Davies gets 'Jonathan Creek' pay cut

Alan Davies has been hit with a pay cut after agreeing to star in a new episode of Jonathan Creek.

The 43-year-old actor will soon begin filming the one-off special, which is expected to air on BBC One next Easter.

Discussing the project on Twitter, he announced: "Just had a 25% pay cut on Jonathan Creek. The BBC are 'driving down talent costs'!"

Davies went on to insist that he is not annoyed over the decision. However, he later went public with concerns that the programme's quality could suffer, claiming that its design budget has been cut by "more than half".

A BBC spokesman told BBC News that the corporation would not comment on individual salaries.

In response to Davies's other remarks, the representative added: "It's absolutely not true the design budget has been cut by more than half.

"We are making efficiencies on this show just as on many others but it is not to the level that has been suggested."

Jonathan Creek returned to screens last December following a four-year break.