Although Mock The Week has been , its creator, Dan Patterson, is holding out hope that the beloved panel show will return in some capacity.
The BBC announced on Tuesday that the programme, fronted by Irish comedian Dara O’Briain, has been axed in a bid to make way for new shows and that its final episodes will air in the autumn.
The news of Mock The Week’s departure has been met with a fierce backlash from fans, with many pointing out that the show had introduced them to a plethora of comedians previously not under their radar.
Others have suggested comedy channel Dave could swoop in and save the day, just like it did when the BBC decided to get rid of The Mash Report last year and Red Dwarf in 2009.
Luckily for Mock The Week fans, its creator Dan is keeping optimistic that this won’t be the last viewers see of the show.
‘There have been some conversations,’ he teased exclusively to Metro.co.uk when asked if there have been discussions about shipping it to another network. ‘Although there’s nothing concrete.’
‘You just don’t know what’s going to happen because you don’t know how well the last batch will do, you don’t know how the grounds will be, things change all the time in television,’ he continued.
While Dan voiced his disappointment in the BBC’s decision, he stressed he remains hopeful.
‘A lot of shows have gone and come back in the same place or in a different place and I’m hopeful that will happen and we can do that,’ he added.
Mock The Week’s cancellation came as a total shock to the creators and wider team, and according to Dan, there had been no warning.
‘Sometimes you feel like you’ve done as much as you can do, but I didn’t feel like that at all,’ he admited.
‘I thought we are still bringing people through and we’re still bringing new comedians through. We’ve got some new ones earmarked for the next episodes, and while we don’t want to overplay our part, where do new comedians go now?’
‘It was absolutely out of the blue,’ he continued. ‘Everything we were told in the past four or five years was that we were doing the job they wanted us to do. There had been no sense they were worried, and if they had said that we would have changed our bookings, but nobody said that.’
But why was Mock The Week axed? ‘Well, they’re sort of saying they are short of money, which is true,’ Dan told us. ‘But that always involves a choice. They’re not getting rid of everything, they’re still making some stuff.
‘They were also saying our ratings were low, although I think our ratings were just as good as the comparable show, your QI, The Ranganation, shows like that.
‘The other thing that complicates this is that we were asked to do a job; to bring new people in and all sorts of other groups, so if you’re concentrating on that and have fewer of the really big names, obviously it’s going to affect the ratings.’
Mock The Week’s cancellation comes one year after The Mash Report got the axe.
‘I also don’t think it’s a good look to be losing all your satire,’ Dan said. ‘At a time when the world is in such turmoil and at a time when the world is so weird, it’s great to have this because it’s like a safety valve.
‘I think people are angry and they love being able to laugh at stuff and maybe it makes people a little less angry and maybe that’s good for society. If we’re not holding politicians to account then who is?
‘I don’t want to slag off the BBC because they do have choices to make and we’ve had 17 very good years being supported by them and I’m very grateful for that.
‘But also at the same time, I feel this is the wrong decision.’
Mock The Week will air its final episodes in the autumn on BBC One.
