Our favourite lockdown TV hit, the Downing Street Daily Briefings, has been axed. Don’t panic – we’ll get a second series this autumn

The show only ran for 92 unforgettable episodes, but it created new stars such as Jonathan Van-Tam... who hasn’t been seen in public since

It’s more than just a shame that Boris Johnson has decided to end the Downing Street Daily Briefings. Early on in the hit show’s run the prime minister asked the press if they found them useful, and then looked a bit disappointed when they chorused back “yes”.

It was a lockdown TV highlight for many of us, an alternative to an old Tommy Trinder movie on Talking Pictures or the Garden & DIY Sale on QVC. Contrary to some claims, the viewing figures weren’t bad.

It was also one of the few chances to learn more about this deadly pandemic, and what we should do in the face of it, and to see our ministers being held publicly to account by the press.

Ending these emergency briefings is obviously meant as a signal of a return to normality; that the government’s strategy has worked, and the emergency is over. It is not, of course, and encouraging such complacency invites a second wave of the virus. As usual, it’s about presentation and avoiding scrutiny, not public health.

I will miss the briefings for many reasons. Taking the regular 5 o’clock slot that was once occupied by Chucklevision and Scooby Doo, for some months it was the highlight of my day. I for one always looked forward to the daily death toll, number of new hospital admissions, and it was always a treat to see some really poor media performances from the likes of Matt “Ramping Up” Hancock, Gavin Williamson doing the best Frank Spencer turn since Mike Yarwood, and “The Human Tranquiliser”, Alok Sharma.

The “show” only ran for 92 unforgettable episodes, but it created new stars such as Jonathan Van-Tam, the public health official who had the temerity to take to the stand and criticise (albeit obliquely) Dominic Cummings. He hasn’t been seen in public since.

The officials had their own catchphrase – “next slide, please” – which was once rendered as “next lie, please” by the BBC subtitling service. There was also “every death is a tragedy”, the surreal “punch the sombrero” and the daily competition among the UK's esteemed secretaries of state to see who could hit the highest insincere compliment for a question from the public – “that’s a really, really good question”, “a very important question you’ve raised there”, “a vital, really crucial point”. The international comparisons chart was another favourite feature - sadly abandoned, for some reason, at the moment the UK started climbing to the top of the global league table.

Now the whole thing has been abandoned, and the public and press have no opportunity to ask questions and get some clarity on an increasingly complex set of rules.

The economic crisis is only just beginning, and still hundreds of people are dying each day from Covid-19 - a huge number, and more than at the moment this era-defining series first hit our airwaves.

A nasty second wave of infections and deaths, and a second lockdown, is perfectly possible, if not probable. I for one suspect this show may be back for a second series in the autumn.