Channel 5 perseveres with It's A Knockout, broadcasting a second season, which is revamped compared to the first year. It is critically better received, but sadly, the audience figures do not recover sufficiently from the poor showing in 1999. The writing was on the wall for the series and unfortunately, Channel 5 were to drop It's A Knockout from their 2001 schedule.

The series had a tragic coda in 2001 when the costume designer for the 1999 and 2000 series, Elizabeth Sherlock (who worked on the series under the name of Liz Nicholls), was killed while chasing thieves in London. Liz had been enjoying a coffee with her husband in a Euston Station cafe on Easter Monday 2001, when a thief grabbed and made off with her handbag. She gave chase and clung to the bonnet of the thieves' car as the female thief and her boyfriend, a fellow heroin addict, tried to make a getaway. Tragically, Liz slipped under the wheels in front of horrified passers-by. Rather than stop, the thieves callously drove over her with the front and rear wheels. Liz sadly died as a result of her injuries a few hours later. The criminals were apprehended and brought to court, where the driver was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and his girlfriend to three years in prison for theft. A shocking and completely unfair end for a talented and popular lady.

by Alan Hayes
with grateful thanks to Tony Smith

JSFnetGB Series Guide pages researched by
Alan Hayes, David Hamilton, Neil Storer, Christos Moustakas, Philippe Minet,
Sébastien Dias, Ischa Bijl, Paul Leaver and JSFnet Websites