The 5 biggest TV flops that lost millions of pounds after abysmal ratings from confusing gameshow to doomed soap

Scottish Sun

18-05-2025

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WHILE many telly shows have fans hooked, a handful falter at the first episode.
As programmes such as The Traitors gain a mass following - with a demand that's so strong it's sparked a celebrity spin-off - others have viewers reaching for the remote to switch series' within seconds.
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The five biggest TV flops have been revealed
Credit: ITV
Here we take a look at the programmes that ended up on television's scrap heap - and which left fans boycotting them in their droves.
GENIUS GAME
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Genius Game has been dubbed as 'ITV's most expensive flop'
Credit: ITV
David Tennant's new programme, Genius Game, has been hailed "ITV's most expensive flop in years."
Genius Game, hosted by the former Doctor Who star, received subpar viewing figures on its launch.
Recently the show, which cost more than £2.5million to make, plunged to measly average of 739,000 in ratings.
It was thrashed by BBC One's Race Across the World last Wednesday and beaten on Channel 4 by The Sun's documentary, Madeleine McCann: The Unseen Evidence.
A television insider said: 'The Genius Game was a reflection of ITV's rush to create the next big challenge show following the huge success of The Traitors.
"They chose Tennant as he's such a household name, although his not-insubstantial fee also inflated the cost of making the programme. Yet despite pumping so much money into the show, it hasn't delivered ratings wise.'
DISTRACTION
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Jimmy Carr's game show Distraction aired in 2003, yet was short-lived
Credit: Getty
Distraction was a short-lived game show, fronted by Jimmy Carr.
It aired on Comedy Central from 2003 to 2004 and kicked off with four contestants, who tackled a series of challenges.
The UK version was the flagship, but it was cancelled after two series.
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One game show hopeful even claimed they were forced to drink their own urine in a scene which never made it to screen.
NAKED JUNGLE
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Naked Jungle was never recommissioned
This was a one-off show, which was never recommissioned.
It was even voted "one of the worst British television programmes ever" by a Radio Times poll in 2006.
Back in 2000, Keith Chegwin hosted the only series of the assault course game show based on children's show Jungle Run.
All the contestants were nudists and even Keith dropped his drawers for the occasion.
SHAFTED
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Robert Kilroy-Silk presented Shafted in 2001
Credit: ITV
Although Robert Kilroy-Silk's television career lasted across decades, the ill-judged 2001 quiz show Shafted did not.
The programme asked contenders to either share their winnings with their competitors or shaft them to take it all.
If both contestants chose to shaft each other, both left with nothing.
The 2001 series was given the boot after just four episodes on ITV in the November of that year.
24HR QUIZ
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Celebrity 24 Hour Quiz was created by Richard Osman
Credit: Alamy
This failed quiz show was hosted by Barry from EastEnders, otherwise actor Shaun Wallace.
ITV's first ever reality meets quiz show had three broadcasts throughout weekdays.
The show's creator - Pointless's Richard Osman - admitted: 'It didn't really work.'
It was broadcast between February and April 2004.
DON'T SCARE THE HARE
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Don't Scare The Hare was a trippy TV show back in 2011
Credit: BBC
Narrated by Sue Perkins and hosted by Jason Bradbury, Don't Scare The Hare was a trippy game show on BBC One in 2011.
Players had to complete forest-themed games without rousing a giant animatronic rabbit for £15,000.
After ratings remained low, BBC's entertainment controller Mark Linsey said: "Obviously Hare is not going well.
"It was a huge risk we took – it's co-hosted by an animatronic hare – and while it's proved successful with children, we were hoping there would be enough knowingness within the show to draw in the adults.
'There wasn't enough of that, which is where it fell down."