Why isn’t Charlie Brooker's Wipe of the Year on TV this Christmas?
There’s a Brooker-shaped hole in our BBC Christmas schedules this year
It was once a staple in our Christmas TV diet – Charlie Brooker’s acerbic review of the year would offer a large helping of sarcasm with a side of snide as he flicked a cutting eye over the events of the year.
Having broadcast his first review of the year in 2006, after the popularity of BBC Four series Screenwipe, the scathing Wipe of the Year continued for 10 years – moving over to BBC Two and expanding from thirty minutes to an hour.
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However, the future of the series was left in doubt after Brooker, 47, had to miss filming 2017’s Review of the Year due to his hectic schedule fronting Netflix dystopian anthology, Black Mirror.
Black Mirror’s hugely ambitious episodes has meant Brooker has now pressed pause on the Wipe series, choosing to focus on his Emmy–award winning series for the time being.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he explained, “In terms of like Wipe shows, Black Mirror takes up every spare moment that I have so at the moment it’s quite tricky.
“Who knows? I wouldn’t necessarily rule out an End of Decade Wipe or something like that.”
He then added, “Or an End of the World Wipe. That might be coming up soon.”
For those of us pining for Brooker’s savage musings over the saccharine season of good will, Judge Rinder will be hosting his own end of the year review show.
Rob Rinder’s Good Year Bad Year will broadcast over the Christmas period on Channel 4, which will see the judge explore this year’s talking points and news stories and deciding whether we’ve had a good year or bad year – along with some help with celebrity guests.
