BBC axes King Gary and Goes Wrong Show
- BBC One has dropped sitcoms King Gary and The Goes Wrong Show, after two series each
- The corporation is seeking to save costs and "shift ... away" from traditional broadcast channels
The BBC has axed both The Goes Wrong Show and King Gary.
It has also dropped reality format Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof, which was co-hosted by Lee Mack.
The corporation has recently been setting out plans and exploratory pathways for its future, including a further shift away from broadcasting by radio waves, and towards digital distribution of channels via internet connections.
One of the documents associated with the plans explains: "We will continue to shift funding away from content primarily aimed at broadcast channels. We have already cut 1,000 originated hours on television. That has meant tough decisions on long-running titles like Holby City, Doctors, A Question Of Sport and Autumnwatch, and newer titles like I Can See Your Voice, Freeze The Fear, King Gary, The Goes Wrong Show."
King Gary, co-written by and starring comic Tom Davis, followed three generations of an aspirational working class family, with the eponymous mid-generation husband, father and son constantly pulled between his parents, wife, neighbours and colleagues. Produced by Shiny Button, it ran for two series between 2018 and 2021.
The Goes Wrong Show, meanwhile, offered a television outing for the Mischief Theatre company: creators, producers and stars of a string of hit West End and touring stage productions, each built around a (fictional) school drama group attempting to put on a play - with ever-escalating, disastrous results.
The Play That Goes Wrong was their first and most successful production. Premiered in 2012 it is approaching its tenth anniversary in its current West End venue. It has not been directly adapted for television, but in 2016 the group filmed a version of their festive play Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and penned a TV original special, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, in 2017.
Written by and starring Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis and Henry Shields, the group also includes Charlie Russell, Dave Hearn, Bryony Corrigan, Nancy Zamit, Chris Leask, Greg Tannahill and Ellie Morris. Produced by Mischief Screen and Big Talk, it also ran for two series, between 2019 and 2021.
The Goes Wrong Show Series 1 averaged around 1.5 million viewers, whilst Series 2 averaged just over 1 million. King Gary's first series averaged an audience of around 1.2 million viewers and its second averaged 810,000 viewers.
The cancellation of Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof was first reported in January. The format ran for a single series in 2022.
The Goes Wrong Show - Series 1
The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society undertake another (overly) ambitious endeavour, held back by prolific over-actor Robert Grove, the screen-hogging Sandra Wilkinson and the artistically mistrusted Dennis Tyde.
Six brand new, hand-crafted, half hours of theatrical catastrophe include the gripping courtroom drama A Trial To Watch and World War II spy thriller The Pilot (which is not the pilot). The Goes Wrong Show is simply Mischief's biggest disaster yet.
First released: Monday 10th February 2020
DVD- Distributor: Lionsgate
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Minutes: 175
- Subtitles: English
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The Goes Wrong Show - Series 2
Once again, Cornley Drama Society return to the BBC with six shows performed live for the public to 'enjoy'. Sadly, they are as inept as ever, this time with the added complication of an internal feud that spills out into open, incompetent warfare.
First released: Monday 20th December 2021
DVD- Distributor: Lionsgate
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Minutes: 171
- Subtitles: English
- Catalogue: LID96029
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