"Interesting" only in speculating how many weeks ago it was written, and whether the Fellowes fan-boy who cobbled it together actually watched any of Upstairs at all...


Great night for BBC1 across the piece.

How did Stephen K Amos do at 10.25 though - I'm always keen to see his ratings...

Not a disaster for ITV, could have been worse - Candid Camera did OK-ish to clear 3m, just. And I am Legend did very well really - better ratings than any of the glut of pensioner-fodder detective dramas will manage this Christmas, and considerably cheaper too.

Agreed!

I'm not sure she was the weak link (that was Ed Stoppard for me) but I think both Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins have too big an emotional investment in Upstairs Downstairs to be properly objective and grown up about it.

If the new UD has been in the development stage for a couple of years, maybe the BBC needs to think about lead times for getting shows on screen.

Thanks. Decent rating there. Easy to see why Channel Five put the effort into Milkshake. I doubt anything else could get that sort of rating on C5 at that time of day. And of course between 6am and 7am we know Channel 5 was ahead of BBC/ITV1/C4. Plus most stuff repeats well multiple times


I was just thinking about the main competition for kids programmes


I know it was a Bank Holiday, but just 16k for Sunrise

I expect UD will be back as a regular with maybe a special at Christmas or New Year follow by a series in 2012. Isn't the upcoming series of Lark Rise to Candleford meant to be the last one?

A selection of AI ratings (audience appreciation - read more here) for the Xmas Eve to Boxing Day have been released:

Christmas Eve
20:30 My Family Christmas Special 80/100
21:30 QI Christmas Special 86
22:00 Have I Got News for You Christmas Special 80

21:00 Whistle and I'll Come to You 72
21:00 Paul O'Grady's Christmas 81

Christmas Day
The One Ronnie 79
Doctor Who 83
Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 80
EastEnders 81
The Royle Family 84
Come Fly with Me 78

18:00 Emmerdale 85
19:00 Coronation Street 84
20:00 All Star Family Fortunes 79
21:00 Agatha Christie's Poirot 83

Boxing Day
21:00 Upstairs Downstairs 86

20:00 Top Gear Special 86
21:15 When Harvey Met Bob 84

21:00 Benidorm 80

On Christmas Day, The Royle Family was the most liked (or appreciated) show on BBC1. Well deserved. Come Fly with Me's isn't too low - some comedies which have been panned in the past have had much lower AIs.

Upstairs Downstairs' AI was excellent for the first episode of a drama - higher than the average for dramas last year (84), though slightly lower than Downton Abbey's first episode AI (88). Benidorm's AI was quite low compared to its previous series which averaged 86 (and was as high as 88 for one episode).


There's nothing wrong with pensioner-fodder detective dramas! You do realise though that the average age of Upstairs Downstairs' audience on Monday was older than Marple's? 42% of UD's audience were aged over 66!

Viv Grosop was one of Downton's leading cheerleaders on Twitter. She tweeted she only watched last night because she had to for 'professional' reasons so she had clearly made up her mind. Having said that, it's hard to disagree with her comments. Ultimately it comes down to personal preference and whether you see it as a competition or a great opportunity to watch two excellent period drama.

Sadly, I think the competitive element will stir the BBC and the Atkins/Marsh camp and that will be bad news for UD.

Very good night for BBC1, well above 6million right through from 6:20pm until 10:15pm apart from Celebrity Mastermind. That's not to say Celeb Mastermind performed poorly though. Eastenders and Holby City grabbed good audiences last night with that being Holby City's 2nd highest rating of the year and pushing last week's rating of 6.37m down to 3rd place (highest was 5th Jan).


Think that's a pretty decent rating for I Am Legend. Not often we see Tuesday night ratings of over 4million on ITV. Especially baring in mind those 4.65m would have stuck through the whole movie until 10:50pm not just watched between 9pm-10pm as would normally be the case had it been a Tuesday weeknight. I hope ITV see the value in not having a news break in the middle of a movie too.
I expect it will be repeated on ITV2 many times, so they will get a good value from it.

You could multiply that figure several fold with all the viewers in Continental Europe, where it was 7-8am or 8-9am and no Bank Holiday!!

How did the 8am-10am hours do?

Thank you for the AI. They are often more informative than ratings.

What did the repeat of the Countryfile Winter special get (BBC1 Tue 28th Dec 5.25pm - 6.20)?

I don't know why people seem so frightened of the elderly demographic. The stereotype of some old granny sitting in front of a one bar electric fire and watching in black and white is exactly that. The majority of pensioners I know have quite a high standard of living and don't all watch Coronation St and Last of the Summer Wine. Quite a lot have demanding tastes and like good crime dramas and period dramas that generate far more in export sales and DVD sales than some of the reality junk that is aimed at the under 35s. Indeed most shows aimed at under 35s, rather like those useless yoof shows from the eighties, seem to insult their intelligence.

Final word on UD/DA (from me at least). I'm curious whether the second series of DA will be as good as the first. Carnival don't have a stellar record for returning drama and they often seem to misunderstand what core elements gave the show its original success.

You said previously that your not ITV biased but nearly every post you make is just a dig at the BBC while you proclaim ITV is superior. Your like a dull, repetitve broken record.

And I dont know why the BBC are "foaming at the mouth". The only one who seems to be foaming at the mouth is you.

ITV is better at some things, big budget LE, game shows, crime dramas, but most of the rest of what they do is hopeless, it's just landfill television like reality shows.

>>EDITED<<

I think this list just shows how meaningless AI is in the multi-channel/DVD/Game Console age.

Nowadays people don't watch things they don't like, so those who do watch tend to at least like the programme and some will really like it.

Over and over again we see AI in the high 70s/80s, and not just at christmas. It's a really pointless statistic for todays TV world.

Im not denying ITV has its strengths and qualities but the whole Upstairs Downstairs/Downton Abbey thing has just become another BBC vs ITV debate.

I havent watched either show but Downton got very good reviews and great ratings, abelt with a monster of lead-in. Upstairs has got very good reviews and excellent ratings. Why cant people just like both?

It seems some people decided beforehand that Upstairs wouldnt be as good as Downton which is always not going to help.

Lying is a very strong word.

I posted based on my knowledge of events as I read them in the papers and elsewhere in good faith. If you have so little to do that you make it your daily job to proof read my posts then I'm honoured. I really didnt know you cared so much!

The BBC exec comments are ambiguous as well. I assume you have put them under a lie detector too - I know they can walk on water but they cant know for sure what was discussed at meetings they were not at. I suggest you go and shine a light in their faces. I doubt you will because I'm sure you head is probably lodged elsewhere in awe.

Judging by some of the comments I've read, it does seem that some people are turning this into a BBC vs ITV debate rather than just accepting that BBC and ITV have made some good programmes.

ITV Studios should be happy with those. Seems that the viewers appreciate them anyway

Jake,
especially for you!

I'm so sorry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSHaCzb3yYk

I would agree with this. We should be happy that the two main broadcasters are still producing quality drama like Downton and UD. More of the same I say.

You're spot on here.

A couple more ratings from yesterday:

13:40- Doctor Who (BBC1): 1.5m (12.3%)
00:00- The Goodies (BBC2): 0.30m (3.1%)

I Am Legend - Breakdown
21:00 - 4.49m (17.3%)
21:15 - 4.70m (18.0%)
21:30 - 4.75m (18.3%)
21:45 - 4.77m (18.3%)
22:00 - 4.65m (19.2%)
22:15 - 4.89m (21.3%)
22:30 - 4.87m (23.6%)

Primetime Shares:
BBC One (inc. HD) - 27.0%
ITV1 (inc. HD) - 17.0%

Thanks to MattJ