Nish Kumar and  Josh Widdicombe’s local newspaper series is axed

Nish Kumar and  Josh Widdicombe’s local newspaper series Hold The Front Page won’t be back for a third series, Sky has confirmed.

The show involved the comedians travelling across the UK to work as a journalists for a different local newspaper each episodes, including The Blackpool Gazette,  The Yorkshire Post and the Isle Of Wight County Press.

The Sun today reports that the show was dropped after two series because of poor ratings. While the broadcaster declined to comment further, a spokesperson did confirm to Chortle the programme would not be returning. 

It is understood the decision was made several months ago, but only reported now.

In a 2023 interview with The Observer, Kumar said: ‘We met a lot of great people and great newspaper editors while making this show, but we also felt a lot of that sinking feeling when you realise nothing has been set up for you and you have to go out there and find something to write up.’

While Widdcombe, who studied journalism, said in the same article that the show was important in highlighting the role of proper reporting.

He said: ‘The papers we worked on are at the centre of their communities and rightly take it very seriously. It seems good to show this at a time when social media has done a lot of damage to the idea of journalism.

‘You are always nervous before a new show goes out on air, but I’m not sure I’ve ever had such a positive reaction. I think it is because people can see it has its heart in the right place.’

His optimism might have been misplaced as the show scored only a modest 5.8 out of 10 from viewers leaving their opinion on IMDB. 

Published: 8 May 2025