BBC One axes Me And Mrs Jones
BBC One has declined to order a second series of new relationship sitcom Me And Mrs Jones.
Created and written by Fay Rusling and Oriane Messina, the series followed the blossoming and unexpected romance between single mother of three, Gemma Jones (Sarah Alexander) and Billy (Robert Sheehan), the new 20-something friend brought home from a backpacking holiday by her adult son, Alfie.
After years of being a mum rather than a woman, Gemma suddenly found herself drawn between the attentions of the young and exciting Billy, and those of sensible, stable, but slightly boring single-father, Tom (Nathaniel Parker).
The cancellation leaves fans with an unresolved cliffhanger as to the characters' fates.
Speaking to British Comedy Guide today, Messina and Rusling said: "We were obviously disappointed to hear Me And Mrs Jones didn't get a second series. We had such a wonderful crew and cast on the show and Sarah and Robert's on screen chemistry was palpable.
"Despite the show having such amazing, passionate fans and online support with one of the highest commented-upon blogs on the BBC site we just didn't manage to get the viewing figures in a very competitive time slot. It's sad when any show ends, and those six episodes explored a relationship we are sad not to conclude properly - but in your heart you know which way Gemma went."
The series ran for six episodes during October and November 2012, but failed to secure high enough ratings in its 9:30pm Friday slot to ensure a recommission. It faced varied and strong competition including I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, an England football match, popular discussion show Piers Morgan's Life Stories, and a two-week break between its fifth and sixth episodes, making way for Children In Need. The break resulted in a dramatic audience drop to 1.72 million.
Averaging more than 2.5 million viewers across the series, individual episode figures were broadly comparable with many of those achieved by Would I Lie To You? and Live At The Apollo in the same slot in Autumn 2011.
Whilst it divided opinion on our forums, Me And Mrs Jones proved to be the second most visited programme guide at British Comedy Guide during its transmission, losing out only to BBC Two's Hebburn throughout the whole of the Autumn and early Winter period. It also attracted plenty of comment on microblogging network Twitter, with a notable inclination in favour of the show, particularly from the under-served female demographic.
Despite the axing of the series, star Sarah Alexander evidently proved popular with BBC One bosses as she stars alongside Rob Brydon in the channel's Christmas trailers:
The following clip shows Billy and Gemma together in the second episode of the series: