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BBC1 axes First World War drama The Crimson Field

TardisSteveTardisSteve Posts: 8,077
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in UK TV Shows #1
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-06-10/bbc1-axes-first-world-war-drama-the-crimson-field

I enjoyed The Crimson Field and was hoping it would get a second series
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Comments

  • Robbedin73Robbedin73 Posts: 7,859
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    #2
    Writer not happy saying she is gutted and has taken to Twitter over it too.
  • rbdcayrbdcay Posts: 12,041
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    #3
    Ridiculous BBC. We can't keep getting new drama after new drama and none of them making it into a second season. What are they playing at?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 385
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    #4
    Gutted. I loved it.
  • StrakerStraker Posts: 79,652
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    #5
    However in order to create space for new shows and to keep increasing the variety of BBC1 drama it will not be returning for a second series.

    A permutation of that is what they say every time they cancel something. Didn`t watch it myself (looked like Shoot the Midwife to me) so not personally bothered. Perhaps it didn`t sell well enough to other territories? A straight comparison on ratings with The Musketeers shows Crimson Field as a clear winner so the Beeb couldn`t use that as an excuse seeing as they are making more Musketeers (thankfully!).
  • TassiumTassium Posts: 31,639
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    #6
    It's down to three things, ratings ratings ratings.

    ITV is a commercial operation, it cannot justify spending such money unless the ratings are significant.

    Now the BBC with it's unique funding mechanism can keep on air programming that just wouldn't stand a chance on commercial television. That's where programming of this nature can thrive!


    Thank goodness for the BBC with it's commitment to quality television! Bargain Hunt, The Voice, The One Show, Celebrity MasterChef, Great British Bake-Off, Antiques Road-Trip, CountryFile...

    ahem.
  • TassiumTassium Posts: 31,639
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    #7
    rbdcay wrote: »
    Ridiculous BBC. We can't keep getting new drama after new drama and none of them making it into a second season. What are they playing at?

    I assume it's a commercial matter, overseas sales.

    Or rather, if we are to get to the heart of the matter, the people in charge at the BBC have lost the plot.
  • StrakerStraker Posts: 79,652
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    #8
    Tassium wrote: »
    ....the people in charge at the BBC have lost the plot.

    That`d be Danny Cohen, Chief Idiot.
  • grumpyscotgrumpyscot Posts: 11,354
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    #9
    Mad - one of the best dramas of the year - and all just to pay the fat cats their little bonus - or even the "prize fund" on the Pointless celebrity shows (where if they win over £1,500 they're doing well!)
  • GORTONIANGORTONIAN Posts: 8,673
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    #10
    Tassium wrote: »
    It's down to three things, ratings ratings ratings.

    Thank goodness for the BBC with it's commitment to quality television! Bargain Hunt, The Voice, The One Show, Celebrity MasterChef, Great British Bake-Off, Antiques Road-Trip, CountryFile...

    ahem.

    Ah THE VOICE ....QUALITY ENTERTAINMENT 😄😄😄😄😄😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳


    Danny Cohens Baby !
    He's determined We WILL like it 😁

    And I'm determined I won't
    They continue to recommission dross
    While binning first class drama which they ARE still committed to .....,ALLEGEDLY🙀


    RIP AUNTIE 😢😢😢😢
  • TassiumTassium Posts: 31,639
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    #11
    Yes, Danny Cohen is going for ratings over everything else.


    I wonder if "Certain Key People" within the BBC would stand to make an absolute fortune if the BBC were privatised?
  • GORTONIANGORTONIAN Posts: 8,673
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    #12
    Straker wrote: »
    That`d be Danny Cohen, Chief Idiot.

    Not a fan either then Straker ?

    I too thoroughly "enjoyed " his latest fifteen minute segment on points of view ...NOT
    PARTICULARLY his sneering condescending atitude to us poor sods who dare to complain to the show
  • Irma BuntIrma Bunt Posts: 1,847
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    #13
    Much as I lap up anything to do with the First World War, I'm not surprised. I found it soppy tripe with every cliché trotted out for another airing. I had such high hopes for it when it began, but it disappointed on every level.
  • StrakerStraker Posts: 79,652
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    #14
    GORTONIAN wrote: »
    Not a fan either then Straker ?

    He cancelled the award-winning Pulling (citing much the same "reason" quoted above). Danny Cohen could cure cancer and I`d still loathe him.
  • Cheetah666Cheetah666 Posts: 16,036
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    #15
    Daft decision, IMO. That programme had just gotten into its stride and it was over.
  • Doghouse RileyDoghouse Riley Posts: 32,491
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    #16
    Sometimes I despair of the BBC, (well actually, quite frequently), like tonight, "prime time" 9.00pm on BBC1 is naffin' cookery programme.

    Nothing wrong with these cheap to produce programmes, some people enjoy them, but they belong in the day-time schedules.
    Do they really think including the word "celebrity" in the title will make it any more palatable, given that they're all "C-listers?"

    I did a quick count-up, there are forty-six scheduled "cookery" programmes across the five main channels scheduled before 6.00pm this week. Admittedly a lot are on Channel 5. But there's quite a few on BBC.
    Enough's enough.
    More drama please BBC.
  • lundavralundavra Posts: 31,790
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    #17
    Pity there was no opportunity to include any other nationalities which could have brought co-sponsorship. The Americans did not enter WWI until it was nearly over so they have no interest in the first few years and presume countries like Australia, Canada and NZ did not have many nurses or doctors in France.
  • mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,308
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    #18
    Doghouse Riley wrote: »
    Sometimes I despair of the BBC, (well actually, quite frequently), like tonight, "prime time" 9.00pm on BBC1 is naffin' cookery programme.

    Nothing wrong with these cheap to produce programmes, some people enjoy them, but they belong in the day-time schedules.
    Going by the generic Masterchef ratings, quite a few people enjoy watching them. And I bet tonight's will be just as popular.

    Ad as I recall, the BBC did air a series of Celebrity Masterchef in the afternoons - it was watched by far fewer people, even allowing for timeshifting (and the scheduling of it was criticised by many on DS).

    Daytime is not the way to go.


    yes, drama has its place in the evening/primetime schedules, but there probably has to be something in the week's primetime schedule for those who want something else.
  • bluesdiamondbluesdiamond Posts: 11,361
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    #19
    Irma Bunt wrote: »
    Much as I lap up anything to do with the First World War, I'm not surprised. I found it soppy tripe with every cliché trotted out for another airing. I had such high hopes for it when it began, but it disappointed on every level.

    I had a difficulty in that all three young nurses had black hair, struggled to recall who was who!
    Am sure as a subject it could have been done better.
  • LMLM Posts: 63,500
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    #20
    Tassium wrote: »
    It's down to three things, ratings ratings ratings.

    ITV is a commercial operation, it cannot justify spending such money unless the ratings are significant.

    Now the BBC with it's unique funding mechanism can keep on air programming that just wouldn't stand a chance on commercial television. That's where programming of this nature can thrive!


    Thank goodness for the BBC with it's commitment to quality television! Bargain Hunt, The Voice, The One Show, Celebrity MasterChef, Great British Bake-Off, Antiques Road-Trip, CountryFile...

    ahem.

    The ratings were very good. 6 million an episode. I hardly think ratings were an issue.
  • ravensboroughravensborough Posts: 5,188
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    #21
    I was gutted when I heard the news on Twitter that the show had been axed. I thoroughly enjoyed The Crimson Field - yes sometimes it stretched the bounds of credibility and hinged a bit on coincidence at times, but it was just the kind of show I looked forward to watching on a Sunday evening. The fact that it's been axed despite the fact that the last episode got more viewers than the final episodes of recommissioned shows like Atlantis, The Musketeers and The Village, clearly shows that the BBC had no plans whatsoever to recommission it for a second series. Even if it had Call the Midwife ratings it would've still been a one-off.

    The reason given to free up the drama schedule is ludicrous and insulting to viewers. What's the point in promoting upcoming wartime dramas when the show I've invested in has been cut short and not recommissioned? Why would I waste my time on any BBC show in the future only for it to be axed?
  • TiffaniTiffani Posts: 5,444
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    #22
    Such a shame as it was a perfect Sunday night drama and i'm sure the ratings were good. I had a feeling they would axe it as they had only commissioned it for the WW1 season of programmes.
  • mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,308
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    #23
    ravensborough wrote: »
    The fact that it's been axed despite the fact that the last episode got more viewers than the final episodes of recommissioned shows like Atlantis, The Musketeers and The Village, clearly shows that the BBC had no plans whatsoever to recommission it for a second series. Even if it had Call the Midwife ratings it would've still been a one-off.
    What's the point in promoting upcoming wartime dramas when the show I've invested in has been cut short and not recommissioned? Why would I waste my time on any BBC show in the future only for it to be axed?
    Maybe, as you seem to state early on in that post, it was only ever seen by the BBC as a one-off (to coincide with the WW1 centenary coverage this year).
  • mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,308
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    #24
    Tiffani wrote: »
    I had a feeling they would axe it as they had only commissioned it for the WW1 season of programmes.
    Precisely my point.

    And if as suggested, it is an expensive production, then it is quite likely that they only wanted one series regardless as to its success.
  • Hit Em Up StyleHit Em Up Style Posts: 12,141
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    #25
    Think it was more a cost thing. I read that It went over the initial budget for the first series. I doubt this was an easy decision as the ratings were ok for the slot. Not in Call The Midwife league but shows like that come once in a blue moon.
  • ravensboroughravensborough Posts: 5,188
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    #26
    mossy2103 wrote: »
    Maybe, as you seem to state early on in that post, it was only ever seen by the BBC as a one-off (to coincide with the WW1 centenary coverage this year).

    Aren't all shows commissioned on a one-off basis and, usually, recommissioned if they prove to be popular? The point a lot of the fans are making is that shows that have rated less have been given a second series whereas The Crimson Field hasn't. The article below in the Radio Times includes a quote from a BBC spokeswoman who said that it was not unusual for recommission decisions to be made after a series has finished. Surely, if it was just commissioned for the centenary, she could've just said outright that the BBC had no intention of giving the show a second series: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-04-30/oona-chaplin-i-am-amazed-the-bbc-has-not-yet-recommissioned-the-crimson-field
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