The Generation Game: BBC Axes Abysmal New Series

In the latest demonstration of BBC profligacy, the ailing national broadcaster has decided to axe the new series of The Generation Game after only one episode.

The BBC commissioned four episodes of the refreshed show last summer, with former Great British Bake-Off presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins fronting the new format. The first episode, coincidentally broadcast on 1st April, was panned by critics and viewers alike, with some of them branding it a "desperate performance" riddled with "canned laughter" and "toilet humour".

The Telegraph's Gerard O'Donovan gave the primetime show a dismal one out of five rating and described it as a "shameless carbon copy" of the much loved earlier versions hosted by the late Larry Grayson and Sir Bruce Forsyth.

The second episode is scheduled for broadcast tonight, but the remaining two are destined for the cutting room floor.

A source close to the production told the Sunday Express: "Each episode of the show would have cost between £500,000 to £750,000. One of the problems was renting a studio which was just too large. They then found that two of the episodes were unbroadcastable. They were canned."

The source added that it was highly unlikely the remaining episodes of the series, which cost an estimated £3m to produce, would ever be broadcast.

The episode broadcast on 1st April included a particularly cringeworthy segment where contestants tried their hand at sausage making. The Twitterati were quick to draw comparisons with the depraved goings on in Jimmy Savile's dressing room.

The Generation Game went through a "triple lock" commissioning process, whereby three senior BBC executives gave the joint go-ahead for the new version to enter production.

At the time of commissioning Charlotte Moore, the BBC Director of Content, said: "The Generation Game is an iconic BBC One show, so to be able to bring it back for today's audience with Mel and Sue overseeing things is a wonderful moment for the channel."

It appears the BBC has managed to slaughter the opportunity at considerable expense to the TV licence fee payer.

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