiere on January 13,movies on dvd for sale, 2013.