COMEDIANS IN NORTHERN Ireland have been reacting to the news that the BBC is to cancel two TV shows synonymous with comedy in the province.

Long-running sitcom Give My Head Peace and comedy panel show The Blame Game were both axed this week as part of a huge cost-cutting exercise at the broadcaster.

Overall, the BBC is seeking to make some £500 million (€590.7 million) in savings and these two TV programmes were among those not commissioned for a new series.

Give My Head Peace was first broadcast as a once-off TV comedy way back in 1995 before it became a regular series in 1998 and ran until 2007.

The show, which is primarily written and acted by comedy group The Hole in the Wall Gang, was then revived in 2016. The theme song for the show was She Says by The Saw Doctors.

Essentially, the show exaggerated and was a critique of sectarian divides in the North and took a satirical look at the surrounding politics. As well as the TV show, Give My Head Peace also spawned a live stage show and a podcast.

The stage show is set to continue after the decision to cut the TV show, with Aiken Promotions confirming in a statement this week that it is “delighted to be supporting” a show it describes as “iconic” ahead of live dates next year and into 2028.

As well as shows across Northern Ireland, Give My Head Peace Live is scheduled for shows in Louth and Dublin’s Vicar Street in April 2027.

The Blame Game was similar to other comedy panel shows that people would be familiar with but was focused on Northern Ireland. It broadcast its 23rd series last year.

Some of the criticism about the cancellation of the shows has stemmed from how those involved were informed of the move.

Tim McGarry, who plays Da in Give My Head Peace and is also host of The Blame Game, said they were told of the decision via email.

“We’re slightly hurt as well in the manner of it. It was not very pleasant in that we were told by email after 30 years that Give My Head Peace wasn’t coming back,” McGarry told BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme.

“The BBC doesn’t owe us a living. We’ve been very, very lucky, I want to make that absolutely clear, the BBC made this programme when no other broadcaster in Northern Ireland would make such a programme,” he said.

BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show also carried news of the cuts on Tuesday, with listeners giving varying reactions.

Comedian Paddy McDonnell, who has appeared on The Blame Game, said that while it was “sad to see” the shows going, there is a reality to how TV comedy is changing.

“The likes of The Blame Game, The Hole in the Wall Game and Give My Head Peace and everything that goes out there. Their audience is ageing in the sense that there’ll be a lot more older people, so they probably will be staying in to watch that TV and they’ll be annoyed they’re going to miss it.

But the new generation of audience coming through are they the same? Are they going to be sitting in and watching?

Other callers to the show argued that local programming is important in the context of licence-fee payers. Journalist Malachi O’Doherty made that point during the phone in:

“The essence of Give My Head Peace is that it is local, that it is a satirical response to a political environment, which most of us actually agree is quite absurd, right? I mean so the value in a satirical comedic response to that is enormous, because it represents what a lot of people are thinking and saying, and articulates it better than they would themselves.”

In response to questions about the shows being cut, a BBC spokesperson said that while they “recognise the significant contribution” both programmes have made, the BBC is “facing real financial challenges at this time and will need to make some difficult decisions in order to manage them”.

The BBC announced plans in June for savings across the news, nations and content divisions, which are set to deliver £160 million (€189.02 million) in savings by 2028/29.

Around 2,000 jobs are expected to be cut as part of the process.