BBC's 'least successful show ever' rocked by engagement catastrophe

BBC's least successful show has been unveiled (Image: BBC)

BBC series 40 Minutes was to feature a documentary called A Country Wedding for one of its 1994 episodes - but it was the beginning of the end for a much-loved show.

It had taken six months to capture the essence of a "happy rural couple" planning their wedding day, discussing everything from the guestlist to the floral bouquets in exacting detail. However, cracks began to show after it emerged that the groom was committed to the countryside style of living and wanted to stay at home to launch his own fishing business.

His wife, on the other hand, was a globe-trotting violinist with a bursting diary and plans to continue touring the world with her music. While some couples might have been able to resolve their differences, these two lovebirds were totally divided - and suddenly the engagement was abruptly called off.

What would the BBC do with the 30 hours of footage they'd collected where the pair spoke eagerly of their love for one another and their thoughts about having kids? There was only one thing for it - a drastic re-make.

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A mammoth challenge faced the team as they edited the video material to remove all mention of the failed wedding, despite it originally being the primary focus of the show. The documentary was hastily renamed A Year On A Country Estate.

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Axed BBC series 40 Minutes (Image: BBC)

However, even that failed to resolve matters - and the entire series was axed shortly afterwards.

The documentary was never publicly shown - but it now features in a list of catastrophic failures instead.

The Ultimate Book Of Heroic Failures, currently available on The World of Books' website, dredges up the TV mishap everyone had hoped to forget, about the wedding that never came to pass.

In the book's synopsis, it's revealed that readers can expect more of the same, with an emphasis on "the vast, magical, life-enhancing possibilities of getting it wrong".

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Authored by Stephen Pile, President of the Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain, it went on to become a number one bestseller.

It's not just TV that's covered in the book, which has 235 stories of "failure" from around the world.

The synopsis explains: "The Syrian entry, for example, holds the world all-comers record as the driver who got most lost under satnav direction (5000 miles).

"From the most driving test failures (959), the most pointless election (in Dakota, in which not even the mayor voted), the worst robbery (when two different sets of bank robbers struck simultaneously) and the worst mugger (who left his victim $250 better off), to the holidaying rugby team of fifty-somethings from Dorchester who, due to a mis-translation, ended up playing the top team from Romania live on state TV..."

However, the book itself didn't fail in its bid to become hugely successful - and it'll have readers both cringing and roaring with laughter.

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