Piglets viewers compare 'garbage' ITV comedy to Mrs Brown's Boys

What did you miss?

ITV's new police training comedy Piglets returned to screens on Saturday night for a double episode, but viewers weren't impressed with what they saw. In fact, some viewers on social media described it as one of the worst comedies they'd ever seen.

Piglets has already been compared unfavourably with acclaimed ITV comedy like Changing Ends, but these latest episodes were the last straw for some viewers. They even compared Piglets to the widely-loathed BBC sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys.

What, how and why?

Piglets aired for an hour on Saturday night, with the fifth and sixth episodes of the sitcom airing straight after each other. The series, which stars Sarah Parish and Doctor Who's Callie Cooke, continued to follow police recruits and their interactions with each other at a training college.

Viewers, however, expressed their disbelief at how little they laughed at the comedy show, even in this extended format. One audience member on Twitter wrote that they "nowhere near even chuckled" at the episodes and another who had "stumbled upon" the show described it as "garbage".

Another viewer, meanwhile, summed up the reaction of many when he said: "I like to think I can admit it when I get things wrong, and here's a case in point. I thought Mrs Brown's Boys was the worst comedy ever to appear on television and it wouldn't be possible to come up with anything that bad again. And then along came Piglets."

Piglets has now come to the end of its first series and, based on the way critics and audience members have responded, it seems very unlikely that ITV will give the green light to a second run. The doors to Norbourne Police Training College are likely to be closed for good.

The same cannot be said for Mrs Brown's Boys, which is due to return for yet another pair of special episodes over the Christmas and New Year period at the end of 2024. That follows a brief special series in 2023, which attracted high viewing figures.

Despite the critical antipathy towards Mrs Brown's Boys, it continues to be one of the most popular comedy series on television. The same cannot be said for Piglets.

What else have people been saying about Piglets?

Piglets has been a controversial show for ITV ever since its title and premise were first revealed to the public. The moniker, which is a play on the derogatory use of the word "pigs" to refer to police officers, received some strong responses from those in law enforcement.

Tiffany Lynch, acting national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said in a statement that it was a "disgusting choice of language" on behalf of the show's creators. She added that the title is "highly offensive to police officers risking their lives to protect the public every day providing an emergency service".

ITV responded that the title was "not intended to cause any offence" and is "a comedic and endearing play on words to emphasise the innocence and youth of our young trainees".

Piglets is available to stream on ITVX.

Read more:

• Piglets on ITV review: lock up this criminal 'comedy' and throw away the key (Evening Standard)

• Piglets review: The police needn’t have got upset over the title – this unfunny show is harmless (The Independent)

• Mrs Brown's Boys' biggest controversies from marriage split, on-set feud and ratings drop (OK!)