Actor Stephen Graham blasted the BBC for axing Jimmy McGovern’s The Street and then pouring millions of pounds into reality dance shows.

“You can’t take money away from great drama like that and put it into people dancing,” he told the BBC. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful or anything, it’s my job and I’m very passionate about it.

“You shouldn’t take money away from a screen where we make great drama and watch people spinning around in a ballroom.”

He added: “That’s why actors like me are going over [to America]. It’s a shame. Where are writers like Jimmy [McGovern] going to be able to show their work? Where are we supposed to do our good drama?

“Stephen is entitled to his own views,” a BBC spokesman said. “However, the BBC makes more drama than any other channel in the UK and the budget for drama is considerably bigger than that for entertainment.”