The BBC has said there will be no more series of the groundbreaking transgender relationship comedy Boy Meets Girl.
The comedy, which launched in 2015, followed the adventures of a young man and his older, transgender partner, and their families.
Created by Trans Comedy Award winner Elliott Kerrigan, the show starred Rebecca Root, Harry Hepple, Denise Welch, Nigel Betts, Jonny Dixon, Janine Duvitski, Lizzie Roper and Vineeta Rishi.
It received a positive reaction from critics and fans, but the second series failed to prove a ratings hit, and the BBC has confirmed it will not be coming back for a third run.
Rebecca Root, who played the lead character of Judy in the show, posted on Twitter: “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news… but yes. The curtain has fallen on Peggy’s Cakes. xx”
She added: “Fun while it lasted thanks for watching @BoyMeetsGirlUK now on 2 the next adventure #thatsallfolks #endoftheroad #nomorebmg #hohum #onwards”
Speaking to Chortle, Root suggested that schedule changes – a summer broadcast and moving to a 10pm slot – contributed to the ratings drop. She added: “I’m not a commissioner, but the way I see shows going is that you establish your territory with the first series, you consolidate with the second and then you develop things in the third series – you can then open it up and really get into the meat of the story.
“I felt that while Series 2 didn’t have quite the same tone as Series 1 it was establishing a level. We were all looking forward to Series 3 to get going… I felt that they were selling us a bit short by pulling it after two.”
Kerrigan told the website he was “so gutted” about the decision, but added: “I think it’s for the best. I want the audience wanting more rather than thinking ‘Is that show back again?'”
Referring to the wedding of the central characters, he added: “The ending we had for Series 2 will be hard to top. We even had a round of applause in the final scene to thank the audience for watching.”
The sitcom was developed as a result of the BBC’s Trans Comedy Award, a campaign launched to find writers to create a show with a positive representation of trans characters.
