The second season of comedian Matt Berry’s (The IT Crowd, What We Do in the Shadows) Year of the Rabbit will not be happening. According to Deadline, Channel 4 has reversed its decision to renew the rookie comedy series. After initially greenlighting season two in February of last year, the British network was forced to pull the plug due to pandemic-forged budget cuts. The broadcaster estimates it lost £150M, roughly $205M U.S. dollars, because of the pandemic.
“We’re hugely proud of this hilarious and fearless comedy series,” a Channel 4 representative said via Deadline, “but as result of the impact of Covid on our schedules we have made the difficult decision not to enter into a second series with a heavy heart.”
According to Deadline, Berry wrote the series with Andy Riley (The Book of Bunny Suicides, Great Lies to Tell Small Kids) and Kevin Cecil (Hooves of Fire, Legend of the Lost Tribe). The show was a co-produced effort between Objective Media Group (OMG) and America’s IFC, a network owned by AMC.
“Year Of The Rabbit is a victim of the devastating effects of Covid,” OMG chief executive, Layla Smith, said via Deadline. “IFC are very committed to the show, but we will need to find another partner — and we’re working on that,” Smith said via Deadline.
According to Deadline, the show centered on Berry as a detective in Victorian London. He solved crimes with the help of a friend and the country’s first woman police officer played by Freddie Fox (White House Farm, Cucumber) and Susan Wokoma (Chewing Gum, Truth Seekers), respectively.
Apart from this series, Smith relayed that Berry is currently working on a new season of Toast of London, according to Deadline. The comedy series co-written by Arthur Mathews (Father Ted, Big Train) is in its fourth season and follows the misadventures of a working actor. Smith believes viewers could see Berry’s Toast venture stateside to Hollywood.
“The best thing I can imagine is Toast in his black suit, completely unchanged, in the midst of America,” Smith said via Deadline.
Year of the Rabbit is the second OMG project Channel 4 has departed, according to Deadline. The broadcaster collaborated with Netflix for season one of the comedy series, Feel Good, from Mae Martin (Comedians of the World, John Richardson: Ultimate Worrier). Now in its second season, Netflix will be the sole producer.