ITV's police sitcom Piglets has been renewed for another series.
Before the release of its first series in July, the comedy show was criticised by the Police Federation of England and Wales, which described the title as "disgusting" and "highly offensive", saying that the word 'pig' has long been used as a derogatory slang word for police officers.
The response from critics and viewers was also largely negative, but ITV has decided to stick with it and give a second series the green light.
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"Piglets has been commissioned for series two. It’s crazy, because we got absolutely slammed," Ricky Champ, who plays Sergeant Daz Black on the show, said on the Reading Between the Lines podcast.
"The first series came out and it was met with absolute venom – across the board. Immediately, I thought, 'That’s that done'. But it got good figures and ITV obviously noticed that."
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Piglets stars Curfew's Sarah Parish and Friday Night Dinner actor Mark Heap as two superintendents who oversee the training of six newly-recruited police officers.
Other cast members include Rebecca Humphries, Ukweli Roach, Jamie Bisping and Callie Cooke.
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Ahead of the show's release, the Police Federation of England and Wales described its title as "highly offensive to police officers risking their lives to protect the public every day".
In response to the backlash, ITV said in a statement: "Piglets is a fictional new comedy about a police training academy and the title is not intended to cause any offence. It’s a comedic and endearing play on words to emphasise the innocence and youth of our young trainees."
The broadcaster's head of comedy, Nana Hughes, also said at the time that the title wasn’t intended to "offend anyone".
"Comedy is subjective, so some people will like it and others won’t but hopefully most will," she said. "We thought Piglets was just a funny, cute name for our bunch of trainees. Can we change it? No, it’s all done now. It’s on air in a week. There just wouldn’t be time."
Piglets airs on ITV and ITVX.
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Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
