7 short-lived British TV shows you may remember that were cancelled after just one episode
Over the years a handful of TV shows have been cancelled after just one episode 😨📺
- Many TV shows have already been cancelled in 2025.
- Netflix, Disney, and terrestrial broadcasters can all be ruthless.
- But which shows didn’t even make it to a second episode?
Making a long-running TV show is a titanic effort and for every Midsomer Murders there are plenty of favourites that ended all too soon. In the age of streaming, fans are regularly left with a feeling of having the rug pulled out from under them after just a couple of seasons.
However, as tragic as it is for a television series to not get the opportunity to finish their story it could be a whole lot worse. Over the years, there have been a handful of British TV shows that didn’t even get to air a second episode after making a bad first impression.
We have combed back through the history of British TV to find seven shows that were axed after just one episode. Here are seven programmes that suffered this fate:
The Melting Pot - BBC - 1975
Back in 1975, the BBC had a very short lived sitcom called The Melting Pot. It was written by Spike Milligan, who also starred in the show in blackface and played an illegal immigrant called Mr Van Gogh.
A one-off pilot aired on BBC1 in June 1975, but five more episodes were commissioned and produced. But they were never broadcast.
The Debbie King Show - ITV Play - 2007
Hands up if you remember the controversial ITV Play channel from the early 2000s? One of its shows was hosted by Debbie King of Quizmania fame.
The Debbie King Show started late on March 5, 2007, and ran into the early hours of March 6. However, that would go on to be the final day of the channel and it never aired a second episode.
Kookyville - Channel 4 - 2015
Sketch shows have long been an important part of the British comedy scene. From Morecambe and Wise to Mitchel and Webb, you’ve probably seen plenty over the years.
In November 2015, Channel 4 started a new one called Kookyville which had the tag line: “These people are not actors or comedians, and there's no script...they're just real funny people."
Unfortunately it was met with scathing reviews and was cancelled after just one episode.
Host of the Week - Channel 4 - 2017
The world of unscripted comedy shows is a fiercely competitive one with plenty of legendary shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Have I Got News For You, and Mock the Week. One such show that did not enter the greater pantheon was Host of the Week.
Originally, Channel 4 ordered three episodes with the gimmick of having a different guest host each week who would be joined by a troupe of improvisational comedy performers. It was to be produced during the week it would be aired, to keep it topical.
Scarlett Moffat was on hosting duties for episode one, but it underperformed and the two other ones never ended up getting made.
The Chop: Britain's Top Woodworker - Sky History - 2020
Sky History hoped that it might have its own answer to popular reality competitions like The Great Pottery Throw Down (and of course Bake Off) back in October 2020. However, the show ended up only lasting one episode before being canned.
It was hit by controversy due to one of the 88 face-tattoo, which viewers quickly linked to Neo-Nazi and White Supremacy symbolism. The contestant had claimed it was in reference to the year his dad died, but it turned out his father was alive and well.
The Chop was suspended five days after its first episode on October 15, 2020. It was eventually cancelled completely.
Let’s Make a Love Scene - Channel 4 - 2022
This reality dating show had two episodes ordered, but it only lasted one episode. Hosted by Ellie Taylor it had the strange gimmick of making the single contestants recreate sensual scenes from popular films.
It was received negatively at the time and just aired one of the two planned episodes on May 13, 2022. The following week it was replaced on the schedule by 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Storms from Space - 5 - 2025
The most recent TV show to have the tragic fate of being cancelled after just one episode. It first aired on 5 on May 2 earlier this year and was due to return on May 9, but was replaced on the schedule and never came back. The one and only episode is available to watch via the 5 app until October 2028.
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