British comedy icon Catherine Tate has revealed how she found out her Netflix comedy series Hard Cell had been canceled after just one season.
The prison comedy series was released in April 2022 and saw Catherine Tate (who also created and wrote the show) starring as a number of characters on both sides of the bars of HMP Woldsley.
During an appearance on the BBC Two Breakfast Show, Tate revealed that she was left to find out Hard Cell wouldn't be getting a second season on the grapevine.
"They had a change of staff and as happens when someone who has commissioned the show and then leaves, often they want to start afresh", the star said. "I kind of understand but it would've been nice for them to have told me."
Hard Cell is a workplace-style mockumentary that takes us behind the scenes at a fictional female prison. The series was set over six weeks, during a period where the inmates were rehearsing a version of West Side Story directed by former EastEnders star, Cheryl Fergison (who plays herself).
When she spoke to us about Hard Cell, Tate said: "In prison, inmates create their own families, networks and communities, and they have highs and lows, plus loves and fights, so it was nice to show how our prisoners start to bond over the musical. Things do get really emotional by the last couple of episodes and there's a twist to look out for."
Some of Catherine Tate's Hard Cell characters included Laura Willis (pictured above), HMP Woldsley's Governor and self-styled prison reformer, Ange, a timid first-time intimate, and Marco, a prison guard whose claim to fame was auditioning to be on Love Island. The cast also included Poldark's Christian Brassington, Sister Boniface Mysteries star Lorna Brown, Caroline Harding, Duncan Wisbey and Niky Wardley.
Tate was most recently seen on-screen in Queen of Oz, the BBC comedy series about the party girl Princess Georgiana, a fictional member of the Royal Family who is sent down under to keep her name out of the tabloid press!
All six episodes of Hard Cell are available to stream on Netflix, and Queen of Oz is on BBC iPlayer. If you're looking for a new show to stream, check out our recommendations for the best BBC comedies and the best Netflix shows we think you should be streaming right now.
