Our John, when faced with a rumoured second run of Bonekickers said: "The question uppermost in my mind is: why?" Our Editor Paul wrote: "I've really never seen so much hatred reserved for one show." Our readers were not fans by any stretch of the imagination. Well, if our readers are indicative of the nation's collective mindset (which I think you are) then prepare to breathe a big sigh of relief. Bonekickers has been cancelled.

Related: A second run for Bonekickers - Why? | Is Bonekickers the worst show ever made?

Is Bonekickers the worst show ever made? Of course it isn't (that thing with Ben Elton and Alexa Chung from last year made a decent claim for that), but you'd think that the bile spewed by many, many readers of this site and others made it so. I've really never seen so much hatred reserved for one show... it really took me back. I took a fearful beating when I went to the press screening and reported back that it was good fun. I still stand by that claim - it was pretty dreadful, the dialogue was awful and the stories stupid, but it was fun and light and an easy (if sometimes infuriating) way to spend an hour. When people saw this first episode, many commenters to this site implied that I was an arse. So did so many people take the people to write in and have a go at the show?

As news breaks of Jonas Armstrong's departure from Robin Hood, the breathless hype of the BBC's press release regarding the third series of this Dodo ("an explosive, nail-biting series finale" and "Robin's exit will be unmissable") reminds me that we were sold a similar pup with their supposedly groundbreaking archaeological mystery programme Bonekickers. The parallels between the two programmes are frightening, and as the archaeologists continue to dig themselves ever deeper into the mire (they lost another 300,000 viewers last week) rumours persist that the BBC will give it another chance. So, not surprisingly, the question uppermost in my mind is: why?

There's been a tremor underneath the Pump Room in Bath, which for some reason has led to the release of toxic gas. All this is revealed in a broadcast news bulletin, but just in case you missed it, Dolly rushes in declaring "Some people have been gassed!" Yeah thanks mate. We just heard it on the news. Like, seconds ago. And so the third instalment of Archaeology for People with Very Short Attention Spans begins.

Last night's Bonekickers shed 1.6 million viewers compared with its opening audience of 6.8 million, according to unofficial overnight figures reported in today's Guardian. But that still leaves 5.2 million people hoping against hope that it could be better. Clinging on to their own relics of expectation in the face of the old bones being dug up and served cold with the mud of the Bristol Channel still clinging to them.

We'll have to wait a few hours for the overnight viewing figures to find out how many of us were prepared to give Bonekickers a second chance after last week's execrable opening episode, but judging from the comments on the review at the end of that link, there won't be many. With an enthusiasm born of desperation, some viewers decided the unintentional humour was worthy of a repeat visit and watched it for that alone. So...did you get a laugh?

Bonekickers eh? The most talked about show of the week, and not in a good way. I don't think I've ever seen a worse reaction to a show ever. It's been almost universally panned everywhere I've seen. Apart from me, who quite liked it. Before you scream at me, I must say I liked it in a fast food sort of way - no substance, stupid but entertaining. So sue me. Mind you, The Guardian reviewer said that it was curiously satisfying. So ner-ner-ner-ner-ner to you all. Episode two is even more stupid. But all this hoo-haa got me thinking - apart from Bonekickers, what has been the most panned TV shows ever? Have a look at what I've come up with.

I gave BBC One's new drama series Bonekickers a bit of a kicking in its own right earlier today, but I know our esteemed editor Paul has been lucky enough (*cough*) to see the first three episodes in preview, and still thinks it's pretty good. Not that I'm wimping out from my firmly-held belief that the first episode was a pile of steaming pants or anything, but I was keen to see what the rest of t'Interweb was saying about Army of God. I needn't have worried. Click through for a selection of comments from all over the TV watching world, which (ballpark estimate) appear to be about 20-1 in favour of the pants option. Although I doubt this is quite what "Dolly" Parton meant when he asked if anyone had had "an underpants moment."

It has been my misfortune several times in the past to be floated on a river of dreams and sucked into the maelstrom of hyperbole where new series are concerned. Indeed I have even written on these very pages that the more a show is "bummed up" (as my old Nan used to say) the worse it is likely to be. But with an all-star cast in front of the camera and Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh behind it doing the scribbling, I really thought we might be on to a winner this time. More fool me.

We're all going a bit doo-lally with excitement here at TV Scoop, and for once it's not Doctor Who related. For when one chapter ends, as Doctor Who will this Saturday (nooooo!), another opens, and the chapter that is opening looks as though it will be a corker. Think Silent Witness and Waking the Dead meets Time Team with a bit of Da Vinci Code mixed in to spice things up. And look at that cast! If that isn't enough to start the drool dripping over your chin, click through to find out what the first instalment is all about, and what's coming over the next 6 weeks.

We're back to last Thursday's Bonekickers event now. Writers Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham have done quite a job in a) coming up with Life On Mars, b) coming up with Ashes To Ashes, and now c) coming up with Bonekickers. Life On Mars, obviously, is very close to our hearts and rightly goes down as a TV classic, while Ashes To Ashes, well, hmmm. It was good wasn't it, but nowhere near as good as its predecessor. It's still a conversation starter though, and people still want to know all about it, as the Bonekickers event proved. After the screening, there was a Q&A with Mr Pharaoh, and, inevitably, the subject of Ashes To Ashes series two popped up, have a look after the jump to see what he said, it's quite interesting.

It's amazing what people come up with, isn't it? I know, let's make a TV series that mixes the best bits of Time Team with the best bits of Indiana Jones. This faintly ludicrous concept would have been laughed out of town if it wasn't for the fact that it came from the brains of Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham, the writers and creators of Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes. That combo makes people sit up and take notice. So Bonekickers is a mixture of Time Team and Indiana Jones then, and I went to a screening of it last Thursday (because of the usual embargoes I couldn't write about it until today). I have to say with muffled embarrassment that I am a sucker for all that Indiana Jones/Da Vinci Code adventure spin on history. I know, I know. You don't have to say it. It's one of my weaknesses. So I can report that Bonekickers, due to start early next month, is really rather good.

Update: Read John's review of the first episode here.

Julie Graham is to star in a new six-part drama for BBC One as the leader of a team of archaeologists in what sounds like it will be a kind of hyper-extended version of cold case dramas such as Waking the Dead and Silent Witness. The diggers will be peering back to the 18th century and beyond to unravel the mysteries of murdered slaves and unlock the meanings behind all manner of artefacts they uncover along the way.

As well as a strong supporting cast, what lifts this new drama even further out of the ordinary is the fact that it is penned by the writing team behind Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes: Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh.