ITV1's Moving Wallpaper to return

Ben Miller plays producer Jonathan Pope in Moving Wallpaper

Sitcom Moving Wallpaper will return to ITV1 next year, the commercial channel has confirmed - but without Echo Beach, its accompanying soap opera.

The shows - the brainchild of former EastEnders writer Tony Jordan - were launched in tandem earlier this year, to a mixed critical reception.

When Moving Wallpaper returns for a second series, though, scenes from Echo Beach will be incorporated within it.

"We think it will work better in a new format," said an ITV spokeswoman.

Set in fictional coastal resort Polnarren, Echo Beach starred Jason Donovan and Martine McCutcheon as ex-lovers reunited in the Cornish surfing town.

In Moving Wallpaper, comedian Ben Miller played a hapless producer hired to make Echo Beach a success.