The TV shows that were cancelled or ended in 2020

Of all the TV series that came to an end in 2020, which will you miss the most? Across the genres of current affairs, drama and entertainment, there were many programmes that were axed, abandoned or just came to a natural end.

Here’s a rundown of the most notable shows to have halted production forever in the last 12 months:

The Andrew Neil Show (BBC2)

After fearing that he might be made “surplus to requirements” in the event of cutbacks, political interviewer Andrew Neil did indeed have his self-titled show axed back in July. At the time, the BBC commented that they were in discussions with Neil about a new interview series.

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But the feared interrogator then announced in September that he was leaving the corporation completely to become chairman of new TV channel GB News.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)

Part four of the supernatural drama will drop on 31 December 2020, but this is the last we’ll be seeing of teenaged half-witch Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka) and co. The Riverdale spin-off, based on the Archie comic of the same name, is set to bow out with the coven fighting a series of new terrors, though fans will be disappointed that visits to Greendale are now finite.

Cold Feet (ITV)

Series nine of the feelgood comedy-drama will be the last we’ll see of the Manchester-based friends – at least for the time being. Creator Mike Bullen revealed back in February that he’s now resting his characters, with the aim of reviving them “when they are empty nesters staring down the barrel of grandparenthood”. Let’s hope it’s not too long before we get to see Granny Karen and Granddad Adam in action.

The Greatest Dancer (BBC1)

Despite insisting that it was “proud of the show”, the BBC still ended up cancelling this Saturday-night talent contest following the broadcast of its second series, which had lost out in the ratings against The Masked Singer and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV. For those in need of a reminder, it was Latin and ballroom duo Michael and Jowita who triumphed in the most recent final.

GLOW (Netflix)

Those Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling will not be back for their fourth season despite one episode having been filmed to the point of completion prior to the start of lockdown. The shooting of the remainder of the run was then abandoned in October, with GLOW deemed to be too “physically intimate” to go back into production under the current Covid restrictions.

Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule (ITV)

The big-collared comic’s aim with this daft panel game was to prepare a pod filled with the best of the planet’s endeavours in a bid to halt an alien invasion. He and his guests spent three series on the task before ITV announced back in February that there were no plans to bring it back. Hill then resurfaced later in 2020 on BBC2 with his World of TV, which lampooned different telly genres to great acclaim.

Homeland (Channel 4)

Showrunner Alex Ganza had hinted as long ago as 2018 that the fraught espionage drama would end with an eighth season, so it was no surprise to see Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) closing her case files.

Read more: The most popular shows of 2020

But before Homeland ended, it saved some major surprises for a suitably twisty series finale that rewarded the long-time devotees who’d been tracking events from the earliest episodes.

Keeping Faith (S4C/BBC)

That yellow raincoat got one more outing as Eve Myles’s lawyer heroine Faith returned for a third series on S4C in November. Production on the dual-language drama (known as Un Bore Mercher in Welsh) became more protracted than originally envisaged due to Covid, but English-speaking fans will get to see the final chapter in Faith and Evan’s divorce and custody battle on BBC Wales and BBC iPlayer in 2021.

Lee and Dean (Channel 4)

The situation comedy about two Stevenage builders and childhood friends ran for two series, but with coronavirus affecting Channel 4’s finances, the broadcaster opted not to make a third. Writers and stars Mark O’Sullivan and Miles Chapman expressed their hopes that they’d be able to finish the story in some form, before their alter-egos resurfaced in the podcast Self-Isolating with Lee and Dean.

Our Girl (BBC1)

A fifth series of the military drama will not be made following the exit of Michelle Keegan, who played Sergeant Georgie Lane.

Read more: Our Girl cancelled

Creator Tony Grounds said of the decision: “With the finale of series four showing Georgie ready to move on with her life, it feels like the right time for us to do the same.” Both writer and star are keen to work with each other again, so keep those fingers crossed for a return to duty for Georgie at some point.

Schitt’s Creek (Netflix)

This was the small-town-set sitcom that many viewers discovered while in lockdown – just at the point when it was ceasing production in Canada. The decision to end the series was made by its creators, father-and-son team Eugene and Dan Levy. But thanks to its current availability on Netflix, it’s likely that more people will be discovering the joys of life with the Rose family in the future.

This Country (BBC Three)

It was confirmed on Twitter in January that the third series of the mockumentary would be its last. Sibling stars Daisy May and Charlie Cooper decided to bring their hit sitcom to a close following the death of actor Michael Sleggs (aka Slugs), who had died from heart failure the previous year. “It was tough having to do it without him because he’s such a huge part of the show,” said Charlie.

Hear Daisy May Cooper talk more about working with her brother and why she’s hoping for a commercial deal with Greggs on White Wine Question Time. Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.

Timewasters (ITV2)

The four-piece south London jazz band time travellers will not be playing another set, as ITV has decided not to make a third series of this underrated sci-fi sitcom. Viewers who enjoyed the group’s exploits in the 1920s and then the 1950s will unfortunately be stuck in limbo, though star and writer Daniel Lawrence Taylor (who played band leader Nick) has told fans to “watch this space (-time continuum)” for some new projects.

The Trip (BBC/Sky)

It began as a low-key restaurant tour of northern England in 2010, but the banter between Steve Coogan and Roy Brydon (playing exaggerated versions of themselves) became so popular that the pair ended up taking more prestigious overseas trips. But the most recent – to Greece - will serve as a full stop. Joked Coogan: “I was going to say quit while you were ahead, but if that was the case, we’d have quit with series three.”

Victoria Derbyshire (BBC2)

The demise of the award-winning investigative news show was announced in January, with Derbyshire taking to Twitter to write that she was “absolutely devastated” by the decision – which she’d first learned about from a report in the Times. The move came as part of a cost-cutting drive at the BBC, though the presenter remains a news anchor and was also seen this year as a contestant on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here.

Watch Victoria Derbyshire reliving her biggest TV blunder