Beloved comedy series axed after six seasons on screens

A BELOVED comedy show has been axed after six seasons on air as TV cancellations continue.

Late Night Mash is the latest show to meet its fate and be consigned to the TV graveyard.

The weekly satire programme originally aired on BBC Two and was presented by Nish Kumar.

The broadcaster dropped the show in 2020 as ratings drastically fell.

But UKTV’s digital channel Dave stepped in and saved the much-loved programme and it returned with Kumar.

However, despite airing for two seasons, the channel has revealed they won’t be renewing the show.

In a statement a spokesperson for Dave said: “We are all immensely proud of the show and it has been a pleasure being able to bring it to the Dave audience, however, we can confirm that Late Night Mash will not return for another series.”

The most recent – and last – series of the show was presented by regular contributor Rachel Parris after Nish decided to quit.

Parris was thanked by the channel for making history by presenting the programme.

“We are hugely grateful to Rachel Parris, who made history as the first solo female host of a satirical news programme and who masterfully captained the cast of outstanding comics through the most recent series.

“And a massive thanks to Zeppotron [the show’s production company] for bringing Mash to us, we’d like to thank everyone involved in the show and we look forward to finding new ways to work together again in the future.”

Late Night Mash’s axe follows The Celeb Report exclusively revealing a BBC sitcom had been binned also.

The Witchfinder, which aired last March with Daisy May ­Cooper and Timy Key in leading roles, has been cancelled after just one series.

Steve, who co-produced the show, has already seen his BBC1 drama, The Reckoning, pushed back months due to the sensitivities of him playing sex monster Jimmy Savile.

A TV insider said: “The Witchfinder kicked off with decent ratings but quickly plunged to a level where execs just couldn’t justify giving it a second season.

“It’s fair to say the concept was fairly niche so it was always going to be tricky finding an audience, even on BBC2.

“But although it won’t be coming back, its departure does make way for new comedy projects on the Beeb.”