Originally Posted by rzt:
“I think Waterloo Road did start at 8pm and it was up against The Bill in its first series with ratings around the mid 4's IIRC. I think it is possible to launch a new continuing drama these days but the approach has to be like how Waterloo Road worked: so about 8 episodes in series 1, have it back in the next half of the year with 10 episodes, then back in the next half of the year with 15 episodes, etc. So slowly increasing the number of episodes per series so it's only a gradual increase in committment viewers have to give to the show rather than a sudden major year-round committment which would be too major a step.
If they do go down that route though, not sure what could work. Pretty much everything which is about a community of people working in one place (hospital, police, school) has been done as you've said. Maybe a different slant on the hospital genre, focussing on nurses rather than doctors? That's all I can think of.”
It has been done before, but it could be revamped for 2012, as I recall it went out at 7pm on a Monday after Nationwide (seems so long ago), up against shows like Where There's Life and The Krypton Factor on ITV. It did have quite the pedigree and was good 'Soap' practice for Julia Smith and Tony Holland. I grabbed the following from Wiki.
Quote:
“Angels was originally a British television seasonal drama series dealing with the subject of student nurses and was broadcast by the BBC between 1975 and 1978. The show's format then switched to a twice weekly soap opera format (although still seasonal) from 1979 to 1983. The show's title derived from the name of the hospital where the series was originally set, St. Angela's, Battersea, although in the early 1980s the scenario changed to Heath Green Hospital, Birmingham. The series was devised by Paula Milne. Early producers included Morris Barry and Ron Craddock. The first episode was directed by Julia Smith who became the show's producer in 1979. Her script editor on the later series was Tony Holland. Julia Smith enlisted Tony Holland as Angels script editor after the show became a twice-weekly soap. Smith and Holland went on to create EastEnders in the 1980s. Angels, in its 1979 to 1983 weekly soap format, tackled issues such as contraception, alcoholism and promiscuity as part of the nurses' lives. Angels received criticism for its unglamorous depiction of the nursing profession, but Smith defended the programme, arguing the need to address such subjects in the series. Indeed, with its sometimes hard-hitting portrayal of young nurses facing up to the demands of the profession, Angels, particularly in its soap format days of 1979 to 1983, was grittily authentic. To this end, each actress taking a part was required to work on a real hospital ward to gain experience and thus contribute to the realism of the production.
The series also provided valuable early TV exposure for a variety of young actresses who have gone on to become famous faces and seasoned players on British TV such as Fiona Fullerton, Lesley Dunlop, Julie Dawn Cole, Clare Clifford and Pauline Quirke. Additionally, Kathryn Apanowicz, Shirley Cheriton and Judith Jacob all went on to appear in EastEnders, with Cheriton playing the particularly prominent role of Debbie Wilkins.”
