...but good news as Ghosts gets a launch date

Mock The Week and Have I Got News For You have joined the schedule casualties in the wake of the Queen’s death.

The BBC has also delayed the launched of  Am I Being Unreasonable?, the new comedy from This Country star Daisy May Cooper, by a week.

But in some good news, the fourth series of Ghosts has been given a launch date.

Dara O Briain had been due to host Mock The Week’s final run of episodes on BBC Two on Friday, but that will now start next Friday, September 23.

Meanwhile, this week’s episode of Have I Got News For You that was to feature  Henning Wehn, former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson and Labour MP Jess Phillips in the chair has also been pulled.

That was to have led in to the first episode of Am I Being Unreasonable?, which Cooper created with her real-life best friend Selin Hizli, which now airs on Friday September 23 at 9.50pm.

Earlier that evening, at 8.50pm, BBC One will air the first series of Ghosts series four, in which Mike and Alison welcome the first guests to their new bijoux B&B, determined to get a glowing review, whatever the cost.

Another casualty has been Dylan Moran’s new BBC Two comedy series Stuck, which had been due to launch last Thursday. It currently has no place in the schedules.

Earlier today it was announced that both Late Night Mash and The Russell Howard Hour would not be airing this week.

Broadcaster Dave says the Rachel Parris-fronted programme will not go ahead this Thursday ‘due to the satirical and topical news nature of the show’.

However, last week’s episode went out as planned – even though it aired just hours after the Queen’s death had been announced. The topical episode went out any adverts, with viewers seeing only broadcaster UKTV’s logo during the breaks

And Russell Howard wrote on Twitter earlier today: ‘Scheduling Update: Sky have taken the decision to cancel the record of the Russell Howard Hour due to the topical news nature of the show.  We will be recording next week as planned.’

The news was greeted with dismay from fans. One tweeted: ‘Crazy decision. What happened to us having minds of our own and choosing if we want to watch or not’; and another said: ‘It's not mandatory to watch it or come to the recording, is it? Why can't people choose for themselves? It's weird.’

Published: 13 Sep 2022