Channel 4 has undergone schedule changes today (Friday, September 9) following the death of the Queen. It was announced on Thursday (September 8) that Queen Elizabeth II had died peacefully at Balmoral, her Scottish Highlands home, that afternoon.
The Palace said in a brief statement: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."
It came hours after Buckingham Palace issued a statement, at 12.32pm, confirming the 96-year-old monarch was under medical supervision and that doctors were concerned for her health. The new King, Charles III had dashed to be by her bedside.
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The BBC and ITV cancelled all their regular programming to air continued rolling coverage of the Queen's death on Friday.
Channel 4 made adaptations including extending its lunchtime and evening news programmes and airing a special edition of Steph’s Packed Lunch, hosted by Steph McGovern.
But a spokesperson has confirmed to the Manchester Evening News that the planned return of Gogglebox at 9pm on Friday evening will go ahead.
"Channel 4 has made significant changes to our schedule, including added extended news coverage, to ensure that Channel 4 is respectful following the news from Buckingham Palace about the death of Her Majesty The Queen," a Channel 4 spokesperson said.
"Channel 4 exists to offer viewers an alternative and that is particularly important at times like this. Gogglebox is a much loved national institution and it will air as planned tonight bringing a valuable sense of continuity for many of our viewers."
The confirmation comes after it was announced that The Last Leg will not air as previously planned. The popular show was due to air in its usual 10pm slot on Channel 4 this evening after Gogglebox.
However, hours before late-night comedy show The Last Leg was due to air, host Adam Hills released a statement on Twitter revealing they’d decided to cancel tonight’s episode.
"We’ve decided not to do an episode of @thelastleg tonight. It just doesn’t feel right," he wrote. "We’ll pay tribute to Her Majesty next week but for now our thoughts are with her family, and all those affected by the news. We hope you understand."
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