The stars of Desperate Housewives have given their reactions to the announcement that the series is to end, with Marcia Cross (Bree) describing the news as "bittersweet".
Warning: spoilers ahead!
US network ABC confirmed on Sunday that the upcoming eighth season would be the last, with creator Marc Cherry quoted as saying: "I think the only thing harder than creating a hit show is to know when to end it.
"It's something that has weighed on my mind for some time. I'm well aware of people who have overstayed their welcome, and I just didn't want that to happen to us.
"I wanted to go out while the network still thought it was a viable series and while it still did well in the ratings; I wanted to go out in the classiest way possible."
At ABC's Television Critics Association party on Sunday, Cross told Deadline.com: "I think Marc is right; this is the time; this is the moment."
Cross said her wish for the eighth season was for Bree's old flames to return to Wisteria Lane.
"I want to see my fellows again. I had the best male co-stars; I want to see them back," she said.
Her co-star Felicity Huffman, who plays Lynette, said of the news: "I wasn't exactly shocked but you always hope for the best, so I was really sad."
Cherry revealed on Sunday that the "mystery of what's going on in the final season harkens back to the first season", to "the roots of the Mary Alice mystery".
"It feels right that that would be the storyline that would take us out," he said.
The structure of the final series should mean more screentime for Brenda Strong, who plays narrator Mary Alice.
She told the Hollywood Reporter: "There will be some different emotional layers that you haven't seen before, and some interesting things will be revealed about one of the current characters on the Lane."
