Or couldn't they ditch the walker and give the evictee the respect she deserved? Katie's tainted this series of I'm A Celebrity...badly, but I guess it brings in the viewers.

They're lucky its paid off and not gone the way of Big Brother. There was nothing stopping viewers leaving last Monday when Katie came in, luckily for them they stayed.

Here's my Christmas fantasy schedules for BBC1 and ITV1.

BBC1: I think the Christmas Day schedule will be similar to the 2007 one, with the EastEnders-Doctor Who sandwich which worked really well. I tried to find a way to fit Victoria Wood in but there just wasn't any space, so I've slotted her in on Mon 21st but I wouldn't be surprised if her show turns up on Xmas Eve at 10pm.

I've put Total Wipeout on Thursdays at 8pm because there were gaps at that time and I can't see both episodes turning up on Saturdays because Sat 19th looks completely full up. So i thought I might as well give them two consistent slots (but it probably won't turn out like that!).

Also there were a couple of issues scheduling the 11 EE episodes especially as ITV's got a soap block nearly every single day. So I've opted for an hour long on Tuesday 29th, Holby following it which leaves half an hour for a show like Not Going Out. Also the New Year's Day scheduling was difficult and I could only see a 21:00 start time for the second EE episode as ITV 'owns' all the other potential slots with their soaps. The drama following EE isn't in the league of last year's lineup but that's all I could think of from the lineup on the BBC's press page.

I'd actually prefer DT's final Doctor Who episode to be on Boxing Day but various sources have said it'll be in 2010, even DT himself so I figure they'll go for 18:45-20:00 on NYD hoping that the soaps don't dent it much.

ITV1: Christmas Day was a toughie as we haven't had any clues as to what'll air that day apart from the soaps. I just put down Midsomer Murders which ITV have done before and could perhaps get 5m+.

On SCD Final night, I've put All Star Mr and Mrs (which they did last year) and Who Dares Sing which will flop anyway so I thought I might as well put it up against SCD Final. I would have put Fattest Man in Britain & Englishman in New York on Sundays until I read that ITV were showing Marple over Xmas which I assume will take a Sunday slot for at least one of its episodes. So I've put those 2 dramas on Mondays.

The other stuff is a complete guess, and it's not a particularly good lineup really if you compare it to the BBC's which has a great variety of programmes and films. I suppose ITV's having its "Christmas period" right now.

Do the soaps even do much for ITV on Christmas day?

Just stick on some films.

A mass viewer switch-off was never going to happen. Katie has got people talking about the show which is more than you can say for some of the others.

And the BB thing is nonsense as far as I'm concerned. A few people drew those comparisons out of a deep-seated hate for Katie Price, completely forgetting the fact that the only reason CBB had such a backlash was because Jade decided to bully another contestant.

There was no danger of that with Katie. She may be many things but she's never been confrontational. And I'm no KP fan but the idea that she'd be the downfall of I'm A Celebrity is just ridiculous.

can't see why not EastEnders has no exra episode the rest of the year like Corrie and Emmerdale do.

The Wedding/Dans death was an Hour but half made up for the missing 30mins due to Comic relief.

The Murder episode on Thursday is an hour but 30mins is making up for the lost Episode on friday due to CIN.
I don't see the problem with the BBC having 11 episodes over xmas

I notice that STV are opting out of the Batman Returns premiere on Sunday 7th December in favour of an episode of River Monsters and The Scottish Sports Awards.

They are however showing Mister Eleven.

[quote=Fudd;36870128]The BBC need to push the hour long a bit more. As it is, people may assume that it's a normal half hour episode and just watch it on BBC3.[/QUOTEThere's loads of Enders fans that don't even know it's an hour long.

ithink people Might just watch emmerdale over the hour/into Corrie at 8.

I reckon record high for the BBC3 10pm Reapt

They may as well stick on the same Christmas schedule as they had in 1979 (including the 1979 Queen's Speech) for all the good it'll do them.


The schedules look good, rzt, especially for BBC1. Would ITV maybe try out another Harry Hill's TV Burp as filler on Christmas Day? Not that he succeeded in 2007 but not much does!

Im sure Corrie was the most watched show on ITV xmas day.
Don't know what it got though

BBC1 hasn't always won the Christmas Day battle.

In 2000 ITV1 had the edge with a combination of Corrie and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Christmas 2008 Overnights

BBC1
1. Wallace and Gromit: Matter of Loaf and Death - 14.25m
2. Doctor Who: The Next Doctor - 11.71m
3. EastEnders (9pm) - 11.47m
4. The Royle Family - 9.98m
5. EastEnders (8pm) - 9.89m

ITV1
1. Coronation Street - 7.36m
2. Dancing on Ice at Christmas - 5.20m
3. Emmerdale - 4.76m
4. It'll Be Alright on the Night - 3.80m
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - 3.32m

http://robmacca.blogspot.com/2008/12...g-figures.html

Just shows how much of a joke STV are. Is it run by non scots just wanting to have a laugh at the scottish people's expense? Viewers will just watch it on ITV London and get thrashed by numerous other channels.

Yes - in the year where BBC1 decided to air Titanic right across primetime!

And even though they did that, BBC1 still managed to win the day:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...tings-war.html

True, although ITV won primetime on Xmas Day which would be unheard of now.

Funny how it turns out though - those ratings for Titanic would be considered massive for a film now.

ETA: £6 million for one film?!

I guess Dr who classed with emmerdale thats why it's low?

They'd really have nothing to lose pushing the interviews back to 22:35. I'm a Celeb would still get virtually the same figures in the 9pm slot, and I'm sure a good 5m or so in the 10.35pm slot, boosting News at Ten too.

A few comments on your BBC1 schedule.

I agree with what some others have said re the extra Eastenders. A normal Eastenders fortnight is 8 episodes. So 11 episodes for Xmas fortnight is 3 extra - 1 for Xmas Day and 1 each for the Wednesdays. Remember, Wednesdays are now soap-lite on ITV1. I predict Waterloo Road to take a holiday over Christmas, because that's what schools do in real-life (and I'm pretty sure I read a comment from somebody associated with the programme that said as much.)

I agree with Cranford being the Sundays either side of Christmas.

Paradox, Spooks and Gavin & Stacey run into Xmas week (as you've noted). Life finishes the week before. But I think that will be to fit in the December edition of Crimewatch on the 21st.

Someone's said The Impressions Show's final 2 programmes are compilations (tut!), so no way will it get the plum slot of Boxing Day at 9.30. In fact, it wouldn't get that slot if it was a new episode. It's not been popular enough in the ratings. I know Outnumbered hasn't been a big ratings winer up to now, but it does enjoy RAVE!!! reviews. And it take a big audience when it was on after the Strictly final last year. (I wonder if The Impressions Show will do the same this year.)

The first 2 POTC films both premiered on Boxing Day. However last year, that put it up against 8.30 Corrie, where it performed very well, so I'd go along with your Bank Holiday Monday slot.

I'm still not convinced by the idea of double G&S on Xmas Eve and they can't possibly bring back a big star like Victoris Wood and not give her a slot on one of the big 3 days of Christmas.

I know! And your right, 9.9m is terrific nowadays, especially over 3 hours. But back then it obviously appeared to be a flop.

It shows how unimaginative ITV had to be to win though - blocking Coronation Street and Who Wants to Be A Millionnaire? across the night.


Doctor Who v Emmerdale; Strictly Come Dancing v Coronation Street; Wallace and Gromit/EastEnders v Dancing on Ice.

ITV had a pretty decent Christmas Day in 2004:

5 entries in the top 10 which is better than what it gets nowadays! I suppose BBC1 airing a long movie that night helped ITV get some more places in the top 10.

No Strictly Come Dancing, no Doctor Who, the EastEnders episode being an all-in-one job plus, as you say, the long movie, all helped ITV out there.

Seeing those, I'd not blame them for pulling the soaps, particularly Emmerdale. Clearly the demand just isn't there.

Sorry for getting a bit ratty about all the TXF bumpf cluttering up the thread last night. At least the show has passed its peak and is on the slide - for a decline in Sunday ratings TWO WEEKS ON THE BOUNCE seems a sign of that - so with interest on the wane, presumably this thread will be less TXF obsessed than before. Perhaps...

Anyway, it's given me a few belly laughs this evening re-reading some of the wilder predictions by excitable cheerleaders last night - more laughs than I've had since, oooh, possibly the last funny series of Benidorm...























It didn't even need them to go, it had already started!


Nope, all it needs - seemingly - is for Channel 5 to put a film on and TXF's audience goes boom...


Too many people Tw @ ttering away, they forgot to watch!




Yes, aggressive old BBC1, getting the wrong week to puff-up TXF's ratings when Cowell needed it this week, how remiss of them.


Glad you're ok. I feared you might do something silly when the news broke...


Bye-bye to any hopes of top-rated show of 2009. I suspect 4 hours of padding in extremis of a final 3 contestants will bore even the most die-hard of TXF cheerleaders into submission.

Excellent bit of golden goose massacre by ITV there. But desperate times call for desperate foot-shooting measures. Hope they've sold their £250k slots, the advertisers might be pushing for a discount after last night's ratings...

BBC1 had no option but to stick to their guns. If Small Island gets a half decent opening audience next Sunday, it might still do OK, and at 90mins, could find a decent number of people switch to BBC1 after the TXF final instead of a
documentary/album puffery for the woman who was briefly famous last April/May.


Past caring really, think they've shot themselves in the foot - see above.


More than that. Peak of 12m very likely. But a slump after that, isn't Jordan the only reason people have been watching?

I fear for Life tonight with the Tits Out last-chance-to-see Jordan bonanza, and also the Gracie drama on BBC4 which I personally think will do better than Enid last week. 3m maybe for Life? Less?

Wouldn't rule out a record audience for BBC4 tonight.

BBC3 was also strong 9-10pm with a new 20-something talking heads-type drama - a sort of Alan Bennett-cum-Skins. Rather good I thought but silly to run it opposite Tits Out! Short of running it against TXF, they couldn't have picked a worse slot.

A good night for the BSI all round (ie, good for idiocy...)


Nearer 5m in fact.

Funny that you want to talk about X Factor now it performed slightly under expectations, Robbie. I never thought that'd happen.

Think a 12m peak for I'm A Celebrity is slightly too high. Think it may just tip 10m and the peak won't be much over that, very much like yesterday.

I don't. I just wanted to deliver up a host of repeats...