Raised By Wolves cancelled by Channel 4
- Channel 4 has cancelled Raised By Wolves after just two series
- The writers and producers are launching a fan-backed campaign to save the sitcom
- Co-writer Caitlin Moran is inviting viewers to join their "rebel alliance"
Raised By Wolves has been cancelled by Channel 4 after two series.
The sitcom, created and written by sisters Caitlin Moran and Caroline Moran, follows the lives of Wolverhampton's Garry family, struggling on the breadline: mother Della; her father, Grampy; and children Aretha, Germaine, Yoko, Wyatt and Mariah.
Following a pilot episode broadcast at Christmas 2013, two series were made by production company Big Talk for the channel, broadcast from March 2015 and 2016, respectively.
The most recent series attracted an average audience of 870,000 viewers in overnight figures, but proved popular on streaming catch-up service All 4 and gained critical acclaim, and a large, devoted fanbase.
Now, the producers intend to harness the show's fanbase in a "rebel alliance" to revive the sitcom for a third series without Channel 4's involvement. Caitlin, a popular columnist and author, launched the push today with the following video message:
Fans are being asked to Like the programme's official Facebook page; follow a new Twitter campaign account; another new account on Instagram; and engage on all social media platforms with the hash-tag '#upthewolves'.
Speaking to British Comedy Guide, Caitlin and Caroline say:
"In the month that Caroline Aherne died, it seems particularly dolorous that the only remaining British sitcom about working class women - Raised By Wolves - was axed by Channel 4. But, thankfully, being working class women, we don't take an axing lying down. We're pretty sure that - with 1.3m viewers and a Rose D'Or nomination - there's enough love for Raised By Wolves for it to continue; and so we're starting the fightback RIGHT NOW. After all, if a sitcom about teenage girls who quote Orwell, and a single-mother who styles her parenting chops after those of Ripley in Alien, isn't worth fighting for, then what is?
"We've been thrilled to see how many people want to come along for the ride on social media. Within an hour of the campaign launching on Twitter, Jess Philips MP was drafting a question to be asked in the House of Commons: "Does the minister agree that a positive not pitiful view of working class life in the Midlands is essential viewing?" - and fans were alternately furious and desolate that their favourite show had gone, with over 2,000 messages of support in the first hour alone. Then Caitlin went for a fag, and missed another 500. By the time she'd got back, her timeline was flooded with Della and Germaine memes, which made her cry a bit.
"What we're asking is very simple - if you loved the show, "Like" our Facebook page, and come along for the next stage in our REVOLUTIONARY PLAN."
Details of the plan to revive the show are yet to be confirmed but it is likely to see the comedy become an independent web-published series, rather than a television programme. It is also possible that the programme could be picked up by a streaming service such as Amazon Prime or Netflix but this would depend upon the perceived interest in the show from the public, hence the new campaign to build followers across social media platforms.
2014 Channel 4 comedy Scrotal Recall was recently picked up by Netflix after being cancelled by the broadcaster, whilst Charlie Brooker's black comedy-drama anthology series Black Mirror was poached from the network in a bidding war by the US-based company.