Walliams Friendless After TVNZ 1 Sketch Show Woes

A new sketch comedy series starring David Walliams and his celebrity pals that’s soon to debut on TVNZ 1 is facing the axe after its first season.

Walliams & Friend will air 9.30 Thursdays after Blindspot from January 26.

Each of the six episodes has the Little Britain star performing sketches with the likes of Joanna Lumley, Harry Enfield and Miranda Richardson.

There were hopes it would be as big as Little Britain when the BBC1 pilot, with Lumley, drew six million viewers on Christmas Eve 2015.

But the series that went to air in November shed four million viewers, prompting a report in The Sun that it was “expected to be axed after only one series due to low ratings and bad reviews”.

“A TV insider told The Sun: ‘David is a huge talent, but this just hasn’t really worked out. It’s still got a couple of weeks to run, but the feeling is this will be its final series.’”

“There’s not enough range, not enough genuine lols and not enough surprises,” The Guardian’s critic said.

“It’s all a bit familiar and old-fashioned – and unnecessary.”