McMafia has been fired after BBC It has been decided that a program about a ‘dodgy Russian family’ in the midst of the Ukraine crisis will be ‘weird’, it has been claimed.
The gangster drama, which was lauded by critics and attracted nearly 10 million viewers during early 2018, will reportedly not return for a second series.
production was delayed by coronavirus pandemic, but invasion of ukraine It has reportedly acted as the nail in the coffin for the much-discussed event.
‘That would not be a good look!’ McMafia was reportedly dropped after the BBC decided to be ‘weird’, a crime drama about a ‘dodgy Russian family’ in the midst of the Ukraine crisis.
Artist James Norton, who has seen his star rise as a result of the show, has also been ‘toughly pinned down’ in time for filming.
A TV insider told Sun: “But it was also not a good look to start a second series of a show where the main protagonist is a gangster from a sly Russian family, who ultimately wins behind a string of dark deeds.
The play does not glorify violence or corruption, in fact it attempts to highlight the dire consequences after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
‘But it deals with assassins and oligarchs, it’s still a very strange show to make in the current environment.’
Wow! The series, which was praised by critics and attracted nearly 10 million viewers in early 2018, will reportedly not return for a second series (James Norton and additional are featured).
The BBC’s press office has been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
This comes after Netflix decided to suspend its service in Russia, a company spokesperson said on Sunday.
Earlier this week, Netflix temporarily halted all future projects and acquisitions in Russia as it assessed the impact of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” a Netflix spokesperson said.
In Demand: Starring Man James Norton, who has seen his star rise as a result of the show, is also ‘pinned hard’ in time for filming (pictured with Juliette Rylance)
The streaming service previously said it has no plans to add state-run channels to its Russian service, despite a rule that would require it to distribute state-backed channels.
At the time of McMafia’s broadcast, the Russian embassy also hit out at the BBC for promoting a negative ‘cliché’ of its citizens in the hit series.
The eight-part series, which first aired on Christmas Day, portrayed a world where Russians move into a world full of criminal activity – but embassies were quick to point out the difference between fact and fiction. gone.
Oh no! A TV insider said: ‘But it also wasn’t a good look to start a second series of a show where the main protagonist is a gangster from a sly Russian family who eventually triumphs behind a string of dark deeds’ ( James, left, pictured with David Denik, right)
The UK-based embassy said on Twitter that the play ‘represents the UK as a playground for Russian gangsters’ and asked followers to respond to a poll to estimate how many are currently in UK prisons. Russians are criminals.
Forty-nine percent of voters guessed the correct answer from the embassy to ‘less than 10’.
Following the result, the embassy tweeted: ‘The crime rate among Russians in the UK is well below the national average. It is good that our followers are not buying the clichés being spread by the BBC.
Statistics from the Ministry of Justice for September last year showed that there are 35 people of Russian nationality imprisoned in England and Wales, including 34 men and one woman.
It had dropped from 51 prisoners at the end of 2016.
This figure is significantly lower than many other European countries, including Poland, which has 891 citizens locked up in the UK, Lithuania, which has 424, and Portugal, with 245.
Yet this figure is higher than in other countries including Greece and Belgium.
McMafia follows the life of a privately educated businessman named Alex Godman, played by British actor James Norton, who is dragged into the criminal underworld after his uncle is murdered.
Tragic: Production was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine has reportedly served as the nail in the coffin for the much-loved series (LR: Alexey Serebryakov, James, Maria Shukshina, Faye Marse and Juliet).