Channel 4 has made the shock decision to cancel an award-winning show that has reportedly been a ratings success since it launched earlier this year.
It comes after a string of cancellations including big name programmes likeSteph’sPacked Lunch, Bafta-winning The Big Narstie Show, The Circle, and the pausing of filming for 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Earlier this year, the network warned there would be job cuts as it tightened its budget amid a downturn in TV advertising.
The latest casualty of the broadcaster’s changes is The Gathering. Despite strong ratings and multiple awards, the psychological thriller series has been axed after just one season.
Created by the producers behind Line of Duty, the show was billed to be a streaming success, but appears not to have lived up to expectations.
Released earlier this year, the six-part series set in Merseyside followed a mixed group of teenagers, one of whom is suspected of attacking a girl at a rave in the area.
Starring Saltburn actor Sadie Soverall as protagonist Jessica, and Black Mirror and Sherlock star Vinette Robinson as Natalie, her mother, it aimed to explore the tensions between parents and their children across generations.
Executive producer Simon Heath described it as “an exploration of toxic teenagers - and their even more toxic parents”.
“The series performed very well for Channel 4 but there are new people in charge and new priorities, meaning The Gathering won’t be coming back,” Heath told The Sun.
The show won awards in all the categories in which it was nominated, at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in June.
Warren Brown, who has previously appeared in Ten Pound Poms, starred in The Gathering as Paul who is facing jail after a brutal attack in a park.
Brown won the Best Actor award for his performance, while new actor Eva Morgan, who played Paul’s gymnast daughter, won Best Actress. The show also won Best Series at the Festival.
Although the show was a success with critics, Broadcast reported that viewership fell to 590,000 by the second episode of the show.
The show was directed by Gareth Bryn and Bafta-nominated director Amanda Blue.
Regarding the changes hinted at by Heath, Deadline reports that Channel 4 TV drama was recently taken over by Film4 boss Ollie Madden, with Caroline Hollick exiting.
His early commissions have included a Margaret Thatcher series starring Alan Partridge comedian Steve Coogan and Killing Eve’s Harriet Walter and a series adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses starring The Fall’s Gillian Anderson.
