Rebecca Atkinson has revealed that the finale of Shameless was rewritten at the last minute.

In the episode, which aired earlier this week, Joe (Ben Batt) attempted to strangle Atkinson's character Karen.

However, Atkinson told PA that the scenes were only added because heavy snow prevented the cast from filming the original script.

"The original storyline option was something far more way out, to do with a level crossing and a car, and it was really dramatic," she explained. "But we had all that snowfall and they couldn't clear the line so it wouldn't work and we had six hours to rewrite the storyline.

"[The finale] was the complete antithesis of what was going to happen. Either one would have been equally dramatic, there's just a different energy, and this one showed more about Joe, more about his frustration."

Shameless has already been renewed for an eighth series and an American remake is currently in the works.