Here’s why British fantasy series Switch won’t be returning for a second season. Switch is a supernatural comedy-drama that aired on British network ITV2 back in 2012. Set in the arty north London neighborhood of Camden Town, the series followed the misadventures of a modern-day, urban coven of early 20-something witches – career woman Stella (Lacey Turner, Eastenders), wannabe fashion designer Jude (Nina Toussaint-White), sweet-natured Grace (Phoebe Fox) and hippie traveler Hannah (Hannah Tointon).
A less serious, more light-hearted take on witchcraft than the likes of Charmed, Switch was as much about magic as it was about the social and sex lives of its main characters. The series also boasted the expertise of producer Philip Trethowan who previously worked as an executive producer and script editor on fellow British supernatural-fantasy show Being Human, while Secret Diary Of A Call Girl writers Chloe Moss and Tim Rice worked on Switch too.
Unfortunately, Switch didn’t have the staying power of Being Human and lasted for just one season and a total of six episodes before it came to an end. Here’s what we know about why Switch was cancelled.
Switch Was Cancelled In Late 2012
News of Switch’s cancellation broke less than a month after the fantasy show aired the final episode of its first season. Star Nina Toussaint-White was the first to let the show’s fans know it was cancelled via her Twitter account in early December 2012, simply tweeting “Bad news …No more Switch.”
A few days later, a spokesperson for ITV confirmed its decision not to renew Switch for a second season. The official statement read:
“It remains our ambition to have more scripted drama and comedy as part of the programme offering on ITV2 and, while it will not be returning for a second series, we feel Switch was a confident start to this strategy.”
The Reason Why Switch Was Cancelled Is A Mystery
Apart from its vague official statement, ITV remained pretty tight-lipped about why it decided to cancel Switch. The witchy comedy-drama was performing well ratings-wise too, drawing in 879,000 viewers during its premiere episode and averaging a little over 700,000 viewers per episode thereafter.
These were impressive numbers for the show’s Monday 10 pm ITV2 time slot, with other shows averaging around 436,000 viewers per episode in the same slot. Still, Switch didn’t quite live up to the ratings successes of ITV2 original dramas that came before it like Secret Diary Of A Call Girl which may have been a deciding factor in the channel’s decision not to renew the show for a second season.