Satirical show cancelled for a second time

Dave has cancelled Late Night Mash after two series.

The broadcaster had previously rescued the topical show when its predecessor, The Mash Report, was cancelled by the BBC after four series in 2020.

At the time, suspicions were raised that the Corporation’s director-general Tim Davie had bowed to political pressure in axing the Nish Kumar-fronted show amid Tory fury over its perceived left-wing bias.

Kumar presented the first series for Dave, then handed over to Rachel Parris, who had been a regular contributor since the beginning.

Now the British Comedy Guide has revealed that the Dave version will not be coming back for a third series.

A spokesperson for the broadcaster told the site: ‘We are all immensely proud of the show and it has been a pleasure being able to bring it to the Dave audience, however, we can confirm that Late Night Mash will not return for another series.

‘We are hugely grateful to Rachel Parris, who made history as the first solo female host of a satirical news programme [in the UK] and who masterfully captained the cast of outstanding comics through the most recent series.

‘And a massive thanks to [programme-makers] Zeppotron for bringing Mash to us, we'd like to thank everyone involved in the show and we look forward to finding new ways to work together again in the future.’

Introducing the first show of the Dave run, Kumar joked: ‘I’m Nish Kumar and I was cancelled by the BBC. And like everybody who’s been "cancelled", I got a new television show on a different channel and I’m more unapologetic than ever."

Other regular contributors included comics Geoff Norcott,  Catherine Bohart, Ahir Shah and Fin Taylor, plus Steve N Allen and Ellie Taylor as spoof newsreaders.

The first Dave series launched with an overnight audience of 317,000, but this slipped to 137,000 on average over the run. Parris’s first of eight shows  in 2022 was seen by 183,000 viewers on its first airing.

Published: 10 Mar 2023