Really?

I think its quite a sensible fit - a male-orientated show for a male-oriented channel.

Well I see it as male-oriented anyway, that's the way Fox pushed it, teaming it up with Terminator and it is cult sci-fi.

What doesn't make sense to me if why they didn't advertise it more.

It seems like QI may be a sacrificial lamb against IAC:


Source: QI's Twitter.

Why are the BBC moving it about for? Why not just wait until Armstrong and Miller is finished and then put it on Friday's at 9.30pm from the start?

In the mean time...well BBC1 aren't exactly adverse to repeats in the Thursday 9pm slot are they?

It will be partnering Gavin & Stacey, I'll wager.



And there won't be any sacrificial lambs against IAC. I refer the posters to my previous post


BBC are making an effort to tap into that anti-IAC audience with Top Gear, Life, Paradox (which looks like it will take the Tuesday 9pm slot), Spooks, Gavin And Stacey and QI.

Disappointed though that QI will be moving back to Fridays in the new year. That's means we'll be back down to hardly any comedy on BBC1. One hour on Friday and that'll be it.

The problem is it's being used as filler more than anything else. As a new series it should be given the right treatment.


Oh at last, a channel actually trying something out on Tuesday's. Will wonders never cease?

Can't be long then until an announcement on I'm A Celebrity zelebs ?

Casting is important, hopefully it won't be all WAGS, and more interesting than this years SCD line-up.

Just had a blast from the past - where did Test The Nation get to? Did it rate badly? Surely BBC One could bring it back twice a year to fill a couple of holes in it's Saturday night line up. They could even run the IQ test at the end of September and knock a week of Strictly.

Hasn't been on for 2 years. Kind of died when Philip Schofield went exclusive to ITV.

Danny Wallace had a go, and then it never returned.

Impressive rating for BBC's Regional News yesterday. 5.9m is the highest I've seen for a while. EastEnders’ 37.4% share was lower than usual – did Corrie overrun? Nice to see Life back up after last week’s rather big fall.

Good rating for University Challenge on BBC2, especially as it beat ITV’s ‘Tonight’. Disappointing, however, for Restaurant at Home which I thought would get over 2m particularly because of the good lead in.

Emmerdale and first Corrie episodes did well. A drop for Murderland, but still a pretty good rating which ITV will probably be satisfied with. I think next week’s episode could go back up as it’s got the reveal.

Lackluster ratings for Channel 4 apart from Dispatches and The Simpsons. Shame we don’t get Deal or No Deal’s figures reported much, as it would be interesting to see if it tops Channel 4’s ratings.

Good rating for FlashForward once again on Five. America’s Toughest Prisons also performed well, about double what Ross Noble was getting recently.


I also think that XF final would do better on a Sunday. There's so many more viewers available on Sundays at 8pm than Saturday 10pm. Also if TXF has 2 shows on the Saturday night, it would be difficult to avoid Strictly. No doubt that it would easily beat Strictly that night, but the clash still costs XF about 1-2m viewers.


Good stuff for Benidorm's repeat. There's no doubt that ITV will probably want it back, but the writer doesn't seem too keen on doing another series (if his Twitter posts are anything to go by).


Yeah, Gavin & Stacey looks destined for Thursdays. The final episode could be on Christmas Eve, which will probably do very well if last year's CE special's anything to go by.

Phillip Schofield was asked about this on Twitter a while ago. Obviously he wouldn't be involved in it now but he said he got the impression the Beeb felt it had run its course. Which it probably had, I suppose.

If ITV1 go.....



....might BBC1 go

7.00 The One Show
8.00 Eastenders
9.00 Gavin & Stacey
9.30 QI

That could be a great Christmas Eve for BBC One

7:30 Eastenders
8:00 Green Green Grass???
8:30 My Family
9:00 QI Christmas Special
9:30 Gavin and Stacey - Final Episode
10:00 HIGNFY - Christmas special
10:45 News

I suppose the 'soap block' on ITV between 8 and 9 is a problem, but they could get rid of GGG opposite Emmerdale and then run My Family opposite Coronation Street.

However, I suppose the above just shows what a shakey state comedy is in on BBC One. Apart form the panel shows, only My Family will still be there next year, and even it's on its last legs. Where is the next pre-watershed comedy hit coming from???

Or perhaps even sooner...


Hm....


Hm....


I said I "never really watched it" - meaning I watched the first 2 or 3, then drifted away but occasionally caught the odd bit now and then (Kingdom).


I think you're confusing internet forum chatter and ****tering with people having proper conversations with each other in the real world. As others have noted, I've yet to encounter real life friends, family or colleagues having an excitable (or indeed any) TXF conversation; I do know that some of them watch though.


Has to be Sunday 15th at 7pm doesn't it? There just isn't a suitable slot on Saturday.

Problem is that even in that slot, it could boost TXF because the large audience tuning in for Who might then stick with the telly and switch to TXF (unless they happen to be Antiques Roadshow fans...)


Surprised that the Beeb didn't pick up the available rights; the speculation was that they would.

Will the FA website broadcast get more hits than the ITV live coverage gets viewers?


What's "the right treatment" then? Is a Thursday night combo of G&S and QI, in the 9pm hour, on BBC1, in November/December, against The Bill (usually)/I'm a Zeleb, Get My Tits Out Here not good enough?

I'd have thought Gav & Stacey would take the 9pm slot and QI take 9.30?

I was banking on Victoria Wood's special airing on Christmas Eve 9pm, given that Christmas Day looks full with the usual stuff and Royle Family/Catherine Tate. But it now looks like G&S will air its final episode on Christmas Eve, and that would be a good move after its 7m and a pasting of a new Midsomer last year.

Will ITV put Corrie and x2 Emmerdales on Christmas Eve with the one hour eps of both coming on Christmas Day too? Bear in mind also that ITV switches Corrie to 8.30pm throughout Christmas in a desperate attempt to dent BBC1's main programming event on those days.

If Emmerdale stays at 7pm, could BBC1 go with the following and force ITV to run Corrie at 7.30?:

7.00 Film: Shrek 3
8.30 EastEnders
9.00 Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
10.00 Gavin & Stacey - the final episode
10.30 HIGNFY Christmas Special
11.10 News
11.20 Midnight Mass

If you drifted away did that mean you got bored of it? It seems others did too, hence the low ratings, hence it getting axed.


The right treatment would be to treat it like they would most drama series. Give it a slot and stick to it. Not throw it about the schedule just because they have a half hour slot they need to fill.

I also forgot to say, A History of Scotland (groan) is back to messing with the prime-time BBC One Scotland scheduling from the 8 November.

It's five epsidoes, so we'll get the first episdoe of Garrow's Law (which will then disappear) and none of Small Island. However, last year, when Wallander started (90 mins in length) A History of Scotland moved to Monday nights, displacing Spooks to Saturday nights. I hope you're all following this - welcome to BSSI (I think you'll know what the extra 's' is for).

I don't think there's any suggestion of BBC1 moving G&S around the schedules week by week to fill any gaps, unless I've missed something??

It stands to do better on Thursday nights against an ailing The Bill (mostly) than in the Friday night comedy graveyard.

But surely they are giving it a slot - Thursday's at 9/9:30. It's not like Gavin and Stacey has a track record of airing on a certain night on BBC One, as this is the first series to air on the channel.

'BSSI', nice one.

Is pissing about with the schedules and damaging the ratings for some of TV's most popular shows an innate part of the Scottish character?

In a word, yes! We've got Waterloo Road going out @ 8pm on Sunadys up here (with Antinques Roadshow at 6pm).

And don't even mention Holby City. With River City being in the 8pm slot on a Tuesday, Holby can either air Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday @ 9pm or Wednesdays @ 8pm. It drives my mum mad, so she just Sky+ it these days and hopes to catch it at some point.

If G&S start on Nov 26th, like QI, then Xmas Eve would be epiosde 5 and the final episode would then go out on New Year's Eve which is not a good idea as everybody's partying that night. This assumes a weekly slot.

It might work like this:
The New Tricks repeats finish on Nov 12th.
Crimewatch on the 19th.
Comedies start on the 26th.

Unless G&S starts on the 19th and the reason QI doesn't start till the 26th is because G&S initially partnered with the Armstrong & Miller finale, displaced from Friday 20th by Children In Need. Alternatively, if G&S starts on the 26th, there would be spare slots on Fridays all through December alongside HIGNFY, so G&S could take one of these, possibly on the 18th, ready for a plum Christmas slot for the conclusion.

As you final question - the BBC Trust need to get their finger out and tell Jay Hunt to making finding new pre-watershed comedy her TOP, NUMBER ONE priority. All we seem to have coming up is Big Top with Amanda Holden and nobody's holding their breath for that one.

I'm talking about QI here, guys, not Gavin and Stacey.

(EDIT: See post 227)

From what I gather from my English edition TV Times, and Sky Guide Sunday schedule seems to confirm this, next week Waterloo Road in Scotland moves to Wednesday at 8pm (a la the rest of the UK) with Holby City on Thursday, probably at 9pm in place of New Tricks, and AR back on Sunday at 8pm and the Life repeat, which was on BBC2 Scotland at 7pm last weekend, moving to Sunday at 6pm on BBC1 where the rest of the UK screen it.

If your mum's got Sky, can't she just watch one of the BBC1 England channels. It's much less complicated.

BBC Scotland sounds like STV with slightly better local programmes and a bit more laxed when it comes to preempting networked shows.

I do think that people look at regional programming, scheduling of the past with rose tinted spectactles and I am glad that it's doesn't occur that much anymore although I do feel sorry for people in Scotland who have the likes of Doc Martin or Benidorm removed in favours of films, repeats and local programming.

You mean there aren't going to be Christmas specials of A Life of Riley or Parents of the Band?

I'd have put them on Christmas Day myself!