CHAMPION: MUSICAL DRAMA AXED BY BBC AFTER ONE SERIES

The musical drama will not be returning for a second series.

Candice Carty-Williams said: "The good news is, Champion was watched by  — now I’ve seen the numbers — millions of you, was in the top 10 in so many majority Black countries, was the number one Netflix show in Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Martinique(!), and was given majority 5 stars across the board...

"Champion was for us and by us, and it was a success! It reached so many of us at home and around the world. Thank you to BBC and Netflix for making that happen...

"The SAD news is that Champion won’t be coming back. I am grateful to each and every one of you who watched the show, posted about it, listened to the soundtrack, shouted at me in the street because the soundtrack wasn’t available outside of the UK (we’re working on it), DMd about their favourite characters; yes to #JusticeForLennox and I know, Beres is wicked, songs, moments, and threatened me for a season 2..."

"A big eternal and endless thank you to the cast and the crew for bringing this story and these characters to life. I hadn’t planned to write or showrun a second season because there’s other things that need doing but I wanted to leave you with something cause I believe in closing certain chapters properly."

Champion is the much-anticipated first TV project for Candice Carty-Williams, author of The Sunday Times bestselling novels Queenie and People Person. The show tells the explosive story of what happens when fame collides with family.

Déja J Bowens stars as Vita in her exciting TV debut alongside Malcolm Kamulete (Top Boy, Ill Manors) as Bosco, with music sensation Ray BLK (also her TV debut) as Vita’s best friend Honey.

Nadine Marshall (Sherwood, Small Axe) and Ray Fearon (His Dark Materials, Beauty and the Beast) appear as Bosco and Vita’s parents Aria and Beres Champion, with Jo Martin (Doctor Who, Top Boy) as Bosco’s manager Dawn.

The 8 x 45’ musical drama also stars Kerim Hassan (Once Upon a Time in London), Adeyinka Akinrinade (Everything I Know About Love, Top Boy), Tom Forbes (Wolf Hall, Knightfall), Genesis Lynea (Shadow and Bone, Silent Witness), Karl Collins (Attack The Block, Hollyoaks), Francis Lovehall (Small Axe, Death on the Nile), Corey Weekes (Coronation Street, Doctors) and Rachel Adedeji (Dreaming Whilst Black, Hollyoaks).

Rap sensation Bosco Champion is home from prison, and ready to dominate the music industry once more. But when his dutiful younger sister Vita’s own talent is discovered by Bosco’s rival, she steps out of her brother's shadow to become a performer in her own right, setting the Champion siblings against one another and tearing apart the whole family in the process.

Champion is available on BBC iPlayer.