Alan Davies criticises BBC over Whites axe

Alan Davies has criticised the BBC over its cancellation of the BBC Two comedy Whites.

The six-part comedy aired on BBC Two in the Autumn of 2010 and starred Davies as chef Roland White. Amongst the cast were also Katherine Parkinson and Darren Boyd. It was revealed earlier this year that Whites was not returning to BBC Two for a second series. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph the actor criticised the decision to axe the comedy.

“I got an email informing me of the cancellation from someone I’d never met. I’ve been working at BBC Comedy for 16 years, so I thought I could have had a bit more than that. It was pretty shoddy….”They’re not interested in anything I’ve taken to them in the last 15 years. They’ve canned Jonathan Creek and they’ve canned Whites. I was hugely disappointed that Whites was cancelled. It’s such a shame for the BBC not to back two young English writers doing their first show.” – Alan Davies speaking to The Daily Telegraph

BBC Two has recently ordered new seasons of Rev, Grandma’s House, Episodes and Miranda which will move to BBC One for its next series because of its ratings success. The last episode of Jonathan Creek to air was the 2010 Easter Special, The Judas Tree, which had 6.6 million viewers. As yet the BBC has not announced it is to order any further episodes of the quirky drama. However, there was a five year gap between the end of season four in 2004 and the 2009 New Year Special, The Grinning Man.