Channel 4 pulls out of Year Of The Rabbit Series 2
- Channel 4 has cancelled its order of Year Of The Rabbit Series 2
- Producers of the Victorian police sitcom are now seeking a new home for the series
- It is still planned to go ahead, receiving co-funding from US channel IFC, who are still attached
Channel 4 has withdrawn from the second series of Year Of The Rabbit.
Starring Matt Berry and Susan Wokoma, the period comedy was set to film a new series for the broadcaster and American co-commissioner IFC, but the network has now had to cancel its commission, citing advertising losses amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
The CEO of production company Objective Media Group told industry publication Deadline: "Year Of The Rabbit is a victim of the devastating effects of covid. IFC are very committed to the show, but we will need to find another partner - and we're working on that."
Having debuted in 2019, Series 2 of the Victorian-set detective sitcom was confirmed in early February 2020 before the full nature of covid-19 was known.
Written by Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil, it focuses on the unconventional DI Rabbit, his witless new Sergeant (Freddie Fox), and their Chief Inspector's daughter, Mabel, who fancies herself as Britain's first female detective.
The withdrawal of Channel 4 from the project puts an uncertain future on the second series. There is no guarantee that a new partner alongside US cable channel IFC would be British or not, nor whether it would be a streaming platform or television channel.
A Channel 4 spokesperson confirmed: "We're hugely proud of this hilarious and fearless comedy series, but as result of the impact of covid on our schedules we have made the difficult decision not to enter into a second series with a heavy heart."
Year Of The Rabbit is the second sitcom from which Channel 4 has withdrawn after a successful debut. It was announced in December that the channel had passed on a recommission of Feel Good, starring Mae Martin and Charlotte Ritchie. Also made by Objective, Netflix, which had co-commissioned Series 1 of the addiction comedy, picked up the exclusive UK rights to Series 2 in their absence.
As recently reported, Matt Berry is currently working on Toast In America, a BBC spin-off from his Channel 4 sitcom Toast Of London.