BBC Producers kill off Ian Wright character

BBC SPORT producers have announced plans to write out the character of Ian Wright from Match of the Day Live in a special Christmas Day episode. The bumper festive instalment of the popular BBC show will see Wright's final appearance, and the resolution of the longstanding Lineker/Hansen/Shearer love triangle storyline.

"We felt that Ian had taken his character of the badly-dressed, mouthy xenophobe as far as he could," said BBC Sport commissioning editor Kriss Akabusi (no relation). "But he deserves a proper send-off, and longstanding fans of Match Of The Day Life will be treated to a final appearance just as exciting as the Den and Angie episode of Eastenders or Gabby Logan's big goodbye at ITV Sport."

It is not known whether the door will be left open for Wright to return, or whether the character will be killed off unequivocally, but the BBC has promised something spectacular. There is strong speculation that Wright will be hit by a flaming white van driven by a drunken Lee Dixon in the feature-length episode, but other sources suggest Peter Schmeichel is set to return for an explosive guest appearance, before going on the run with Wright after an immigrant related hate-crime.

The character of Ian Wright initially arrived on Match of the Day Live as a direct response to the popularity of ITV's uninsightful-yet-cheeky wideboy Ally McCoist, played by Bradley Walsh. Wright, originally famous for his early Nineties pop hit The Wright Stuff, has been through several hard-hitting storylines, including the breakdown of his marriage to Mark Pougatch and a tense court battle for custody of Garth Crooks.

But the mischievous character has also enjoyed some more humorous moments. His ill-matched holiday romance with Brazilian lothario Leonardo during summer 2006 was recently voted Britain's third funniest television moment, losing out only to Del Boy falling through the bar which took the first and second places in a Channel 4 poll.