The general consensus about UD is that it was inferior to Downton. But those ratings were healthly. I see UD as being a good choice to replace Lark Rise To Candleford.

Incidentally, am I right in thinking we're going to get Lark Rise followed by South Riding on BBC1 from January 23rd, cos that strikes me as clumsy scheduling.

Morgana - Channel 4's answer to Stephen K Amos. She must have had more viewers when she was on the internet, surely?

I wonder if ITV1+1 is a good idea. Channel 4 seem to get little benefit from their +1 channel. In fact, it seems to be more of a handicap, reducing the viewers for their "regular" channel.

Great for Upstairs Downstairs. I'm sure it'll timeshift fairly well too, so I'd be very surprised if we didn't get a full series commissioned now. They clearly put everything into making the revival a success and had a proper series in mind. It's done more than enough to prove itself and I think would benefit from a longer run and slower pace.

Not so good for Just William but then again, it's probably the worst of all the BBC's scheduling crimes this Christmas.

Could that not be a scheduling issue? Also word of mouth has obviously boosted it. I'm sure it was still a modest hit when it started. The shorter running time helped and the show seemed funnier. It seems to be thin on ideas right now. The xmas special wasn't helped by half the regular cast being missing. I don't buy the Mel excuse for it being poor however. While one of my fave characters, I'm aware he wasn't in it when it started and it was still good then - arguably at its best. And if the script couldn't be rewritten to still give us a good episode they shouldn't have bothered.

The BBC HD controller had the right idea. All four episodes back to back on New Year's Eve from 6pm.

In all its incarnations Just William has had a teatime slot.

Its not Hollywood you are in now you know

I remember LWT having it at 5.30pm on Sundays

it makes you think about how people think hollyoaks should be axed, yet it rates higher than the shows later on substantially infact. If there to axe hollyoaks, they would need to think about axing the rest of channel 4 programmes, bar some of them. Hollyoaks should get back to its usual figures next week when people are back to work etc.

CH4 has fallen over in recent months, xmas has also been terrible for them.

Probably something to do with the awful programmes they constantly show on a loop...

Having to re-write an entire episode with a tight filming deadline seems a fair excuse to me.

A part from the films on Channel 4 I don't watch anything else on there.

CH4 has been badly run for a while, they just recently got in ex BBC1 controller Jay Hunt whose stock-in-trade is the sort of programming that has been slowly killing CH4.

Can CH4 go to the wall? Is it possible legally?

Could have ensured the script contained a few laughs surely. Given how funny S1 and S2 were.

It was interesting to see on my EPG yesterday that the synopsis started with "CBBC". It seems that because this is presumably the domain of the Children's TV department, it couldn't be scheduled at a time when people might actually be watching TV for internal BBC politics reasons, and has therefore been dumped in a lunchtime slot.

This could have aired at teatimes, starting at 4.30 on Christmas Day - there was even a 30 min slot for it which had to be filled by a repeat!

I think that's a great rating given the ridiculous scheduling of it!


Even the actors working on it have said they are mystified as to why it isn't going out at teatime. And if that's the reason why it has been scheduled were it has been then people in the BBC need to be slapped!!

Why the comparison?

Surely they are two very different period dramas - one set in a big country house, all light and fluffy and colourful and sunny, a perfect companion piece to X Factor; the other set in a London street, darker in tone and filmed as such.

Of course Upstairs wasn't as colourful and sunny and fluffy as Downton - it wasn't meant to be...

Well the comparison was made by Jean Marsh and others (presumably with help from the BBC PR team) in order to stir up interest. There was her appearance on TOS where she stirred it up and her rather undignified attack on DA. So really shes just getting her comeuppance by being in DAs ratings shadow.

I may have missed The One Show appearance - I don't watch it as religiously as you seem to...

I wasn't aware of any "attacks" on Downton, unless you mean the bit where she said Upstairs wouldn't have the benefit of a 15m X Factor lead-in.

And that is hardly contentious, as there seems to be a consensus in the industry that Downton wouldn't have had 10m a week without its 15m TXF lead-in and promotion. That seems obvious really.

Re Downton and Upstairs Downstairs, an article in the Telegraph over the bank holiday mentioned that it's looking likely they will be pitched against each other when they both return. Not at the same time (as that would be suicidal for both shows) but in the same season, most likely autumn.

Would UD work well just before Strictly on a saturday, with DA retaining its slot after the X Factor results on a sunday? Assuming ~8 further episodes each are commissioned. Both could start in October and end in mid November, just before IAACGMOOH's run. I know UD at teatime may not work well with Merlin, but I can't see when else it could be shown.

Yes the comparisons are inevitable. Alot of the tv magazines, when they talk about UD always seem to mention Downton as well. And yet they are, as you say, very different. Downton has been crafted in every way as a big audience grabber and has delivered. People who speak about it to me do so in glowing terms as though its a new friend. UD is much darker. I think the Beeb would love to have got UD off before DA. Lol we have probably got a new C/S-Eastenders relationship here.

The other problem for UD was appearing rushed with only three episodes. The Beeb have really got to commit to any new series and make it at least six episodes-preferrably eight like Downton.

Jean Marsh in The Guardian:

"I think we were all surprised. The new Upstairs Downstairs had been in the works for about three years. We were trying to sort out ... 40 years of rights, and then [ITV] also started Downton Abbey – in the Edwardian era, which Upstairs Downstairs did. So it might be a coincidence, and I might be the queen of Belgium."

Upstairs Downstairs is pish.

from the same DT article
I dont think ITV would fear UD scheduling really. If the BBC want to follow the old ITV scheduling (seems to be that BBC1 is now reliving the 1970's LWT every day) they would put it at 9pm on Saturdays. That might allow Casualty to rest up for a while (unlikely) or move somewhere else but again thats difficult as there is already Holby in weekdays and x2 of essentially the same show by a different name would be just taking the proverbial.........

I would just like to say that The Morgana Show and Stephen K Amos are shown in primetime and get 500,000 whereas The Goodies get late night repeats with no promotion and gets roughly the same figures.

The BBCs press tactics remind me of Brucie and his photocopied ratings handouts when he had a strop over the X factor being more popular. Whats Brucie photocopying today eh!