Writer Linehan blames 'zero publicity'

BBC Two have axed their comedy series The Walshes – prompting accusations they did not do enough to back the show.

The BBC has confirmed it will not be commissioning any more episodes of the family comedy, starring Irish sketch troupe Diet of Worms.

It was originally made as a web series called The Taste of Home, before attracting the attention of IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan.

He directed a pilot for his own production company Delightful Industries, which became a three-part test series, originally broadcast on BBC Four last March before moving the BBC Two in December.

But last night Linehan, who also co-wrote the show, tweeted: ‘The Walshes there, which BBC2 dropped because it didn't find an audience after three episodes and zero publicity. ANYWAY…’

The BBC confirmed The Walshes would not be coming back – and when asked about how it supported the show, brought up Linehan’s other BBC Two show, Count Arthur Strong instead.

A spokesman told Chortle: ‘The BBC is very proud to have backed The Walshes – a mostly unknown cast doing their first TV gig - and it played out on BBC4 and had a  BBC2 repeat.

‘It's a very competitive environment and we can't bring all our shows back but we love working with Graham on Count Arthur Strong, now in its second series, and we’re delighted with the praise and support for that.’

In response to a fan who asked if the show could become a web series, Linehan responded: ‘Might come to that. Definitely don't want to let those characters go.’

The Walshes also aired on RTE One in Ireland and starred Niall Gaffney, Philippa Dunne, Amy Stephenson, Rory Connolly and Shane Langan

Published: 21 Jan 2015