Lewis: BBC a ‘disgrace’ for relegating Watchdog show

MARTIN LEWIS has criticised the BBC for relegating the consumer show Watchdog to a short feature on The One Show.

Mr Lewis, who created The Money Saving Expert website, called the decision a “tragedy” and said it was a “disgrace” that the BBC no longer has a primetime mainstream consumer programme. Watchdog was discontinued as a standalone programme on BBC One in 2019 after 35 years and more than 1,000 episodes.

The decision to move the programme to a weekly fixture on The One Show was announced in February 2020, shortly after the corporation scrapped Victoria Derbyshire’s daily current affairs BBC Two programme because of cuts.

Mr Lewis, in an interview on the High Performance podcast with broadcaster Jake Humphrey, said he would welcome competition from the BBC for his own ITV1 programme, The Martin Lewis Money Show.

He said: “You had programmes like That’s Life!, which were [about] consumer empowerment. You had Watchdog, which I was a big fan of, and I think it’s an absolute tragedy that the BBC, our public service broadcaster, has reduced that to a concession on The One Show. I think it’s a disgrace during the cost of living crisis that there is now no mainstream consumer programme that is on primetime BBC. There is on ITV1, but there isn’t on BBC, and I would love the competition.

“It always did something different, Watchdog’s curative, it looks at people who’ve had problems. I’m preventative. My whole aim is to try and prevent problems in the first place or get redress when they have happened.”

The BBC has been approached for comment.

Watchdog first came to public attention when presenter Hugh Scully challenged MFI, the furniture chain, over its misleading pricing for “£600” kitchens. When Scully turned up at a store with £600 demanding everything featured in the advert, he and his camera crew were ejected.