News of E4's Autumn schedule, which won't include Friends...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14761922

...which reminds me of a Dead Ringers joke...
"That was the last episode of Friends. So Channel 4 is now closing down".

Outnumbered - Opening Episode Ratings
Series 1 (2007) - 4.1m (25.2%)
Series 2 (2008) - 3.7m (16.3%)
Series 3 (2010) - 5.4m (22.1%)

I would be surprised if tonight's episode was below 5m, dare I even predict near 6m for it.

In essense, the television season starts tonight with big 9pm clashes.

DigiGuide has episode 1 of Downton Abbey down as 90 minutes, contrary to ITV Press Office which has it as 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, someone at ITV appears to have gone time travelling one year into the future...

Wednesday 21st September
19:00 - Emmerdale
19:30 - Coronation Street
20:00 - Midsomer Murders
22:00 - ITV News

Presumably Midsomer Murders on that day is new. I can't spot anywhere where Corrie loses an episode so not sure exactly why it is on there.

Corrie might be losing episodes when I'm a Celebrity returns so that could be why they've got an extra episode that week.

It's going to be interesting seeing how Corrie does that evening up against Waterloo Road. How much will both dent each other due to having pretty similar soap audiences? If Waterloo Road does well, it'll possibly give the BBC confidence in leaving it in that 7.30-8.30pm slot next Autumn when Corrie moves there permanently.

Coronation Street will have the Emmerdale leg up. I think Waterloo Road might struggle with the overnights but timeshift reasonably well.

By next Autumn it'll be Waterloo Road: Scottish Fiasco, so I'd show it at 8pm as it'll need all the help it can get!

The move to Scotland won't harm it at all. Programmes move locations all the time, and whilst the storyline sounds far fetched on paper let's see what the writers actually do with it and what the storyline actually ends up being. I doubt it'll even be one of the most unrealistic storylines in Waterloo Road, as they've had some classics in the past (the drunk parent with the JCB knocking down the front of the school was a particular highlight ).

True, but I don't think they've lost too many episodes during I'm a Celebrity in the past few years, so not sure why they'd want an extra episode now - unless they've got another 'big' week coming up.

Thanks, Jake.

For broadcast in week commencing 17th September

Superior Interiors with Kelly Hoppen
Commencing on Channel 5 this week is a new makeover show featuring South African-born Kelly Hoppen, one of the most celebrated interior designers on the planet. Founder of the Kelly Hoppen Design School, Kelly was awarded an MBE for Services to Interior Design in 2009. Her business, Kelly Hoppen Interiors, is a multi-million-pound success story. Now she brings her expertise and experience to Channel 5 in a series in which she provides her understated classic style to lucky viewers’ homes.

Live International Boxing: Tyson Fury v Leif Larsen
On Saturday night Channel 5 has live coverage from King’s Hall, Belfast, as Tyson Fury, the reigning British and Commonwealth Champion, takes on the unbeaten Norwegian Leif Larsen. Tyson Fury, the reigning British and Commonwealth Champion faces the daunting prospect of defeating the as yet undefeated Leif ‘the Viking’ Larsen. The Norwegian challenger tried his arm at the shot put and American football before settling on boxing. He’s now on a run of 14 straight victories and hoping that Fury will be another stepping stone on the way to a shot at a world title.

America’s Planned War On Britain: Revealed
In the 200 years since the American Revolution, the United States and Great Britain have moved from enemies to firm allies. This ‘special relationship’ is a cornerstone of world security, but a top-secret document found in the USA’s national archive suggests the road to friendship was not as smooth as many would think. The document is ‘War Plan Red’ – the American strategy for an apocalyptic war with her most feared adversary. But this enemy was not Germany, Russia nor Japan; it was Great Britain and her dominions.

The Big Celebrity Swim
Making a huge splash on Channel 5 this week, a team of intrepid celebrities don their wetsuits for a gruelling relay swim across the Irish Sea for Cancer Research. At 56 nautical miles (65 land miles), that’s almost three times the length of the English Channel in treacherous, cold and choppy water strewn with hazards… The Samsung Galaxy S II Swim from Holyhead in Anglesey to Dublin is Cancer Research UK’s first celebrity-led challenge. Taking the plunge are Boyzone idol Ronan Keating; former Atomic Kitten turned TV presenter Jenny Frost; ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ contestant Pamela Stephenson (Billy Connolly’s psychiatrist wife and former ‘Not The Nine O’Clock News’ comedian); Olympic butterfly medallist Steve Parry; and ‘The Gadget Show' guru Jason Bradbury.

Real Food Family Cook Off
The search is on for the country’s best home cooks. Matt Dawson and Lisa Faulkner (who both have ‘Celebrity MasterChef’ medals) take to the road to discover which family has the tastiest ideas when it comes to home cooking. Setting up the mobile kitchens in some family-friendly locations, Matt and Lisa put the familial teams through two rounds of tests.

Nature Shock: When Killer Whales Attack
A pod of deadly hunters stalks its prey. Razorsharp teeth pierce through flesh. A 200lb mammal is tossed through the air… The ocean’s great predators have struck again. Channel 5 profiles the orcas. Highly social and highly lethal, these ‘wolves of the sea’ are at the top of the aquatic food chain and found in all the world’s oceans.

Movie Premiere: The House Bunny (2008)
Comedy. An ex-Playboy Bunny becomes house mother to a sorority of geeky girls, after she is ousted from the Playboy Mansion. The girls need to attract more members or they will lose their house, but can their new members make them cool without compromising their true selves?

Source: Channel 5 Press.

Looks like Channel 5 are finally getting the premieres out, dunno how they're going to show Pineapple Express or Stepbrothers, maybe have BB at 9pm and either film at 10pm.

Wonder when The Celebrity Swim will air? I think either Wednesday or Thursday at 9pm, should do well though. Nature Shock and Superior Interiors will probably air at 8pm.

Great rating for the 9/11 doc. Caught it on ITV Player (God, they do load that with ads!) and thought it was really good. I suspect it worked because it was arguably the biggest event of the century so far - I'm not sure there are many other "serious" docs ITV could run for 2 hours on a Thursday night to 5.4m. Obviously they could try something for 7/7 but thankfully (touch wood) there aren't too many possibilities.

2.5m for the News is better than it usually gets at 10pm! I really think they should just drop the NaT thing (BBC are using it anyway now) and rename it something like ITV Nightly News or ITV Late News which can move around the schedule. Back in 2008, I think pretty much everyone was of the opinion that it had to be consistently at 10pm and ratings would grow and also to avoid the whole News At When thing. But it's clear that the ratings haven't got any better and I think having a bit of flexibility in the schedule might help in some cases.

Will look out for that one, I think. Some moderately big names there. Although how they are going to interview them when they're splashing about I'm not sure. Presumably they can have a rest now and then?

My money's on Steve Parry to win ....

I imagine it'll be similar to the Comic Relief documentaries like the David Walliams one where he swam the Channel and the Kilamanjiro climb. I believe Richard Branson was due to take part but had to pull out because of the fire at this home.

It should do well, it looks good on the channel to show something like a charity swim and also because it features Jason and Jenny Frost, the Express and Daily Star will heavily publicise it.

I think renaming it would allow them to move the news around but I think it should remain at 10pm the majority of the time and only move for something like live events like BGT, IAC or Red or Black and on bank holidays.

Yeah, I don't think they have enough to move it permanently. Trying to fill that 30 minute slot at 10pm was a bit of a nightmare for them. But I think it's a good idea now to be a bit more flexible with it where they've got a show and a schedule that could use an extra 30 minutes. It seems like they're a bit more willing to do it - even Show Me The Funny ran past 10pm!

They tried filling 10pm by extending dramas to 90 minutes and documentaries as well as stuff Get a Grip. Bernidorm actually started at 10pm before moving to 9pm for its second series.

The BBC rarely if ever move the 10pm News unless it's a bank holiday or at the weekend when they have 90 minute dramas.

9pm ratings for tonight should be intriguing. IMO Outnumbered would have obviously trounced both MPD and CBB. In my opinion:

Outnumbered- 5.4m
Million Pound Drop- 2.4m
CBB- 2.4m

Predictions for last night:


Outnumbered - 6.3m
Million Pound Drop - 2.1m
CBB - 2.3m
Chickens - 2.2m

Unfortunately these are separate programmes. I thought even Fox had stopped using these "when killers attack" titles by now?

A couple of overnights from yesterday:

#millionpounddrop returns with a peak of 2.9m
#chickens averages 760k

Source: John Williams, Sky

Will be surprised if Outnumbered does that well, on a late summer holiday Friday and over ten minutes before the end of the England match and other internationals on Sky.

Chickens was brilliant and will surely attract many Inbetweeners fans. Full series quickly please...

Or perhaps not then!

That's a terrible rating for Chickens. How did that flop, it had loads of publicity.

MPD rating suggests Outnumbered will be sub 5m...

Peak for Million Pound Drop suggests it maybe Davina 1, Brian 0 in the Big Brother wars. Chickens did okay considering it started at 10:30pm.

Dire rating for Chickens. Doubt that one will be brought back. I bet Chris Moyles completely tanked after it at 11pm then!

That peak suggests MPD returned well. Might not bode too well for CBB, but then again that peak was probably in the last half hour after CBB ended. Hope Outnumbered did well as it was great last night.

A bit late on this, but really good for the 9/11 doc on Thursday. I don't think anyone expected a rating like that for it! Great start for Celebrity Juice too.