Away from Doctor Who’s ratings grabbing success, British cult television has mostly struggled to find mainstream audiences in recent times. Just last week ITV axed Afterlife following two seasons in order to concentrate on viewer-grabbing light entertainment fare on Saturday nights, while the BBC’s Jekyll is currently languishing in the ratings doldrums.

Sure, Life On Mars was a success but how much was the cop show format a factor in luring audiences? As for Primeval, the series pitched as ITV’s answer to Doctor Who, it could be argued that many viewers were lured simply by withdrawal symptoms from the real deal. Cult Spy looks at some of the commercial failures over the last two decades or so…

The Tripods

The trilogy that never was. Despite a strong ratings start amidst a blaze of publicity, viewers left in droves as the narrative started to meander and the three-legged alien threat fell out of sight. A second - and vastly improved - season was already filming while the first was being transmitted, but the BBC lost faith and pulled the plug on the third.

Star Cops

An undoubtedly ambitious project that featured a stellar cast of acclaimed actors, including David Calder and Murder One’s Daniel Benzali. But for a show with serious plots, it was hard not to laugh at some of the outer space effects in an age where big budget science fiction films were widespread. The timeslot also helped to kill off any chances of commercial success, as Star Cops was screened during the warm evenings of July and August 1987, when many potential viewers were probably enjoying a nice cold pint.

The Invisible Man

Neil Morrissey was a major draw during the 90s thanks to his leading role in the popular BBC sitcom Men Behaving Badly. So ITV lured him over for a feature length pilot that sought to reinvent the classic ‘invisible man’ story within a contemporary stetting that took full advantage of Morrissey’s cheeky chappy persona. Viewers flocked to the pilot and a full series was commissioned, but when it finally turned up our screens much interest had been lost and it sank without a trace. Besides, the programme was more risible than invisible.

Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)

Initial strong ratings ultimately gave way to a general apathy towards the revived show, despite the dream casting of Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and the legendary Tom Baker. Two seasons were made, but the show was unable to capture the Saturday evening family audience like Doctor Who and, for a spell in the 90s, Bugs did.