Netflix Just Canceled Its 3rd Show in the Last Week
By John Connor Coulston - May 4, 2021 10:53 pm EDT
Netflix has canceled The Irregulars, the streaming giant's recently released twist on the Sherlock Holmes mythos, per Deadline. The show, which premiered on March 26, is the third Netflix cancellation to make headlines this past week following The Last Kingdom and The Duchess. Much like The Duchess, The Irregulars only lasted one season.
The series, which sees its run cut short at eight episodes, followed the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of street kids who helped Holmes and John Watson solve a few crimes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books. In this Netflix iteration, they helped Watson (Royce Pierreson) solve strange crimes while Holmes (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) is missing.
The show's cast was led by Thaddea Graham, McKell David, Jojo Macari, Harrison Osterfield and Darci Shaw. Other supporting actors included Clarke Peters, Rory McCann, Ian Whyte and Nell Hudson. Tom Bidwell created the show and wrote every episode. (Sarah Simmonds co-wrote Episode 4.)
No exact reason for the cancellation was revealed in initial reports, but the likely cause was underwhelming ratings. Netflix shows have to garner a massive amount of eyes to justify the production of more episodes. This fact was apparent in the aforementioned cancellation of The Duchess, which reportedly attracted 10 million viewers. While that is a massive number that traditional broadcast outlets would love, Netflix apparently needs more viewers to add more episodes to its ad-free, subscription-based platform.
This news also comes at an interesting time for Sherlock Holmes content on Netflix. Sherlock, the massively successful BBC drama led by Benedict Cumberbatch, is leaving the platform on May 15. This four-season show was historical a huge draw for Netflix viewers, although it could have easily slid down in the years since the final episodes dropped in 2017. However, the company seems to see some promise in the detective's world. Enola Holmes, starring Millie Bobby Brown as Sherlock's little sister alongside Henry Cavill as the famed detective, was a sizable hit when it premiered in September 2020. Rumors of a sequel have popped up around the internet, but there hasn't been anything concrete announced yet.
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