Charlie Brooker created ‘Antiviral Wipe’ in order to save the crew of the cancelled ‘Philomena Cunk’ show.
The 49-year-old screenwriter had planned to film a new series with Diane Morgan and Al Campbell, who reprise their roles as reporters Philomena Cunk and Barry Shitpeas – but after the show was axed by TV bosses, he decided to write a one-off special of his acclaimed ‘Wipe’ series featuring the cast and crew.
Charlie told The Sun newspaper: "We were supposed to be making a new ‘Philomena Cunk’ show – we’ve done the scripts and everything – when this whole thing kicked off and that got postponed.
"We wanted to keep as much of the team on as possible – the BBC asked if we’d make a new ‘Wipe’ show instead, and I initially said no before relenting when it became clear the format itself would still work under lockdown."
The 30-minute special is set to focus on how people are spending their time amidst the coronavirus pandemic and what they’re watching on TV.
Charlie actually found the show easy to make, despite the nationwide lockdown preventing the cast and crew from working together in person.
He explained: "Well it’s basically a locked-off shot so you don’t really need a big studio, and it’s about as complex as ‘Gogglebox’.
"[It’s] not hugely different – the ‘Wipe’ shows don’t have a live audience, and there’s almost never more than two people on screen at once, and most of it is archive.
"The edit and the dub have been the most challenging bits, but even that is in some ways easier than normal because there’s no commuting."
Charlie Brooker saves crew with new Wipe show
