GREAT NEWS: Mock The Week makes a SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT after 17 years, with an EMOTIONAL FAREWELL, according to Dara O’Briain.

Iconic panel show Mock The Week is making a sensational return to TV screens, despite being axed after 17 years on screenCredit: Handout

The show was hosted by Dara O’Briain and often Hugh DennisCredit: BBC

Sitting on BBC Two, the series was known for attracting famous faces to the line-upCredit: BBC
The BBC said it cancelled the long-running topical satire show “in order to create room for new shows”.

Now Dara, who hosted the show, has revealed it’s set for a comeback.

Chatting about times he and co-host Ian Stone cracked up at jokes, he said: “The laughter is usually genuine on these shows but there are times when you know you’ve absolutely lost it and Ian and I had that over each other and will do again…

“Because that show is going to come back, I don’t know if I should tell you that.”

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He was speaking on podcast Where there’s a will there’s a wake.

When show host Mel Giedroyc gasped at the revelation, Dara went on: “Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

“We’re doing more of them, so we’ll be back being giddy again.

“So it turns out that while I can die, Mock the Week cannot.

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“In today’s commercial… who knows for how long… but it’s all gravy!

“It’s with the whole gang, back messing around.”

While Dara did not reveal whether the show would return to its original home on BBC Two, it appears the show has had a move.

TLC has confirmed a “new-look Mock The Week” will form part of its 2026 schedule, but have not yet given any other details.

Graham Lafferty, who is the network’s content chief, said: “We are thrilled to announce a new-look line-up of content for TLC in the UK and Ireland for January 2026 – and that we are able to bring the channel to more viewers with a move to free-to-air in the UK.

“Through TLC, we are excited to commission and curate a broad entertainment channel that spans both scripted and unscripted content, including award-winning shows like The Big Bang Theory, through to a new-look British comedy staple like Mock The Week.”

Ó’Briain and team captain Hugh Dennis featured on the show since 2005.

Speaking on its cancellation, at the time he said: “That’s it folks, the UK has finally run out of news. It couldn’t go on.

“The storylines were getting crazier and crazier – global pandemics, divorce from Europe, novelty short-term prime ministers. We just couldn’t be more silly than the news was already.”

Dara revealed of the comeback: “We’re doing more of them, so we’ll be back being giddy again”Credit: Getty

The rebooted Mock The Week will be aired on TLC rather than the BBCCredit: BBC/Angst/Neil Genower