BBC drops sitcom after its third series

The BBC is pulling the plug on Count Arthur Strong’s TV show.

Created by Steve Delaney and co-written by Graham Linehan, the sitcom was moved to prime-time for its third series.

But it only averaged around 1.2million viewers in its 8.30pm BBC One slot – no more than it got at 10.30pm.

The BBC told RadioTimes.com, which broke the news: ‘There are no current plans for a further series of Count Arthur Strong on the BBC.’

Linehan will continue to work for the Corporation, and is writing a six-part series of Motherland with Holly Walsh, Sharon Horgan and his wife Helen, following a successful pilot last year.

As well as Delaney in the title role, the comedy featured Rory Kinnear as his baffled friend Michael and a cast including Dave Plimmer, Bronagh Gallagher, Andy Linden, Chris Ryman and  Zahra Ahmadi.

Delaney created Count Arthur in the 1980s, when he was a drama student at Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He was resurrected for the clubs in the late 1990s and became a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, spawning a Radio 4 series that ran from 2005 to 2012. A number of Christmas specials have followed, the latest being last year.

Published: 7 Aug 2017