Netflix Just Removed a Beloved Sitcom

At the end of November, Netflix quietly removed a beloved comedy. On Nov. 29, Netflix removed the British sitcom Man Down. The series aired from 2013 to 2019 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. 

Man Down joins a long list of programs that left Netflix at the end of November. In addition to the British comedy, the streaming service also said goodbye to shows such as Broadchurch, Are You the One?, and Glee. Man Down starred Greg Davies, who also created the show, as Dan Davies. His character was described as a man in his forties who lived with his parents going through a midlife crisis. The show chronicled Dan’s life as he navigates this midlife crisis all while working as a secondary school teacher. 

Man Down mirrored Davies’ life in many ways, as he reflected on during an interview with The Guardian. Before the second season premiered, Davies lost both his father, Bob Davies, and his onscreen father, Rik Mayall. While speaking with the outlet, Davies was able to pay tribute to Mayall and recalled just how much he inspired him to go into the television business. The creator explained that Mayall’s comedy The Young Ones was a big inspiration to him growing up. 

“He was a force of nature. His appetite was not blunted, and his enthusiasm and his ambition were huge,” Davies said. “He often asked me: ‘What’s my motivation for this scene?’ ‘Why am I sitting on your toilet having a sh—t?’ was a question he genuinely asked me, and I had to say: ‘It’s … fun? There’s nothing deeper than that, I’m sorry’.” Elsewhere in the interview, Davies explained that Mayall’s character on Man Down was largely inspired by his father. Given that connection, the comedian said that it was “a peculiar set of circumstances to lose a fictional father and real father in the same year.”

“It’s very difficult and I miss him [his father Bob] terribly,” Davies continued. “We were a good father and son, we had a lot of fun together. I laugh with my mum and sister regularly, we are still reduced to fits of laughter remembering him. And I’m really glad he got to see what I did. Even when he was poorly and in a wheelchair, he was wheeled into gigs, and was of the opinion that he would have done a much better job – and rightly so.”