'Holby City' was axed to enable the BBC to make other shows outside of the south of England.
Holby's Davood Ghadami
The BBC confirmed in June that the medical drama will end in March next year after 23 years to "make room for new opportunities", and Piers Wenger, the controller of BBC drama commissioning, has reiterated the show will not be getting its life support machine turned back on.
He said: "It was an incredibly difficult decision.
"But you know, when [Director-General of the BBC] Tim Davie gave us some very clear direction on wanting to make more drama across the UK, and we knew we had 'EastEnders', 'Holby' and 'Casualty' - all of which are based in the South, albeit 'Casualty' in Wales – we knew we needed to better reflect life across the whole of England, which is why we've chosen to bring back 'Waterloo Road'."
The BBC confirmed last month that school drama 'Waterloo Road' will be returning six years after it was axed.
And Piers has revealed the revived version of the show will also have one-hour episodes, but filming is yet to begin.
He added: "The original 'Waterloo Road' had hour-long episodes and that's the form in which we'll be bringing it back.
"We're working on the show, we haven't started filming. So I don't want to be too specific about the kind of the feel of it, and how much of how much it will feel like a direct continuation of the previous series. I imagine it'll be an evolution. But I think it's a bit early to say."
In September, Piers said: "'Waterloo Road' is the perfect lens through which to explore post-COVID Britain, from the perspective of those who have arguably been affected most: young people in education."