I've been tinkering with my BBC1 Christmas schedules based on what we've learned, so less what I'd do and more what I think they'll do. Distinct lack of programme info from the Beeb, particularly films, means blanks still:

(pls scroll down if not interested in the most important fortnight of the scheduling year... )

Saturday 19th

5.35 Hole in the Wall
6.05 Merlin
6.50 Strictly Come Dancing – The Final
8.10 Casualty
9.00 Lotto
9.10 Strictly Come Dancing – The Result
9.40 Live at the Apollo
10.10 News
10.30 MOTD

Sunday 20th

4.40 Life (rpt)
5.40 Film:Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit
7.00 Total Celebrity Wipeout 1
8.00 Antiques Roadshow
9.00 Cranford (1/2)
10.30 News
10.45 Film TBA

Usual schedule Mon 21st – Weds 23rd

Xmas Eve

3.15 Film: The Santa Clause 3
4.45 News
5.10 Shrek the Halls (rpt)
5.35 Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death (rpt)
6.05 Film: Shrek the Third
7.30 EastEnders
8.00 The Impressions Show 7/8 [anti-soap filler]
8.30 A Question of Sport [anti-soap filler]
9.00 Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas
10.00 Gavin & Stacey (5/6)
10.30 QI
11.00 News
11.15 Midnight Mass
12.15 Film: Coyote Ugly

Xmas Day

1.30 Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (rpt)
2.00 TOTP Christmas Special
3.00 HM The Queen
3.10 Film: Over the Hedge
4.30 Film: Flushed Away
5.50 News
6.00 The Gruffalo
6.30 EastEnders
7.00 Doctor Who
8.00 EastEnders
8.30 SCD Christmas Special
9.30 The Royle Family: The Golden Egg Cup
10.30 Catherine Tate: Nan’s Christmas Carol
11.10 News
11.20 Film: The Prestige

Boxing Day

4.00 Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (rpt)
4.30 Final Score
5.15 News
5.30 Hole in the Wall Christmas Special
6.00 Film: The Incredibles
7.50 EastEnders
8.20 My Family
9.35 Outnumbered
10.35 Lottery
10.45 News
11.00 MOTD
12.20 The Football League Show

Sunday

4.40 Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out (rpt)
5.05 Songs of Praise
5.40 News
6.00 Antiques Roadshow
7.00 Total Celebrity Wipeout 2
8.00 Casualty
9.00 Cranford (2/2)
10.30 News
10.45 Film: TBA

Bank Holiday Monday

4.30 Final Score
5.05 News
5.20 Film: Pirates.. 3
8.00 EastEnders
8.30 Celebrity Mastermind
9.00 The Turning of the Screw
10.30 News
10.45 MOTD
12.15 The Football League Show

Tuesday

7.00 Celebrity Mastermind
7.30 EastEnders
8.00 Holby City
9.00 Film: TBA
10.40 News

Weds

7.00 Celebrity Mastermind
7.30 Big Top
8.00 Waterloo Road
9.00 QI
9.30 Not Going Out
10.00 What Larks – The Making of Midlife Christmas
10.30 News
10.50 Lotto


New Year's Eve

5.10 News
5.30 Doctor Who (1/2) (rpt)
6.30 TOTP New Year Special
7.30 EastEnders
8.00 Celebrity Mastermind
8.30 A Question of Sport
9.00 The Graham Norton End of the Year Show
10.30 The Impressions Show 8/8
11.00 News
11.15 Countdown 2010
12.30 Film: TBA

New Year's Day

5.05 News
5.20 Film: TBA
6.45 EastEnders
7.15 Doctor Who (2/2)
8.30 Celebrity Mastermind
9.00 EastEnders
9.30 Gavin & Stacey (6/6)
10.00 News; Euromillions
10.20 Film: TBA



Yes, I noticed DMN posted the transmission times for just the last 10 years - during which it's either been 7-9 or 8-10 every Sunday. Not much of a deviation.

Oh no, that would be awful. Christmas Day is not the time to be experimenting.

People want to watch the shows they know and love.

Not sure about that. My flabber will be well and truly gasted if the BBC don't give the Doctor an EE sandwich on NYD as they do on Christmas Day. Surely they'll want to ensure it doesn't suffer a gradual build up of viewers but rather has at least 10m from the outset. Besides, the EE sandwich always offers 2-3m hardcore EE devotees who would simply sit through anything in the intervening period waiting for their second installment.

To start Doctor Who at 6.45, and waste a EE double on Mastermind would just be pointless. I would have thought BBC One will simply treat NYD as another Christmas - and schedule however they wish - to hell with the usual soap slots. They'll just expect ITV to work around them.

Then again, the BSI do have a reputation to live up to...

Green Green Grass was placed in the middle of primetime. Outnumbered will be moved out of the way of the soaps.


Merlin can pull in 6m, only a couple of million off Doctor Who. So You Can Think You Can Dance? could be intriguing for many if they use a Strictly crossover to good effect (and it'd be good for Strictly to take a year's break). Outnumbered would do well in the 10pm slot - considering that ITV usually give up round that time anyway. Admittedly, it may be wise to use a well established comedy/drama in the 9pm slot, rather than a new show.

The current winning BBC1 Christmas Day schedule is hardly that tired - it's only been consistent for the past few years. At least BBC1 isn't putting out some 3 year old "blockbuster" movie in Xmas Day prime-time but home-grown popular shows, with the movies in afternoon slots - and didn't its old formula in the 80s/90s become a bit "samey"? (Noel Edmonds, Generation Game, Fools & Horses, blockbuster movie, EastEnders, late movie).

Shows will come and go, and the BBC1 line-up will vary to reflect that, as it always has.

Yeah, I partly took the BSI's reputation into account for that schedule . I think Robbie's schedule is great:

5.05 News
5.20 Film: TBA (Shrek 3)
6.45 EastEnders
7.15 Doctor Who (2/2)
8.30 Celebrity Mastermind
9.00 EastEnders
9.30 Gavin & Stacey (6/6)
10.00 News

Doctor Who gets a good EE lead-in and would have a free run in its final 30 minutes against ITV1's filler, so would get a huge peak. I don't think the BBC would put EastEnders at 8.30pm against Corrie. It would probably beat CS but at 9pm it'd do better and give Gavin and Stacey's final episode a great lead-in. Mastermind would probably hold its own at 8.30pm as I think it got 6m+ on NYD this year albeit not against Corrie, but it would still do well.

Merlin's not exactly the sort of show that lends itself to a Christmas Special due to the setting, like the SYTYCD/Strictly crossover idea, could have Nigel with the Strictly judges and whoever competed in SYTYCD paired with the dancers of Strictly or have the SYTYCD contestants do ballroom and Strictly dancers do the SYTYCD rountines.

I always feel that a show which has a full series on in the weeks approaching Christmas will lose some of its pull as viewers have just watched it for X number of weeks and then 2 weeks later there is another "special" episode. If SCD had a decent gap between its final and the Christmas special then I reckon it would get another million or two.

Merlin and Outnumbered are homegrown and relatively popular, and EastEnders is keeping it's place in the schedule on the alternative schedule. Arguably So You Think You Can Dance? is homegrown too considering Nigel Lythgoe is it's creator.

I don't know...I feel as though BBC1 are missing a trick with Christmas Day. The viewers are there, the channel has a pull which it doesn't automatically have for the rest of the year - why not take advantage of it?

I do see where you're coming from - but I think the key would be moderation. People expect the traditional favourites on Christmas Day - thats exactly why BBC One has created the reputation that it has for itself on that day. I think to substitute the recognised big hitters (SCD, DW) in favour of their 'second-string' like SYTYCD? and Merlin wouldn't go down too well.

That said, there could be more space made in the schedules overall to accommodate new stuff. On Christmas Day, for instance - there could be a really big opportunity at 9pm (or whatever the post EE 2 slot turns out to be) for something new. It'd have to be comedy though because the majority of 9pm dramas are not particularly Christmas-y in nature. (The thought of a Spooks Christmas special just flashed by my mind - terrorists in Santa hats )

The other big slot I'd use better is NYD at 9/9.30pm. G&S could wrap up very nicely on Christmas Eve - and could offer all sorts of opportunities for any type of drama. There's something of the annual US post-Superbowl debate in all of this - it needs to be something that would certainly secure big numbers - but you want to use the slot to grow the audience at the same time.

How about reintroducing something into the mainstream? BBC1 are struggling in terms of light entertainment hits. Saturday's look barron in this regard, minus Strictly and - if it takes off - So You think You Can Dance?

It may be worth BBC1 looking at something like...the Generation Game as a comeback special? It could take the Strictly slot (I do think Strictly needs a break - how many Christmas champions can you have?) and would bring in big numbers. It could also offer BBC1 an alternative in the summer where so many LE programmes have failed.

In terms of dramas, I'm not sure what former BBC programme could be ready for a comeback. Comedy wise...One Foot in the Grave would be good if they hadn't bumped off Victor. How about, in the present political climate - Yes, Minister?

Yes, Minister is a problem as two of the stars are dead and it's has a successor in The Thick of It which while funny is totally unsuitable for BBC One. I think Men Behaving Badly would be good just to see how Gary and Tony have changed but none of the cast want to do it again, Birds of a Feather would be another one although I don't think it would get 10-11m and as a wildcard Goodnight Sweetheart.

Birds of a Feather is too highly criticised to think of a comeback. Yes, Minister would have to have a whole new cast and you're right, The Thick of It has really taken that over. I did knod of say it tongue in cheek.

Men Behaving Badly would be good - Goodnight Sweetheart, hmmm. How much room have they got to manouver with that, considering the series ended with Gary stuck in the past?

Of course, if they could have produced it time 'Once Upon a Time in Peckham' (or whatever it's called now) would've been perfect for Christmas night.

Goodnight Sweetheart was one of those poignant and warm sitcoms that you can bring back anytime, because of its context.

Because it's time travel, and Gary would now be in the late 50s, going into the Swinging Sixties, it could really be a history lesson for BBC1 as well as a good show to bring back.

It was more of a drama than a sitcom, and I think the laughter track should be removed, and new writers should be at the helm (if possible), because the execution didn't justify the idea.

In a couple of years I would expect Gavin and Stacey specials. The makers have said they wont do any more series but didnt rule out doing the odd special and the BBC would offer big money because there would be nothing left to revive.

Goodnight Sweetheart would be easy as they could write that the portal reopened and a visitor from the future meets Gary for the first time but it would have to be set in the 50s or 60s.

Men Behaving Badly needs the whole cast to come back or they shouldn't bother and Martin Clunes is busy with Reggie Perrin and Doc Martin and Caroline Quentin has various projects, I'm sure Lesley Ash and Neil Morrissey would be happy for them to do it.


I think turning into a comedy drama could easily go wrong, it didn't work that well with Red Dwarf. TBH it's one of those sitcoms where the main characters isn't that likeable, Gary was a bigamist for crying out out. It hasn't aged that well but I agree it could be brought back and the cast have aged enough that it would be believable.

Forget BGT and Xfaxtor, the BBC's xmas day lineup is the biggest tv event every year.

Instead of two big family films, could the BBC move primetime earlier and air new shows there.Eastenders and Corrie both had afternoon slots in the past on Xmas Day.

I must agree...

Coronation Street had one of its finest Xmas Day outings when it was given an unusual slot between The Queen's Speech, which I think was a very good idea. Basically, the premise every year could be:-

We see one family in its entirity on Christmas Day, as they sit down to watch the Queen's Speech. We could have the Barlow's to kick things off (if Blanche returns, so we can have some first class wit), followed by Norris, Rita and Emily.

It could thus become a tradition for ITV to have soaps in the afternoon on Christmas Day, because I think that's where it will meet its target audience.

The only soap I think that should be shown in the evening in a double bill is EastEnders, as it has the big storyline.

So, my fantasy Xmas Day schedule, possibly in 2010, for ITV1 is:-

2:00pm Emmerdale
2:30pm Coronation Street
3:00pm The Queen
3:15pm Coronation Street
3:30pm Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone *
6:00pm Anglia News
6:15pm Evening News
6:30pm The Best of Bullseye *
7:30pm Dancing on Ice
9:00pm Christmas Night with Vernon Kay *
10:00pm News at Ten *
10:15pm Anglia News
10:30pm Christmas in Benidorm *
11:00pm Love Actually *

*A much loved film, one of my favourites. It is brilliant, for all the family, brings much justice to the book, unlike the other film titles in my opinion, which painfully ignores some of the content.
*The Best of Bullseye will be a little filler narrated by Jim Bowen, evoking fond memories for viewers and fans. And a nice way to pay tribute to Bowen, who probably won't be around much longer. I don't think there ever has been a 'Best of...', and really should be aired, as there were so many great moments. Just watch Challenge if you don't believe me.
*Dancing on Ice should be a Christmas favourite every year. Unlike its perhaps worthier reality contest counterparts (BGT, TXF and IACGMOOH), the show has a real Christmassy feel to it. Not only that, it was incredibly popular on Christmas Day last year. It just feels right for Dancing on Ice to have a Christmas special.
*Christmas Night with Vernon Kay is possibly the kind of show which could bring ratings back to ITV1 at Christmas. I could see 9 million viewers plus watching the show, especially as BBC1 have churned out enough sitcom revivals on that day, and probably have room for no more. The show could be a mix of stand-up and funny sketches for the whole family - exactly what Kay is good at. His Northern humour is classic ITV.
*This show could tell the story of Mel and Madge's first/second Christmas in Benidorm, with a special scene of the Harvey family living in their Northern council house - which would be a must see - as Benidorm has never been out of Benidorm.
*Another brilliant film that keeps Mum & sister up on a Christmas Night. Love Actually would perform well, despite its late slot. It has on its first Christmas showing. ITV would do well to repeat it again.

Boxing Day should always be for popular dramas in the 9pm slots, like Doc Martin Christmas specials.

PJ you should write a sitcom. At least your schedule for Friday of week 51 is novel.

15 minutes of Anglia News on Christmas Night Is there a sudden outbreak of tractor thefts when everyone is eating their turkeys?

And Christmas Night with Vernon Kay - even Tess Daly cant look forward to that.

I think BBC1 will want to make more of an effort than this against the soaps on Xmas Eve.

Unless it's been changed, is the occupant of this slot on the 17th not the Xmas edition of CountryFile, one of the BBC's highest rated programes of the Autumn? (CountryFile for Xmas Day!!!! Let's start the camaign now for next year.)

Why put something strong on against the soaps on the 17th then go for 2 weak programmes on Xmas Eve? Or is CF a Best Of.... programme?

For a start off, I originally posted that a few weeks ago when the subject first came up.

All information is off Media Guardian. You say 'just the last 10 years', that wasn't deliberately Robbie, the information previous to that wasn't on there.

And I didn't consider my post 'stupid'...

Monday 30th November Overnights
BBC One
18:00- BBC News at Six: 5.0m (25.1%)
18:30- Regional News and Weather: 5.7m (27.0%)
19:00- The ONE Show: 5.2m (24.1%)
19:30- Inside Out: 3.7m (15.8%)
20:00- EastEnders: 8.9m (36.6%)
20:30- Panorama: 3.4m (13.6%)
21:00- Life: 4.0m (15.6%)
22:00- BBC News at Ten: 4.4m (21.1%)
22:25- Regional News and Weather: 4.2m (22.3%)
22:35- The Graham Norton Show: 2.6m (19.4%)

BBC Two
18:00- Eggheads: 2.4m (12.0%)
18:30- Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two: 2.9m (13.9%)
19:00- Coal House at War: 1.2m (5.7%)
19:30- An Island Parish: 1.9m (8.1%)
20:00- University Challenge: 3.4m (14.0%)
20:30- Miranda: 3.0m (12.0%)
21:00- School of Saatchi: 0.7m (2.7%)
22:00- Qi: 1.4m (6.6%)
22:30- Newsnight: 0.8m (5.9%)

ITV1
18:30- ITV News & Weather: 4.1m (19.2%)
19:00- Emmerdale: 7.2m (33.1%)
19:30- Coronation Street: 9.7m (41.3%)
20:00- Chris Tarrant - Who Wants to Be a Teacher? Tonight: 3.5m (14.3%)
20:30- I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!: 8.8m (34.7%)
22:00- ITV News at Ten & Weather: 3.8m (18.7%)
22:35- Shaun of the Dead: 1.2m (12.3%)

Channel 4
18:00- The Simpsons: 2.1m (10.8%)
18:30- Hollyoaks: 1.4m (6.8%)
19:00- Channel 4 News: 0.7m (3.1%)
19:55- 3 Minute Wonder: Turner Prize: 0.5m (2.0%)
20:00- Dispatches: Lords, Billionaires and the Russian Connection: 0.7m (3.0%)
21:00- The Queen: 2.0m (7.9%)
22:00- Ugly Betty: 0.8m (4.5%)
22:55- Gordon Ramsay's F Word: 0.5m (5.3%)

Five
17:30- Neighbours: 1.4m (8.3%)
18:00- Home and Away: 1.0m (4.9%)
18:25- Live From Studio Five: 0.3m (1.3%)
19:30- How Do They Do It?: 0.6m (2.5%)
20:00- The Gadget Show: Winter Special: 1.4m (5.8%)
21:00- FlashForward: 1.9m (7.6%)
22:00- FlashForward: Revealed: 0.8m (4.2%)
22:45- Thunderbolt and Lightfoot: 0.4m (4.7%)

E4
21:00- One Tree Hill: 182k (0.8%)

ITV2
22:00- I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here Now!: 613k (3.6%)

Primetime Shares
ITV1: 29%
BBC One: 20.1%
BBC Two: 7.2%
Channel 4: 4.6% (+1: 0.5%)
Five: 5%

All Day Shares
ITV1: 22.2%
BBC One: 19.7%
BBC Two: 7.5%
Channel 4 [inc. +1]: 7.2%
Five: 4.8%
----------------------------------------------
Good rating for The One Show, its ratings have steadily increased over the last few weeks. EastEnders is still about half a million below what I'd expect for this time of the year. Life's level with last week but the first-showing ratings have been disappointing considering what a great start it had.

Superb ratings for BBC2 between 8-9pm, especially for Miranda which was boosted probably due to no Corrie on ITV1. With a weekly reach of around 5m, I'd think a transfer to BBC1 is very much possible.

Corrie did fine, so did IAC. IAC's down 0.7m from last week but I don't think that's too bad as the earlier start and lack of eviction might've effected it. Hollyoaks' ratings are a bit low, shouldn't they be closer to 2m by now! The Queen held up well at 9pm.

I think that's the first time FlashForward's been below 2m. It's probably a good time to have a break now, so that they can promote the show next Spring and hope it settles back into the 2-3m range again.

BBC One and BBC Two boosted massively at 20:30 with no Corrie in that slot. Good rating also for The One Show.

Good rating again for Channel 4 in the 9pm slot, which appeared to take viewers away from FlashForward, which appears to have sunk in past few weeks.

Good also for Celebrity, bodes well for the remainder of the week when it has a Corrie lead-in.

And for anyone interested, a full terrestrial football round-up from the weekend, with comparisons from the same weekend last year:

Saturday
BBC One
22:00 to 23:40 - Match of the Day: 3.6m (21.2%)
* last year: 2.9m (15.5%)
23:40 to 00:30 - The Football League Show: 1.1m (13.3%)
* last year: 0.5m (7%) [note: on ITV1 on Sunday morning]

ITV1
12:15 to 14:45 - FA Cup Live: Northwich Victoria v Lincoln City: 1.1m (12.2%)
23:00 to 00:30 - FA Cup Highlights: 0.9m (7.9%)
* last year: 1.2m (11.2%)

Sunday
BBC One
07:35 to 09:00 - Match of the Day: 1.1m (27.6%)
* last year: 1m (25.8%)

BBC Two
22:35 to 23:35 - Match of the Day 2: 2m (14.2%)
* last year: 2.7m (14%)

ITV1
09:35 to 11:05 - FA Cup Highlights: 0.4m (5.2%)
13:30 to 16:15 - FA Cup Live: Kettering Town v Leeds United: 1.9m (14.8%)
* last year: 1.6m (15.8%) [note: slot was 11:00 to 14:45]
22:45 to 23:30 - FA Cup Highlights: 0.7m (5.3%)
* last year: 0.9m (7%)

wow. I'm gobsmacked. Fantastic rating for a 2nd round match

I've added comparisons to the second round weekend last year... and you probably won't be so gobsmacked with the rating.

Last year had 1.6m over 3 hours 45 minutes.
This year had 1.9m over 2 hours 45 minutes.

The peak last year was probably higher, unsurprising considering it was probably up against a weaker Super Sunday.