Six Feet finale is ratings winner

Six Feet Under is credited with breaking a TV taboo about death

The final episode of Six Feet Under signed off with an audience of 4m on US cable channel HBO - its highest viewing figure in more than a year.

The start of the fourth season of the US show, set in a funeral parlour, drew 4.1m viewers in June 2004.

The programme's fifth run started with poor ratings, and was moved back to its Sunday night slot and staged an upturn.

Six Feet Under's finale was written and directed by creator Alan Ball, who won an Oscar for writing American Beauty.

Award-winning

However, the strong finale of the show was unable to improve the overall ratings for the fifth series, which averaged 2.5m viewers.

The first three series had an average audience of up to 5m, but these ratings were taken when HBO used to amalgamate all its services.

The award-winning programme, which first aired in 2001, has been shown in the UK on Channel 4 and its digital counterpart E4.

Season five is currently being broadcast on E4, but there are no plans to show it on Channel 4.

The show, which traditionally kicks off each episode with a death, has scooped seven Primetime Emmy awards and three Golden Globes in the past four years.

It has also been nominated for best drama at this year's Primetime Emmy Awards, which take place next month. It faces competition in that category from Deadwood, 24 and The West Wing.