ITV renews 'bonkers' police sitcom that officials blasted as 'highly offensive'

ITV has commissioned a second season of Piglets - a comedy show branded “highly offensive” by the Police Federation of England and Wales.

The next instalment of the controversial sitcom, starring former EastEnders star Ricky Champ, is expected to begin filming in early 2025.

Piglets follows Superintendent Bob Weekes (played by Mark Heap) and Superintendent Julie Spry (Sarah Parish) as they work with six fresh-faced recruits at a fictional police training academy. Other cast members include The Crown’s Rebecca Humphries, Callie Cooke and Ukewli Roach.

Following the first episode, Ofcom was inundated with over 100 complaints. But now 44-year-old Ricky, who plays Sargent Daz Black in the ITV show, recently announced a second outing was officially on the way.

During an appearance on the Reading Between the Lines podcast, he confirmed: “Piglets has been commissioned for series two. It’s crazy, because we got absolutely slammed. The first series came out and it was met with absolute venom – across the board.

"All these critics... have you ever seen a statue of a critic? No. It was met with venom and we live in a very critical, very negative world at the moment, especially for comedy.

“Everyone has got their weapons drawn against new comedy. I don't know why.” Ricky admitted that despite the negative feedback that Piglets received, ITV “obviously noticed” its popularity and decided to give the second season the green light.

"I got the call from Victoria [producer Victoria Pile]. That'll be [filming] a big chunk of next year,” he added.

A sophomore series of Piglets comes after the programme received criticism from the Police Federation of England and Wales, which described the title as "highly offensive to police officers risking their lives to protect the public every day".

ITV addressed the backlash, with a statement claiming the six-part show was a “fictional new comedy about a police training academy”.

“The title is not intended to cause any offence,” the statement continued. “It’s a comedic and endearing play on words to emphasise the innocence and youth of our young trainees.”

Meanwhile, Nana Hughes, ITV’s head of comedy said: “Comedy is subjective, so some people will like it and others won’t but hopefully most will.

"We thought Piglets was just a funny, cute name for our bunch of trainees. Can we change it? No, it’s all done now. It’s on air in a week. There just wouldn’t be time."

Following the announcement that Piglets would be making a return, fans and critics alike took to social media to have their say. Taking to X - formerly known as Twitter - one user penned: “The cast is good. Mark Heap is always funny. The writers' room just needs to dial up the Vicky Pile and dial down the Beavis and Butthead."

A second commented: “I loved it, was utterly bonkers and the cast were cute and funny. Need to see how the love story pans out." “Omg was so funny and brilliant acting by @RickyChamp1 hope they do a season 2 with you cast in it funny as,” said someone else.

“Good news - thought it was quite decent and the one positive of ITVX has been ITV investing in comedy once again and realising you need to commission quite a few to get one or two returning hits,” a fourth replied.

However, not everyone agreed with ITV’s decision to renew Piglets, with one viewer typing: “How! The first was awful.”

“Oh my god, how? It was utter c**p,” echoed another, while a third penned: "Bloody fiasco. The level of comedic acting & script is astonishingly low. Aimed, I believe, at pre-school children."

Episodes of Piglets are available to watch on ITVX.