Don't forget Boxing Day is a Monday, so it will almost certainly be normal soap scheduling from both the BBC and ITV. 8.30pm opposite Coronation Street isn't such an attractive slot for a key new show

Strictly wasn't great tonight but neither was the x factor so maybe the two will be down

Indeed, I waiting for all the 'I'm really surprised the ratings were lower' posts even though many have been predicting Bonfire Night denting the proceedings all week!

I'm unsure about putting Sherlock on Christmas Day, think it'll launch on NYD. The Borrowers I think could air on Christmas Day after the 3.10pm film which I think will be either Ratatouille, Up or Madagascar Escape 2 Africa.

I wonder whether Mrs Brown's Boys should go on Christmas Day. Its been successful but I think a Christmas Eve or Friday 23rd Slot would be fine. Think Lapland will be either Christmas Eve or Boxing Day, it'll likely be the sacrificial lamb for Downton in order to protect Great Expectations.

I predicted 9.4m on the prediction game; there seems to be more of a buzz on twitter and the forum about this week but I think it could take another hit.

If that is the case, it'll really need to bounce back next week.

However they move the shows around, the Beeb clearly has to find an extra hour ot TV this Christmas if TRF has gone at short notice. So bumping up the SCD Special from 1 hour to 90 mins would certainly be a cheap and easy way of filling half of that gap.


Interestingly, there doesn't seem to have been any official BBC announcement ever confirming a RF ep this year. The tabloid reports in the summer came about because Craig Cash said there would be one and he and CA would get their heads together and think up some ideas for it.

So perhaps there never was officially going to be a RF special this year?


I actually think last week was a one off as a result of the bad press, Halloween party night, and the clash.

This week Bonfire Night will dent SCD as much as TXF (possibly SCD more as people often do their fireworks when it goes dark, not wait till 8pm). And there is no clash at all, SCD finishing about 10 minutes before TXF started tonight.

I'm convinced TXF will comfortably be back in front tonight.





23.00 The Best of That Sunday Night Show




22.00 The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook

Which just goes to show that as depressing as the non-appearance of The Royle Family is, Christmas Night 2011 won't ever be as bad as 2005 - the one recent BBC1 Christmas Night we all forget about.

In a dire year for them, having to air GGG in primetime and a compilation of old Ronnies Christmas ep sketches. In fairness, the Sketchbook had been a moderate 6 part hit earlier in the year, and Ronnie B sadly passed away between that run airing and the Christmas episode, so it was a fitting tribute and got 8m viewers. But it should never have been the headline comedy offering that year.

That EE got welded into one hour long ep and stuck out at 9pm says it all. The same now looks certain to happen in 2011, particularly if Downton does play on Christmas Night.

Four of the BBC's most popular in one evening is exactly the BBC at it's best.


You get "false lifts" all year round for certain shows, Christmas Day isnt too different. I do agree that if a show deserves a Christmas night slot it should get one but there simply isnt anything that has shown that it deserves it this year.


Your examples are pretty extreme Andy. E4 showed Friends for hours upon hours every day, we are talking about 4 hours per year here.

Why should the BBC change anything when the replacements would just rate worse? If there was a show that could get 11m like Doctor Who, 9m like Strictly (against Corrie), 12m like Eastenders and 10m rated comedy then give that a go but there doesn't appear to be anything out there that can achieve that. As sn_22, the four shows are different genres, there is already variety, its not as if they are all comedies or all reality. Im not against changing the schuedule but I dont see why changes need to be made for the sake of change.


Yay. The highlight of my week. I hope Samthefootball has more insightful comments to make.

It was the first series that aired in 2005. I suspect since the first episode rated so highly, they decided to have it on Christmas Day.

Mrs Brown's is perfect for the late night jaded and pissed up Christmas Night audience, something that was lacking last year (hence the early BBC1 finish with the news and late film). And should help s2 launch to a big new audience.

Lapland will be perfect for Christmas Eve, I'm sure it's intended for that slot given the HIGNFY/Apollo/Norton combo will be airing on Friday 23rd, and I'm sure if DA airs on Boxing Day then the Beeb will just air a film against it and save any period drama they have for BH Tuesday or the rest of the week.

Sherlock isn't really Christmas Day material. If DA airs there, then that's an obvious no-no. If DA doesn't, then the Beeb has a clear run for the 2nd string comedies. Eithe way, Sherlock can clean up on NYD with an EE lead-in (and continue on subsequent Sundays).

In August Fox signed a $90 million 7 year deal with UFC; generally it's thought Fox considers live sport as very important because compared to scripted shows, Fox believe people will be far more likely to watch sport live, and if they're watching live, they can't fast forward the ads. I doubt anything will change.

Catherine Tate did well two years ago, I imagine if MBB airs on Christmas Day, they'll be complaints but with a good lead in it should open to 5-6m.

I never got why they aired Blackadder Rides Again which was the documentary on Christmas Day 2008. Seemed a waste when a comedy could have aired in that slot.

Did Bernidorm air on Boxing Day or in the post Christmas week? May be an indication where DA goes.

Knowing every show that will be shown and when it will be shown weeks/months in advance does dampen the appetite a little. This thread and digiguide has a lot to answer for.


Looking back that is a pretty awful achedule compared to what we have had in the last few years. Medicore (and im a huge Only Fools fan) sitcom, followed by death of a major character in a soap, followed by an hour of sketches already repeated dozens of times. And they say Christmas TV is getting worse!

Twitter means nothing. You can trend worldwide with less than 2000 tweets at certain times of day.

Some Ab Fab ratings, out of interest.

Christmas Eve 2003
BBC1 9pm - 35 mins - 6.91m
(ITV aired "The Real Beckhams 9-10pm which got 6.10m)

(no idea what followed at 9.35pm on BBC1, whatever it was didn't make the top 30. I'm guessing it was a film)

Christmas Day 2004
BBC1 10.35pm - 45 mins - 6.34m
(followed Vicar of Dibley 12.52m but broken by a 10 mins late news break - they should have run them back to back, I suspect)

Neither rating sets the pulse racing there (and these are 7/8 years ago too), and doesn't make me think the new episodes should run in particularly high profile and exposed slots.

The last series of Ab Fab in autumn 2003 performed as follows (airing in a 9pm Friday slot):

1: 7.91m
2: 6.80m
3: 6.15m
4: 7.02m
5: 7.19m
6: 5.22m (displaced a week by CIN and facing a strongly rating Touch of Frost repeat with 7.5m - I assume it was a repeat)

So fairly respectable and around the 7m mark apart from 2 lower rating episodes. The two Christmas eps in 2003 and 2004 probably held steady really on that last series.

UFC is likely to air on FX with the odd match on FOX on Saturdays. CBS has shown MMA and it hasn't rated well, I think UFC like wrestling is more suited to cable, I think for UFC the FOX deal allow them more money and wider exposure for PPV matches than what was offered by Viacom.

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I think Ab Fab should rate well, its been 7 years since the last special and the break has allowed Jennifer Saunders to do other projects. I think a series is unlikely but specials would be fine especially as they never wrapped up the show.

If there is three episodes with one airing in July next year, when is the second episode airing? I would assume NYD after Sherlock.

I still cant work out how the show was not commissioned for CBBC, not the best format in the world, but given to CBBC it might have been salvageable.

Looking at the 2005 ratings around Christmas, that looked like a pretty dire year of shows. The coincidence with this year?

Christmas Eve was on a Saturday, Christmas Day on a Sunday and Boxing Day on a Monday...

Saturday 24th December 2005
BBC One
16:00 - FILM: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: 6.82m
18:25 - Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special: 9.33m
19:30 - Lottery - Millionaire Manor: 5.62m
20:00 - Casualty @ Holby City: 8.00m
21:10 - Little Britain: 8.45m
21:40 - FILM: Bridget Jones' Diary: 6.99m

ITV1
18:25 - Ant and Dec's Christmas Takeaway: 6.22m
20:00 - Who Wants to be a Millionaire?: 6.09m
21:10 - Celebrity Stars in their Eyes: 5.69m

We know ITV1 has Text Santa marathon, which could do well or flop - I suspect it will be in the ~4/5m range, depending on the BBC One line-up of course. BBC1 we know have EastEnders so it'll be that alongside the Lottery and Casualty...

Sunday 25th December 2005
BBC One
18:00 - My Family: 5.85m
19:00 - Doctor Who: 9.84m
20:00 - The Green Green Grass: 4.59m
21:00 - EastEnders: 10.60m
22:00 - The Two Ronnies: 7.87m

ITV1
18:00 - Emmerdale: 6.24m
19:00 - Who Wants to be a Millionaire?: 6.55m
20:00 - Coronation Street: 9.81m
21:00 - The Booze Cruise: 4.38m

Monday 26th December 2005
BBC One
18:00 - As Time Goes By: 4.87m
20:00 - EastEnders: 9.91m
20:30 - Outtake TV: 4.83m
21:00 - FILM: Minority Report: 4.52m

ITV1
18:00 - Emmerdale: 6.20m
18:30 - Coronation Street Christmas Panto: 7.32m
19:30 - Coronation Street: 9.69m
20:30 - Coronation Street: 9.07m
21:00 - Under the Greenwood Tree: 5.03m

I hope the Christmas line-ups don't look like a 2011 version of that, because they look awful.

Don't forget the Tuesday is also a public holiday this year because Christmas falls at the weekend.

The National Lottery - Midweek Draws at 9.40 followed by Shanghai Noon at 9.55.

When we're talking about bad Christmas schedules let's not forget 2002 - Bargain Hunt at 3.40 and Ground Force at 7.25. That was depressing, and Christmas Day schedules have picked up massively in the last few years - helped enormously by Doctor Who and Strictly Come Dancing.

11.0m peak audience (10.5m excl ITV1+1) for The X Factor last night. Most watched programme on TV with average of 9.9m / 42% share (9.5m excl +1)

Source: James Macleod

Hmmm, both The X Factor and Strictly under 10 million isn't something to shout about I'm afraid.

Not great for TXF but to be honest considering it was Bonfire Night itself it could have been worse, and they'll probably just be relieved it was stable. I think it might increase a decent bit next week now that Halloween/Bonfire Night are done with as Sunday's episode showed a small bit of momentum at last. Looks like the share was up a bit week on week too and SCD must have slipped back a bit if TXF was #1, which will give ITV bragging rights at least.

I think Bonfire night affected both loads, the last few week TXF share has been about 37% but today 42% so......