Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ten Percent: UK’s answer to French sitcom Call My Agent! cancelled after one season

‘Ten Percent’, a remake from the creator of ‘W1A’, will not return for a second run

Nicole Vassell
Thursday 10 August 2023 11:37 EDT
Comments
Ten Percent official trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ten Percent, the British remake of the French series Call My Agent!, has been dropped after one season, it has been reported.

The comedy-drama series initially launched on Prime Video last April and was created by John Morton, who brought BBC’s workplace satire W1A to life.

Ten Percent is the UK’s answer to the hit Paris-based show about the employees of a talent agency, and the various crossovers of their personal and professional lives. Its title is a literal translation of the original programme’s local title, Dix Pour Cent!

Notably, the series sees real celebrities play fictionalised, often heightened versions of themselves – figures such as Helena Bonham Carter, Phoebe Dynevor, Emma Corrin and Dominic West took part in the British version.

However, on Thursday (10 August), Variety reported that Ten Percent would not return for a second season.

This decision is said to be the result of a series of behind-the-scenes changes that made continuing the show untenable.

One of the reasons given is the departure of Amazon Studios Europe boss Georgia Brown a few months after the show’s launch, with another being the wave of streaming platforms cancelling renewals of programmes amid widespread change.

The collapse of Bron Studios last month, which co-produced Ten Percent, is also cited as a contributing factor behind the show not returning.

The cast of ‘Ten Percent’
The cast of ‘Ten Percent’ (Rob Youngson/Amazon Prime)

In the show, Last Christmas actor Lydia Leonard played Alexa, a role based on Camille Cottin’s lead Andréa Martel in the French-language series.

Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean) played Jonathan, inspired by the French show’s agency boss Mathias Barneville (played by Thibault de Montalembert in the original series).

Though Call My Agent! is widely acclaimed, Ten Percent received more mixed reviews upon launch.

In his review of the series, The Independent’s critic Nick Hilton enjoyed the show but called it out for being short on both “riotous slapstick” and “biting satire”: “It just rambles along benignly, like the radio at a hairdresser.”

Still, Hilton argued, Ten Percent had its positives: “Like a comforting bowl of French onion soup, it is largely absent of texture or complexity, but will fill you up all the same.”

You can read the three-star review in full here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in