'Offensive' ITV show bags new series despite star admitting it got 'absolutely slammed'
A much-talked about TV show has been greenlit for a second series - despite its first being labelled ‘offensive’ by viewers. It has been confirmed that the ITV comedy series Piglets will return for a second season, but it’s not welcome news for some. Piglets is set in a police training college, and follows the recruits at the school and the staff who train them, and stars Friday Night Dinner’s Mark Heap, Bancroft star Sarah Parish and EastEnders actor Ricky Champ , amongst other familiar British comedy faces.
However, when the show’s first six-part season aired this summer, it was met with disdain - and even branded downright offensive. Members of the police force slammed the title of the show, a play on the derogatory term for police, with the sitcom receiving a backlash before it had even aired. At the time, the Police Federation issued a statement on the TV show, around the name, branding it “disgusting”.
Acting National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Tiffany Lynch, said : "The new ITV show titled Piglets is highly offensive to police officers risking their lives to protect the public every day by providing an emergency service.”
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“It is a disgusting choice of language to use for the title of a TV programme. Our colleagues are working hard and keeping people safe under relentless negative pressure at the moment, insulting our new in service officers is unhelpful.”
The boss continued that the title could potentially increase threats against real life police officers, saying: “The name of this show is also inflammatory against a landscape of rising threats and violence against officers.”
She added: "We should not be put at further risk for viewing numbers, our officers deserve respect, not humiliation for the job they are undertaking… It is actually incredibly dangerous to incite more negativity and misinformation against a public sector service that’s already under so much pressure."
However, ITV went ahead and aired the show, complete with its title, in July 2024. Earlier this year, a spokesperson for the show told GB News : "Piglets is a fictional new comedy about a police training academy and the title is not intended to cause any offence, it's a comedic and endearing play on words to emphasise the innocence and youth of our young trainees."
Despite the controversy, it seems the sitcom will return for a second season - but even its stars are surprised. Actor Ricky Champ, who stars as Daz in the show, has said that it is due to film a second series soon. Speaking on the Reading Between The Lines podcast, he said : “Piglets has been commissioned for series two.”
He added: “It’s crazy, because we got absolutely slammed.The first series came out and it was met with absolute venom – across the board.” The actor explained that even he was surprised at its return: “Immediately, I thought, ‘That’s that done’... But it got good figures and ITV obviously noticed that.”
Earlier this year, Piglets star Sarah Parish spoke to OK! all about playing Superintendent Julie Spry in the show - and revealed that her transformation for the role even left her co-stars unable to recognise her.
