I’m disappointed that Netflix cancelled Buying London, even though it’s one of the worst TV series – but I’m glad there’s still an American equivalent
Netflix won’t return keys to reality series Buy London because the top streaming service canceled the series after one season – and I can’t help but feel a little disappointed.
A Netflix spokeswoman confirmed the cancellation to Term early September and declined to comment further – but I guess the awful 14% Rotten Tomatoes score is enough of an explanation as to why Buy London was cancelled by the streamer.
The reality show briefly appeared in the Netflix top 10 for a week, but failed to match the huge success of its critically acclaimed American counterpart Sell sunsetCritics were not very complimentary about the show, with The guard writing in their scathing zero-star review that it is “the most hateful TV show ever” (ouch). Netflix then used the publication’s review to promote the show on X (see post below), which likely landed it on the streamer’s top 10 list, as well as on my TV screen.
“Probably the most hateful TV show ever made.” Stirring up drama, on and off screen. Buying London is streaming now! pic.twitter.com/c5C3WrqamxMay 22, 2024
The series is a British alternative to one of my all-time favourite reality shows Sell sunset (so of course I had to watch it) and is a spin-off of Buy Beverly Hillswhich was also canceled by Netflix. The series follows property magnate Daniel Daggers and his agents at DDRE Global as they navigate London’s prestigious property market. Like its predecessor, there are mega-mansions, office gossip, and friendship feuds, but they’re certainly not as juicy as the drama I saw across the pond in Selling Sunset.
While Buy London failed to grab my attention, so much so Sell sunset, the news of the unsurprising cancellation was still a little stab in my heart after watching three poorly rated TV shows on Netflix. Yeah, Buy London isn’t one of the best shows on Netflix, has no style or substance, and won’t win any awards – but that doesn’t stop it from being fun.
Buy London doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t. It’s a reality show, plain and simple. It does what it’s supposed to do by providing mindless, casual entertainment to escape our lives and shut out the world when we need it most. And that’s something I think is important in the world of streaming.
From London to LA
There are still so many loose ends to the series: Did agent Lauren Christy leave DDRE to join a rival firm? Is there still animosity between her and colleague Rasa Bagdonaviciute because of Daniel’s apparent favoritism? Oddly enough, I wanted to answer these questions in a Buy London season two and to sniff out more homes of the mega rich that I could never afford. But I guess I’ll have to settle for Sell sunset to keep me going.
In stark contrast to Buy London, Sell 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 takes you behind the scenes of the cutthroat world of LA real estate, following a group of glamorous female agents at The Oppenheim Group as they sell luxury properties to elite buyers.
Sell sunsetThe series’ success on the catwalk has now led to an eighth season and two spin-offs Sell Tampa And Selling the OCso it’s clear that this kind of content is very popular with the audience.
While Buy London is another cancelled Netflix series, but it doesn’t appear to be all bad, as a spokeswoman for Daniel Daggers Real Estate Global told Deadline: “Buy London did exactly what we wanted – it allowed us to put DDRE Global on an international stage and generated record interest in our business as a result. We are leading the way in ‘modernizing’ an archaic industry by embracing new technologies and ways to communicate with like-minded communities, which we’ve been doing since 2020 and which initially caught the attention of Netflix. Our work has only just begun and there is so much more of our story to tell. Stay tuned…