With the BBC setting a target to slash 100 hours of TV shows this year, the bloodbath’s body count is comparable with a Line Of Duty-style murder spree.
Not one genre has been spared, with the axe wielded over everything from drama, to quiz shows to comedy.
The BBC is seeking to make £500 million of savings in the face of high inflation and a two-year freeze to the price of a TV licence, which provides most of its funding, making for some recent ruthless decisions.
The release of the corporation’s Annual Plan last month shows that in the next 12 months viewers will be getting fewer new shows, with 105 hours less of original TV programming in the year ahead and repeats and foreign shows used to fill the gaps.
So who has fallen victim to the BBC bloodbath?
With the BBC setting a target to slash 100 hours of TV shows this year, the bloodbath’s body count is comparable with one of its onscreen murder sprees (pictured James Nesbitt in Bloodlines)
Drama
While the Annual Plan confirmed that dramas including Call The Midwife, Death In Paradise and Shetland would return, a dip of 13 per cent in hours for ‘first-run original drama’ is a particularly tough blow for viewers.
The decision to axe popular daytime soap Doctors makes up the bulk of those hours but there’s still additional cuts including the James Nesbitt starring drama Bloodlines.
It was reported this week that the crime drama has been cancelled after just two series following a poorly performing second series.
With Nesbitt at the helm its debut episode in 2021 achieved a mighty 10 million views, however with its 2022 series two counterpart received under four million.
Now, with no episodes having aired in 2023, it is thought that the BBC has finally axed the Northern Irish thriller.
Another crime drama to fall victim to the cutthroat corporation is Better which has been shelved after just one series.
The five-part TV show aired in February last year and followed a corrupt police detective who attempts to get out from under the thumb of a powerful criminal.
The series received mixed reviews and decent ratings, but the BBC has decided to pull the plug.
Another crime drama to fall victim to the cutthroat corporation is Better which has been shelved after just one series (Leila Farzad pictured on show)
BBC drama Champion, which launched last year, will not be returning with show writer Candice Carty-Williams announcing the decision (Déja J Bowens pictured)
Champion, which launched last year, will also not be returning with show writer Candice Carty-Williams announcing the decision last month.
The series followed the lives of siblings Vita (Déja J Bowens) and Bosco (played by Malcolm Kamulete) as they battled to make it in the UK music industry.
Doctors was axed by the BBC after 23 years due to the service struggling with falling ratings and rising costs
It featured hits from So Solid Crew, Sugababes, grime rapper Ghetts and Ray BLK, who starred in the programme as Vita’s best friend Honey.
In an update shared to Instagram, Candice wrote: ‘The good news is, Champion was watched by — now I’ve seen the numbers — millions of you, was in the top 10 in so many majority Black countries… the sad news is that Champion won’t be coming back.
Even the BBC juggernauts aren’t safe with the showrunner of Doctor Who, Russell T Davies, warning that ‘the end of the BBC’ is ‘undoubtedly on its way’.
Davies said before he agreed to return to the show, he had already said Doctor Who should become a co-production with Disney, as the BBC would not be able to fund it to compete with streaming giants.
News
BBC Scotland bosses made their own headlines when they recently axed the flagship news and current affairs programme on the corporation’s digital TV channel after a long-running row over low viewing figures.
The Nine was branded a ratings flop after its launch in 2019 but survived rounds of cuts after broadcasting chiefs rallied behind the hour-long show – originally hosted by Martin Geissler and Rebecca Curran.
Subject to Ofcom approval, it will now be replaced by a half-hour news show to be aired two hours earlier – at 7pm – as part of a raft of changes including a regular extension to the running time of Reporting Scotland on BBC One.
In December the BBC dramatically axed A Question of Sport after running for more than 50 years
Quiz and panel shows
In December the BBC dramatically axed A Question of Sport after running for more than 50 years.
Making the shock announcement, the Corporation blamed inflation and dwindling ratings as the long-running sports quiz show that spanned more than 1,300 episodes was cancelled.
The decision to halt production comes after long-running host Sue Barker was sacked, sparking fury among viewers.
The show first debuted in 1970, and initially fronted by former Match of the Day reporter David Vine, but is best known for being presented by Barker, who captained the programme for 24 years.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist joined the programme in 1997 quickly progressing to become the face of the show.
The former tennis star was removed from the programme with captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell, so that bosses could draft in fresh talent to revamp the long-running sports quiz.
Paddy McGuinness was brought in to QofS in 2021, joined by two new team captains. Paddy, who is fronting a new Radio 2 show, has had his own BBC bloodbath in recent years
Paddy McGuinness was brought into to replace Barker in 2021. Olympian Sam Quek and retired rugby star Ugo Monye replaced Dawson and Tufnell as team captains.
Paddy, who is fronting a new Radio 2 show, has had his own BBC bloodbath in recent years with his talent show I Can See Your Voice dropped after two series while Catchpoint was also axed from its Saturday evening primetime slot.
Daytime gameshow Unbeatable, hosted by comedian Jason Manford, was cancelled back in December after two series.
Launched in 2021, the general knowledge gameshow offered contestants the chance of pocketing £1,000.
In October, it was reported the network had decided to rid their schedule of Sitting On A Fortune, hosted by Gary Lineker and Moneyball, presented by Ian Wright.
Meanwhile one of the BBC’s most prolific stars Richard Osman, creator of quiz show Pointless, has warned the corporation will have to adapt how they work as they have less funds that they used to.
‘The BBC has pretty much run out of money. All those mid-level programmes are sort of done,’ he predicted on his The Rest Is Entertainment podcast.
‘Everything has to sing for its supper now. Everything now how to pay its way in three different ways.
‘It has to pay its way in ratings, then it has to pay its way in repeatability and it has to pay its way in international sales.’
Daytime gameshow Unbeatable, hosted by comedian Jason Manford (pictured here in 2020), has been cancelled after two series
Comedy
It was announced last week that hugely popular comedy Motherland has been axed after three seasons despite winning the BAFTA award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2022.
Diana Morgan, one of the shows leading women who plays single mother Liz, revealed that BBC bosses have decided to drop the show.
The 48-year-old told RadioTimes: ‘I hate to say it because I still get women running up to me with prams in the street asking me when it’s coming back.’
However, she did drop hints that a spin-off featuring Lucy Punch’s character Amanda is in the works.
She said: ‘It’ll live on through her. The ladies with the prams will be pleased, hopefully.’
Catherine Tate drew the short straw over Christmas as the BBC axed her latest TV show after just one series.
It was announced last week that hugely popular comedy Motherland has been axed after three seasons despite winning the BAFTA award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2022
Catherine Tate drew the short straw over Christmas as the BBC axed her latest TV show after just one series
The comedienne’s latest show Queen Of Oz has been dropped by channel after its debut run, according to TV Zone.
Catherine played the leading role as Princess Georgina, a royal party girl sent to by her father after she was plastered all over the tabloids after going from one PR catastrophe to the next.
Children’s
The Annual Plan for the BBC stated that there will be ten fewer hours committed to new content across CBBC and CBeebies this year.
It added the cuts to children’s programming ‘reflects the continued need for children’s content to have high production values to cut through strong international programming from global streamers and the continuing power of social media and YouTube.’
The Annual Plan for the BBC stated that there will be ten fewer hours committed to new content across CBBC and CBeebies this year
Johnny Ball – who previously fronted the likes of Think a Number and Play School for the broadcaster – has criticised the BBC’s decision to move children’s programming to dedicated channels.
In 2002, the corporation relaunched CBBC as a separate channel, and the 81-year-old star has insisted such moves marked a shift in viewing habits.
‘The BBC destroyed children’s TV by giving it its own channels. Blue Peter on one occasion last year recorded no viewers,’ he told the Telegraph in January.
Reality
BBC’s bloodbath deepened when they also waved goodbye to the celeb-fronted reality TV show Project Icon after just one series.
Project Icon will not return to the channel, with a spokesperson saying ‘there are currently no immediate plans for an additional series’.
Jordan North hosted the music competition devised by singer Jason Derulo, 34.
Jason, his manager Frank Harris and British singer Becky Hill mentored 10 aspiring recording artists as they were set challenges to compete for a life-changing prize.
BBC’s bloodbath deepened when they also waved goodbye to the celeb-fronted reality TV show Project Icon after just one series
Alison Hammond’s hopes for a major Saturday night show have reportedly been dashed, after her glitzy new dance series was scrapped by BBC bosses
The winner secured a record deal, a collaboration with Jason himself and got to perform at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
Alison Hammond’s hopes for a major Saturday night show have reportedly been dashed, after her glitzy new dance series was scrapped by BBC bosses.
The presenterhad filmed a pilot for a new show titled Clear The Dance-floor, but sources claim the channel won’t be making a full series.
This comes after Alison’s other BBC hit, I Can See Your Voice, was reportedly axed last year, with the popular presenter now working in the majority for ITV as part of its This Morning team and on Channel 4’s Bake Off.