“Viewing figures remained just under 1m, including iPlayer, which is good apparently as most are falling, reviews were mainly very good, and personal feedback from viewers was great,” he added.

“But BBC Two has a substantial funding cut to deal with and I'm told the Comedy dept. is going to concentrate on scripted comedy. All the other stand-up on TV is made by the Entertainment dept. which, I am sure you will agree, isn't me."

Lee, who is known for his self-referential, often very dark style, first made his name in stand-up and radio, before moving to television with the first series of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle in 2009. The fourth, most recent series was broadcast this March.