The BBC has decided to scrap a long running talk show after eight series on air.
Since 2020, fans have loved delving into the world of literature with Between the Covers, which sees Sara Cox chatting to celebrity guests about their favourite books.
Over the years, the show has featured everyone from Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Will Young to Nish Kumar and new MasterChef host Grace Dent.
However, the BBC has announced programme has been cancelled with no series planned to air this autumn, meaning 2024’s eighth batch of episodes will be the last.
In a statement, the broadcaster said: ‘After eight series we have made the difficult decision to bring Between the Covers to an end to enable us to prioritise high-impact content that drives viewers to iPlayer.
‘We would like to thank Sara Cox and all the team at Cactus TV for their hard work bringing Between the Covers to our screens.’
The decision to axe the show hasn’t gone down well with fans, with some arguing that shows like Mrs. Brown’s Boys – which has proven divisive over the years with declining ratings – should be pulled instead.
X user @emily_glenister wrote: ‘Between the Covers (spreading the word about books & culture, getting people back in to reading, introducing viewers to new genres / authors): ❌
‘Another series of Mrs Brown’s Boys: ✅✅✅
‘Nice own goal @BBC’
‘Devastated. Mrs Brown’s Boys ran their race ages ago,’ agreed @dan_stubbings, while @84Dippy revealed they were ‘absolutely gutted’ by the news, and others branded the decision ‘ridiculous’.
Fan @NicoleaKwrites argued: ‘What a nonsense decision! The BBC are basically a self parody at this point.’
‘Really bad decision. Only show I actually watch on the BBC,’ @clarejk chimed in, as @PippyG82 said: ‘This is sad – really enjoyed this programme and bought 9 books as a result of watching. Stupid decision by the BBC.’
Others reminisced about the new books they discovered through the show, with another viewer, @TheEllieMo, describing Between The Covers as ‘one of the few decent programmes on the
BBC’.
Fan @ClareDraycott wrote: ‘Oh, no! I loved #BetweenTheCovers. I found some really good reads by watching that programme.
‘The @BBC have made some very odd decisions of late, but why axe such an engaging show which must be comparatively cheap to make? It’s nuts! And disappointing.’
The final episosde aired on December 3, 2024 which Richard Osman, Ranvir Singh, Ben Miller and Alex Jones all taking part, with the likes of Alan Davies, Sara Pascoe, Richard Ayoade, Graham Norton and Sir Trevor McDonald appeared across the eighth series.
The host herself is yet to address the cancellation publicly.
Series 7 and 8 of Between the Covers are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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