Mock the Week: Andy Parsons says panel show should be ‘put to bed’ after BBC cancellation

BBC panel show is ending after 17 years

Mock the Week should be “put to bed” rather than moved to a new channel after being cancelled by the BBC, comedian Andy Parsons has said.

On Tuesday (2 August), it was announced that the BBC had called time on the satirical panel show after 17 years and 21 series “in order to create room for new shows”.

A producer for the show said that the team was “naturally hugely disappointed that Mock the Week is coming to an end”, adding: “[We] hope that we will be able to resurface somewhere some day in the future.”

While creator Dan Petterson subsequently suggested that there had already been “conversations” about the show continuing in a new home, comedian Parsons – one of Mock the Week’s longest running panellists – has said that it should be laid to rest.

“Look, I think in a sense the producers are very keen for it to have another life because it obviously is important for their production company,” the comedian told Metro.co.uk.

“In terms of the show itself, if it was me, I would put it to bed quite happily and come up with a new idea.”

When Nish Kumar’s The Mash Report was cancelled by the BBC in March 2021 (also “in order to make room for new comedy shows”), it was later revived by the UKTV channel Dave as Late Night Mash.

Parsons on ‘Mock the Week' (BBC)

In October last year, Kumar stepped down as the rebooted show’s presenter.

He told The Independent that he left the show after the production team refused to give him a producer role, saying: “I felt to some extent like I was getting blamed for everything anyway, so I may as well have a say.”

Despite the BBC cancelling Mock the Week, Dara Ó Briain has spoken out in defence of the network, urging viewers to “fight to protect it”.

On Wednesday (3 August), Ó Briain was praised for “absolutely obliterating” Andrew Neil after he appeared to suggest that Mock the Week “deserved to be cancelled”.

Referencing Neil’s short stint at GB News, he tweeted: “Still, at least I didn’t bail on it after two weeks and f*** off to my house in France, eh Andrew? All the best! X.”

The final eight episodes of Mock the Week will air on BBC Two this autumn.