BBC says 'no more' to acclaimed stand-up show

The BBC will not be renewing Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle.

BBC funding cuts have been blamed for the decision, forcing the comedy department to concentrate on scripted shows.

All the other stand-up on TV is made by the corporation’s entertainment department which, Lee said: ‘I am sure you will agree, isn’t me.’

The comedian broke the news his newsletter tonight, saying he was ‘grateful for a quick answer’ from the broadcaster, just weeks after the fourth series aired.

He said that the run achieved a consolidated million viewers per episode, in line with previous seasons, and ‘personal feedback from viewers was great’.

He added: ‘I am really glad to have produced 12 hours of stand-up with an old school 20th Century BBC logo on it. The team I got to work with were all superb, including [executive producer] Richard Webb, Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, [director] Tim Kirkby and regular cast members Kevin Eldon, Paul Putner and Tara Flynn. And the last episode of SLCV4 was my favourite of the 24 we made over the ten years.’

'Looking around The Machynlleth Comedy Festival last weekend I realised how lucky I had been to be the comedian that got to do four series like this.'

And he signed off with: ‘Thanks for watching.’

 The DVD of series 4 will be released on Monday October 10, and Lee revealed that there will be a book of the annotated texts of all four series further down the line.

Lee will now tour with Content Provider, ‘a proper big-ideas piece of work’ which will be a work-in-progress until the end of this year, including an Edinburgh Fringe run, followed by a full 18-month tour starting in 2017.

Published: 6 May 2016