Mock the Week axe was 'tough decision', says BBC unscripted boss
We've been promised "a terrific final hurrah" for the long-running panel show.
The cancellation of the long-running series Mock the Week was spurred by the BBC having to make "tough financial decisions", according to the broadcaster's director of unscripted programming.
Speaking at this year's Edinburgh International TV Festival, Kate Phillips also suggested that the panel show's axing would allow the BBC to explore new ideas and formats.
"It's all about trying new things," said Phillips. "Mock the Week has been a fantastic series, it's been on air for a very long time and we've got to take tough financial decisions and we want to create headspace for new ideas.
"There's still a lot of satire on the BBC and Mock the Week will have a terrific final hurrah this autumn."
She also dismissed the suggestion that the BBC is moving away from political satire. "There was no decision about 'we can't do so much satire, we have to behave ourselves' – absolutely not, our satire story will always be strong, but it's like, what's the next idea that's coming through?"
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It was first reported earlier this month that Mock the Week would be ending after 17 years and 21 seasons, with host Dara O Briain saying at the time: "The storylines were getting crazier and crazier; global pandemics, divorce from Europe, novelty short-term Prime Ministers. It couldn’t go on. We just couldn’t be more silly than the news was already."
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com in the wake of the news, comedian and former show regular Andy Parsons suggested that the series had gradually moved away from political satire across its run.
"It was a political panel show and it arguably got the best comics at the time on the show," said Parsons.
"And then gradually, over the course of a number of years, the BBC decided that actually the political comedy show was going to be Have I Got News for You, and Mock the Week would be a showcase for younger comics who didn't necessarily have much grasp of politics or the news, they weren't interested in them. And therefore, inevitably, the show changed."
Read more coverage from the Edinburgh International TV Festival 2022:
- Heartstopper team tease season 2 plans and talk spin-off potential
- Heartstopper boss talks why they had to change Nick's journey for TV
- Channel 4 boss on Big Brother return: 'Reviving old shows is depressing'
- Armando Iannucci dismisses Doctor Who "woke" criticism, backs "colourblind" casting
- ITV boss backs Emmerdale and Coronation Street schedule change
- ITV boss reveals why the channel is resurrecting Big Brother
- Walk the Line and The Games both cancelled at ITV
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
