– say Brian May and the Manics

The Manic Street Preachers and Brian May have apparently lent their names to a new petition to save BBC comedy series Bellamy’s People.

An online campaign to bring back the BBC Two show, starring Rhys Thomas, Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Simon Day, has attracted a relatively modest 206 signatures – but they include the high-profile musical stars.

Although there is no guarantee that any of the names are genuine – Only Fools And Horses star Buster Merryfield apparently signed it, despite having died in 1999 – May’s, at least, is a genuine signature.

The Queen guitarist is a friend of Rhys Thomas, who played the hapless interviewer who toured Britain in the show, and has previously praised it on his website.

When the series launched in February, May wrote: ‘You gotta see this! No! I don't do adverts and, yes, Rhys Thomas is a great great mate of mine... but this is brilliant.’

The Manics are also known fans of the show, which currently features on a list of things the band have been enjoying on the front page of their website. However, their publicist has not responded to a request to confirm that their signature on the Petition Online website is genuine.

Last month, co-creator Higson revealed that BBC Two were not renewing the show, a spin-off from Radio 4’s spoof phone-in programme Down The Line, branding the corporation ‘silly twats’ over their decision.

Although critically praised, the show struggled to find an audience, with viewing figures sliding from 1.3million to under 900,000 over its eight-part run.

The petition is addressed to BBC comedy commissioner Cheryl Taylor and states that: "’The recent strategic review has made it clear that BBC Two must “establish a stronger and more distinctive role in comedy, supporting the cult classics of the future as well as new comedy with the potential to become the mainstream hits of tomorrow”. ‘We feel commissioning a second series of Bellamy's People - with its strong character-based comedy combined with cutting edge experimentation - would show strong willingness to meet this challenge.’

Here is a clip from the series:

Published: 1 Jun 2010