The BBC\u2019s own statement cited the decision was driven by a desire to \u201ccreate room for new shows\u201d. But some fans on social media have also noted that it coincides with a time when the BBC is facing increasing challenges from the Conservative government.<\/p>\n
\u201cArguably the BBC\u2019s always been under under fire from certain sections of the press. They don\u2019t like the idea of a national broadcaster, and certainly Mock the Week in the early days,\u201d comedian Andy Parsons told RadioTimes.com<\/a> <\/strong>in the wake of the show\u2019s cancellation.<\/p>\n \u201cThey used to like to use it [Mock the Week] as a stick to beat the BBC with,\u201d Parsons told us. \u201cBut it\u2019s those same sections of the press, from what I\u2019ve been reading in the last couple of days, that are now bemoaning the Mock the Week that was, rather than the current Mock the Week, without realising that they of course, played some role in in changing the BBC compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cCertainly there were some cases of Mock the Week that reached certain notoriety. And, you know, everybody looks back with rose-tinted spectacles. But obviously, things changed since since we first started.\u201d<\/p>\n Parsons quit the series in 2015 after a decade as one of its regular panellists.<\/p>\n During our exclusive chat, he said that, in the wake of the show\u2019s cancellation, there had been an outpouring of support from \u201cpeople who are nostalgic for the past\u201d on his social media.<\/p>\n Explaining that he wasn\u2019t privy to why exactly the show had been ditched, Parson\u2019s said: \u201cThe pandemic has changed a lot of things, there\u2019s a lot of online stuff now.<\/p>\n \u201cThe BBC\u2019s looking at different ways and the Mock the Week obviously changed since its inception in 2006.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a political panel show and it arguably got the best comics at the time on the show,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd then gradually, over the course of a number of years, the BBC decided that actually the political comedy show was going to be Have I Got News For You and Mock the Week would be a showcase for younger comics who didn\u2019t necessarily have much grasp of politics or the news, they weren\u2019t interested in them. And therefore, inevitably, the show changed.\u201d<\/p> \u00d3 Briain himself referred to the series as \u201cDara and Hugh\u2019s Academy for Baby Comedians\u201d when he addressed its cancellation.<\/p>\n Despite this shift, Parsons still regards his time on the show as \u201ca brilliant opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDoing Mock the Week for for 10 years has given me the ability to go out on tour to all the wonderful theatres \u2013 virtually every town in this country has got some sort of theatre to be proud of. And it\u2019s lovely to be able to go out and tour and do them. And so I shall always be grateful for that opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Looking for something else to watch? Check out our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or visit our dedicated\u00a0Entertainment<\/a>\u00a0hub for more.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Lidia Molina-Whyte Published: Thursday, 04 August 2022 at 12:00 am Earlier this week, the BBC announced it would be cancelling Mock the Week after 17 years on air. Host Dara \u00d3 Briain joked that the UK had \u201cfinally run out of news\u201d, before adding that the satirical show couldn\u2019t be sillier than the news […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19773,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/people-used-mock-the-week-as-a-stick-to-beat-bbc-says-andy-parsons.jpg",1337,891,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/people-used-mock-the-week-as-a-stick-to-beat-bbc-says-andy-parsons-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/people-used-mock-the-week-as-a-stick-to-beat-bbc-says-andy-parsons-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/people-used-mock-the-week-as-a-stick-to-beat-bbc-says-andy-parsons-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/people-used-mock-the-week-as-a-stick-to-beat-bbc-says-andy-parsons-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/people-used-mock-the-week-as-a-stick-to-beat-bbc-says-andy-parsons.jpg",1337,891,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/people-used-mock-the-week-as-a-stick-to-beat-bbc-says-andy-parsons.jpg",1337,891,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lidia Molina-Whyte Published: Thursday, 04 August 2022 at 12:00 am Earlier this week, the BBC announced it would be cancelling Mock the Week after 17 years on air. Host Dara \u00d3 Briain joked that the UK had \u201cfinally run out of news\u201d, before adding that the satirical show couldn\u2019t be sillier than the news…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/19772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/11\/18104944-high_res-mock-the-week-s19-4318a13.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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