Breaking Bad to get full UK TV run

The show follows chemistry teacher turned drug dealer Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston

Cult US drama Breaking Bad is to be broadcast in full on UK terrestrial television for the first time.

A new free-to-view channel, Spike, will show the award-winning series in its entirety when it launches on Freeview, Freesat and Sky TV on 15 April.

The first two series of the show were broadcast on both FX and Five USA, but later dropped when they failed to win a significant audience.

Series three, four and five have never been shown on UK terrestrial TV.

Spike, which already exists in the US, will also be the first UK channel to show series five of The Walking Dead.

It will also bring US pop culture phenomenon Lip Sync Battle, hosted by LL Cool J, to British screens.

The series was created by, among others, British comedian Stephen Merchant and John Krasinki, star of the US version of The Office.

Merchant will also star as one of the participants in the series.

"Spike is a driven, high-energy channel offering a point of view and programme mix I think is different from anything else on British TV right now," said Ben Frow, Channel 5's Programme Director - who will oversee the new channel's editorial content.

Both Spike and Channel 5 are owned by Viacom International.

The critically acclaimed series Breaking Bad concluded in 2013. It won five Primetime Emmys last year, including best drama series and best actor for Bryan Cranston.