The drama is in the middle of production for its sixth and final season. According to a letter sent to cast and crew by series producers Media Rights Capital, the show’s writers are exploring ways to eliminate Spacey’s character from the programme. Spacey was fired from the production “and all future Netflix projects” on 3 November while the investigation into his conduct continues.

“These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen,” the letter, obtained by Variety, reads. “The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.”

It added: “We continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon. As we continue these discussions, we have determined together that the crew will be paid for an additional two-week hiatus – beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th.”