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TechRadar

Grace Morris

I’m disappointed that Netflix canceled Buying London even though it's one of the worst TV shows – but I’m glad there’s still a US equivalent

Netflix London Los Angeles Daniel Daggers DDRE Global

Six people stand in a line posing in front of a London skyline.

Netflix won't be giving the keys back to the reality series Buying London as the best streaming service canceled the show after one season – and I can't help but feel slightly disappointed.

A Netflix spokeswoman confirmed the cancelation to Deadline in early September and declined to comment further – but I think its dreadful 14% Rotten Tomatoes score is enough of an explanation for why Buying London was axed by the streamer.

The reality show made a brief appearance in the Netflix top 10 for one week, but failed to meet the sheer success of its critically acclaimed American counterpart Selling Sunset. The critics did not sing high praises for the show, with The Guardian writing in their scathing zero star review that it's "the most hateable TV show ever made" (ouch). Netflix subsequently used the publication's review to promote the show on X (see the post below), which probably helped it make a home on the streamer's top 10 list, as well as on my TV screen.

"Probably the most hateable TV show ever made."Stirring up drama, on and off screen. Buying London is now streaming! pic.twitter.com/c5C3WrqamxMay 22, 2024

The series is a British alternative to one of my all-time favorite reality shows Selling Sunset (so of course I had to watch it) and is a spin-off of Buying Beverly Hills, which was also canceled by Netflix. The show follows property mogul Daniel Daggers and his agents at DDRE Global as they navigate London's prestigious property market. Much like its predecessor, there's mega mansions, office gossip, and friendship feuds, but they definitely aren't as juicy as the drama I've seen across the pond in Selling Sunset.

While Buying London failed to grasp my attention as much as Selling Sunset, news of its unsurprising cancelation was still a tiny sting to the heart after I watched three worst-rated TV shows on Netflix. Yes, Buying London isn't one of the best Netflix shows, it doesn't have any style or substance, and won't win awards – but this doesn't stop it from being enjoyable.

Buying London doesn't pretend to be something it's not. It's a reality show, simple as that. It gets the job done in providing mindless, casual entertainment to escape our lives and block out the world when we desperately need to. And that's something I think is important in the world of streaming.

From London to LA

There won't be a second season of Buying London on Netflix, sadly. (Image credit: Netflix/Zoe McConnell)

There are still so many loose ends to the series: did agent Lauren Christy leave DDRE to join a rival company? Is there still bad blood between her and colleague Rasa Bagdonaviciute due to Daniel's apparent favoritism? Oddly, I wanted answers to these questions in a Buying London season two and to snoop inside more homes of the mega rich that I would never be able to afford. But I guess I'll have to settle for Selling Sunset to keep me going.

In a stark contrast to Buying London, Selling Sunset took the world by storm when it first aired in 2019 and has become a huge hit for Netflix's reality TV portfolio. The Emmy-nominated series goes behind the scenes of the cutthroat world of LA real estate as it follows a group of glamorous female brokers at The Oppenheim Group who sell luxury properties to elite buyers.

Selling Sunset's runway success has since birthed an eighth season, and two spin-offs Selling Tampa and Selling the OC, so it's clear that this kind of content is a big winner with audiences.

While Buying London is yet another canceled Netflix show, it doesn't seem to be all bad as a spokeswoman for Daniel Daggers Real Estate Global told Deadline: "Buying London did exactly what we wanted it to do – it enabled us to put DDRE Global on an international stage, and as a result, generated record interest in our business. We are at the forefront of 'contemporising' an archaic industry by embracing new technologies and ways to communicate to likeminded people communities, which we have been doing since 2020 and what caught the eye of Netflix in the first place. Our work has only just begun and there’s so much more of our story yet to be told. Stay tuned…"