Nish Kumar: BBC must be clear over Mash Report axe

The BBC must put an end to the "useful myth" it has cracked down on left-wing comedy, according to the satirist Nish Kumar. Either that, or it should admit that a so-called "war on woke" really did happen.

What can we learn from the axing of The Mash Report?

Hopefully the series' legacy is continued in whatever show replaces it, but I doubt it will be.

Nish Kumar: show's axed, his political fight continues

Nish Kumar's satirical late-night show The Mash Report ran for four years on public broadcaster the BBC. Some believe it was a casualty of a "war on woke."

The team behind BBC2's The Mash Report have known since November that the show, hosted by Nish Kumar, was not going to be recommissioned by the Beeb, but the news only became public last week, when the Sun ran the story under the headline "Nish Mash Bosh".

The show's fourth series - which was scrambled together in April last year, so after the start of lockdown - had enjoyed its best ratings yet. The [o]BBC[/c] was happy about how it had done (it had outperformed average viewing figures for a 10pm slot on BBC2) and even started making noise about promoting it from one seires a year to two.

Then, in September, Tim Davie arrived as director-general, accompanied by excited noises in the Mail and Telegraph about a coming crackdown on ribald, leftie comedy, and the wind changed. After a long silence, the Beeb decided it couldn't stretch to two series a year, so would opt instead not to have any.

The Mash Report - which incidentally was just about the only TV comedy to feature a right-wing comedian, Geoff Norcott, almost every week - has already had interest from other broadcasters, meaning there's every chance it could end up as another Bake Off. But at least Davie's fans in the press are happy.

BBC flooded with complaints after axing The Mash Report

Fans have also launched a Change.org campaign calling for the BBC to save The Mash Report and over 10,000 people have signed it so far.

No, Nish Kumar's Mash Report hasn't been 'cancelled'

The BBC says The Mash Report's departure is going 'to make room for new comedy shows'. Here's hoping an actual comedy show, as opposed to whatever this was, replaces it.

Why they canned The Mash Report - it's unfunny

It wasn't too 'left-wing' - just painfully unfunny.

Seven hilarious Mash Report moments that went viral

The Mash Report has been responsible for numerous viral moments over the years, and here are 7 of the best.