CHARLIE Brooker has revealed Antiviral Wipe was created to save the crew from an axed Philomena Cunk show.
It was recently confirmed the 49-year-old would return with a lockdown special of his Screenwipe series.
The screenwriter will present a half-hour special, titled Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe, which will focus on the coronavirus crisis.
The program will specifically look at what people are doing with the extra free time in lockdown and what people are watching.
Charlie has now shed more light on the reasons for the show's return, saying: "We were supposed to be making a new Philomena Cunk show — we’ve done the scripts and everything — when this whole thing kicked off and that got postponed.
"We wanted to keep as much of the team on as possible — the BBC asked if we’d make a new Wipe show instead, and I initially said no before relenting when it became clear the format itself would still work under lockdown."
Despite the lockdown restrictions that are in place across the country, Charlie didn't find making Antiviral Wipe much different to when the show originally aired.
He explained: "[It's] not hugely different — the Wipe shows don’t have a live audience, and there’s almost never more than two people on screen at once, and most of it is archive.
"The edit and the dub have been the most challenging bits, but even that is in some ways easier than normal because there’s no commuting."
Charlie is once again joined by Diane Morgan and Al Campbell who reprise their roles as reporters Philomena Cunk and Barry S**tpeas.
Explaining the filming process, Charlie said: "Well it’s basically a locked-off shot so you don’t really need a big studio, and it’s about as complex as Gogglebox.
"As luck would have it both Al Campbell and Diane Morgan are directors.
"So the equipment basically got dumped on doorsteps and from that point on it was all a bit DIY."
Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Screenwipe airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Two.
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