The power of fans

In The Guardian, Sarah Hughes considers the power that fans of a TV show can wield online, whether they're campaigning for a drama to be re-commissioned, or lobbying for certain storylines.

It can be hard for writers to ignore a strong fanbase, however. "The internet definitely has a growing effect on television," says the TV writer Phil Klemmer. He was part of the team on the now-cancelled teen detective drama Veronica Mars - and "it got to the stage where we'd be logging on after each episode to see what grade we'd received".

But the relationship soured three seasons in. "We found ourselves facing a backlash," Klemmer says. "People would be posting 'save our show', and accusing us of having destroyed it. They'd email the writers saying what we were doing wrong. It was a bit like a really bad break-up."