The most shocking TV show axings of 2024 – from The Masked Dancer to Doctors
WHILST 2024 has produced some phenomenal television, it has also been a year of fond farewells to a series of beloved shows.
From soap stalwart Doctors to popular ITV spin-off show, The Masked Dancer, a sea of fan favourites aired one last time before saying goodbye for good. The Sun has rounded up some of the biggest and best-known shows that TV bosses decided to give the boot too this year…
The Masked Dancer
Originating as a spin-off of The Masked Singer, the dancing equivalent was confirmed to be over earlier this year after failing in the ratings against a major rival.
The Sun were the first to report that bosses had decided to kill off the show, which first aired in 2021 with host Joel Dommett.
A TV insider said: “The Masked Dancer was always something of a tricky sell.
“But ITV thought it was worth taking a punt on a concept which had clearly struck a chord with the public as The Masked Singer.
“But they made the mistake of shifting it from a show that ran every night over a week, to a weekly show that aired on a Saturday night.
“That saw it go out on the same evening as Strictly Come Dancing, which is a very challenging rival.”
Doctors
The long-running BBC lunchtime soap opera ended for good last month after 23 years.
The corporation cited budget cuts as a reason leaving cast and crew devastated.
The move has been widely panned with industry leaders pointing out the show was a training hub and a major entry point into TV for working class talent.
A source said at the time: “Doctors has ticked along fairly quietly around the 1.3million viewers mark for years now without any word of cancellation, but the news will still come as a shock.
“Some of the cast and crew have been there since the soap first began and it really felt like a job for life, plus the soap is such a central pillar for the entire community – it employs so many contractors and freelance and is known to be a real rung on the ladders for British acting talent.
“While the impact on viewers might not seem huge, in terms of the industry this is seismic.”
Fans were left in tears as the show screened a final goodbye last month as the Doctors managed to band together to banish evil medic Graham Elton and stop his hostile takeover of the surgery.
Celebrity Cooking School
Channel 4 sliced and diced Celeb Cooking School from the schedule in a surprise move as revealed by The Sun earlier this year.
Stars including Sam Thompson, Kim Woodburn, Ann Widdecombe, Scotty T, Shaun Ryder, Kerry Katona and Toby Aromolaran were put through their paces on the programme which was hosted by recent I’m A Celeb star Melvin Odoom.
A source said: “The crew were a bit surprised Channel 4 decided not to proceed with a third series, which would have been filmed in Spring this year.
“The show was a hit with fans and produced some really good TV moments filled with hilarious innuendos and attracted high-profile stars for E4.
“Off camera there were plenty of fiery moments too given the diverse lineup.”
Ninja Warrior UK
ITV has called time on Ninja Warrior UK for a second time.
Whilst the show hasn’t aired new episodes since 2022, it was only this year that ITV bosses formally pulled the plug on the programme for good citing dire ratings and an inability to compete against the revived BBC juggernaut, Gladiators.
A source said: “For years Ninja Warrior was one of ITV’s biggest shows and scooped up all those families who missed Gladiators.
“Ben Shephard, Rochelle Humes, and Kammy made the series a big success.
“But when the BBC revived Gladiators last year, it sounded the death knell for ITV’s ninjas. It was an absolute ratings champion, pulling in over six million viewers versus 1.6 million for Ninja Warrior’s last series in 2022.
“A decision was therefore taken to rest Ninja Warrior for good.”
Ninja Warrior’s first series finale in May 2015 drew in 4.08 million viewers, with its best performance in February 2017 at 4.18 million.
Rise and Fall
Another show which failed to live up to one of its direct rivals was big-budget Channel 4 programme Rise and Fall – hosted by Greg James.
The show cost the broadcaster millions to make but barely millions tuned in to see what the programme was all about.
Despite being tipped as the new The Traitors, fans were left uninterested in the high-stakes drama.
A TV insider said: “This won’t come to a shock to anyone within the TV industry as Rise and Fall is widely considered to be a very costly flop.
“It is one of the most pricey productions Channel 4 have aired in recent years but there were high hopes it might tap into some of the energy of The Traitors which was an instant hit when it aired in 2022.
“There was a small chance that they might have had another stab at making Rise and Fall a hit, but in the current climate C4 can’t justify shelling out millions on a project that is unlikely to get the viewing figures.”
Britain Get Singing
Roman Kemp‘s festive singing special was confirmed to not be making a comeback this year despite a starry line-up.
The show featured a line-up of celebs each year vying to win the annual singing contest by impressing a superstar line-up of judges.
Competing in groups, faces from Love Island, EastEnders, Coronation Street and The Chase were among the stars who sang their hearts out all in the name of charity.
Airing each Christmas, fans relished seeing unlikely household names including Kate Garraway and Denise Welch belt out hits in a bid to win the show.
Drama Queens
The Sun were the first to tell how ITV had axed the first of its kind soap reality TV show after just one series earlier this year.
For the first time ever, soap’s most famous actresses opened up their lives and homes for the programme which followed their every move away from the show’s set.
The eight-part reality series launched earlier this year and followed female soap stars, including Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach, 23, Coronation Street‘s Lucy Fallon, 28 and Brooke Vincent, 32, and Hollyoaks’ Jorgie Porter, 36, and Jamelia, 43.
Emmerdale ladies Amy Walsh, Laura Norton and Roxy Shahidi were also on the bill as was former EastEnder, Rita Simons.
A telly source said: “Drama Queens was launched amid a lot of excitement and fanfare, but proved logistically quite difficult and expensive to make.
“Luring the talent to open up about their personal lives was costly and they all had busy filming schedules for their various acting jobs and family commitments.
“Plus the soap fanbase didn’t translate to automatic audiences as reality viewers tend to be quite a younger demographic.
“In the end producers decided it was best to leave it as a one off series and focus on new projects and trial new formats.”
Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream
Zoe Ball and Alan Carr’s musical bonanza was booted off the air for good after just one series earlier this year.
The show became an unexpected TV flop despite attracting big names to host and a lengthy promotional campaign.
The talent show found two brand new theatre stars to take on the lead roles as Sophie and Sky in the beloved production, which celebrates the music of Abba.
Zoe revealed the news live on-air during a BBC Radio 2 show.
Chatting on Radio 2, she said: “We’re not going back to Corfu [where the show was filmed].
“This time last year we were packing our bags to go there but – and it’s a shame.”
Guest Alan Carr, who was a judge on the series, replied: “I loved doing that show.”
The format was similar to that of the BBC competitions How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do, I’d Do Anything and Over the Rainbow which aired in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 respectively – proving the show can be remodelled and run as consecutive series.