Axed: Wright Way, Getting On and Heading Out... plus questions over Miranda

The BBC has axed Ben Elton’s much-derided sitcom The Wright Way – while there is a question mark over the future of Miranda.

The axe has also fallen on Jo Brand’s acclaimed hospital sitcom Getting On, as well as Sue Perkins’s series Heading Out.

Comedy boss Shane Allen made the announcements at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch today.

He said he was keen to commission a fourth series of Miranda, but Miranda Hart was finding it difficult to say yes amid other commitments.

She is embarking on an arena tour next year, when a sequel to her bestselling book Is It Just Me? is also due to be published. And she is also said to be working on a film project.

Meanwhile, Allen confirmed the unsurprising news that The Wright Way would not be returning.

The show was critically slated – the Mirror called it the worst sitcom ever – while its ratings started at a disappointing 2.16million, and tailed off.

Perkins’s Heading Out had a mixed critical reaction, and its first series of six episodes bowed out with 780,000 viewers in April.

But Getting On has been dropped despite its creators Jo Brand, Vicki Pepperdine, and Joanna Scanlan being nominated for the 2012 Royal Television Society Award and the BAFTA Award for comedy writing.

The show is currently being adapted for US audiences, with HBO giving the green light to six episodes starring Roseanne's Laurie Metcalf, Family Guy's Alex Borstein and Reno 911's Niecy Nash.

Published: 9 Jul 2013