There were certainly successes among those moving to ITV from the BBC:

Benny Hill
Tommy Cooper
Cilla Black
Phillip Schofield
Jasper Carrot (Golden Balls quiz0
Alan Titchmarsh


but it is difficult to think of successful moves from ITV to anyone other than the BBC

It's got plenty going for it. The writer Heidi Thomas has a good track record with Cranford and Upstairs Downstairs, the period setting and subject mater should fit Sunday nights like a glove, there's some curiosity over Miranda Hart playing it straight and, of course, its got a slot between Countryfile (6m) and Sherlock (8m).

In those circumstances, I'd be very surprised if it didn't manage 5.5-6m tonight. Obviously how many of those stick around is another matter and depends how well it's received.

The show I'd love to see is Running Wild as I wonder if it was as bad as critics claimed.

It was incredible to me that he got away with it but Karma got him in the end.

cant believe you guys have spent all afternoon talking about Trinny and Susannah, plus all the usually BBC vs ITV gubbins.

having finally found the ratings

BBC 1 good for Lottery and Casualty, Live at the Apollo doing better than Ross on ITV 1.

Talking of ITV 1, just dreadful, a new flop zone has well and truly been created, when 4 million for Take Me Out is your best ratings, well you might as well quit and blow the budget on escorts, oh wait you already did that on Take Me Out.

I'll be interested to see how Call the Midwife does tonight - it looks good, and slightly grittier than the kind of fare we're used to on a Sunday night.

I doubt anything of this exists now as telerecording was very expensive in 1954. It was badly slated at the time and Morecambe and Wise were shellshocked by it.

I read an article today saying Blockbusters gameshow is coming back to television later this year.

That's a decent night for BBC One, though Live At The Apollo really didn't make much of the Casualty lead in. I wonder whether the BBC could make stand alone quiz shows out the lottery spin offs to fill an awkward Wednesday night slot - they rate very well and I can see In It To Win It especially performing well at 8pm. The Magicians slipped but not is a disaster zone yet and Winter Wipeout did well at 5.35pm. I guess if The Magicians did go into flop territory they could easily switch it with Winter Wipeout. Match Of The Day performed well.

Yet again, BBC Two seem to like randomly switching genres halfway through the evening leaving a minimal audience crossover at best. Dad's Army recorded a decent figure as always and The Man Who Made Eric and Ernie did ok though maybe could've hit the 2m mark considering the lead in but Ken Russell doesn't seem to be the kind of show to follow on from that and the loss of 1m viewers supports that.

ITV1 really seem to be sacrificing some nights and putting all their effort into others; outside of Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor Saturday's have a real risk of collapsing though at least Take Me Out is giving some respectability to what is otherwise a very poor night. If You've Been Framed is new episodes they may as well switch them with TV Burp repeats until the new episodes return. the Talent Show Story was always going to be slightly too highbrow and would've probably done a decent job for ITV3 instead of embarrassing itself on ITV1. Less said about Jonathan Ross the better; maybe he should be given the 10pm slot on Sunday with a 6.5m lead in - it would be interesting to see if he could beat That Sunday Night Show!

The Million Pound Drop benefited slightly from lesser oppostion on the other channels but it didn't exactly light up the ratings board and they really need to spread it out over the year (say four fortnights a year in New Year week, Easter week, Back To School week and Hallo'ween week) instead of treating it like Come Dine With Me where it pops up all over the place. Fantastic Four didn't perform too badly and filled an awkward primetime slot for the broadcaster.

Celebrity Big Brother was always going to suffer a dip as it was a Saturday but even though that's an appalling figure for Bit On The Side...though I guess the show normally loses about 1.5m of it's audience so it's only in line with that and it was on 5*. NCIS recorded a decent figure in an early-ish slot and Along Came Polly didn't disgrace itself at 9.35pm.

PS. Looking at ITV3's figure for Foyle's War maybe ITV1 should try repeats of that after Take Me Out...though it would possibly be the worse piece of crossover scheduling ever!

The line up on Live at the Apollo was not the most impressive - Jason Manford, Jimeoin & Tom Stade.........yes exactly, getting near 4 million to watch was quite an achievement. Next week Jack Whitehall presents comedy from Josh Widdicombe and Shappi Khorsandi. so expect another sub 4 million rating no matter how far ITV1 slips.

I dont know if this is worth saying or not, but if Sherlock is an advertisers dream, and given that anyone can do a Sherlock series or movie, maybe ITV can "create" its own Sherlock.

It cant be half as bad as Sherlock Holmes In The 22nd Century, now that is a well titled show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyGAc-OLAiQ

They could do a classic one certainly. But Sherlock is so successful because its new, its well written and has an AMAZING cast.

Any classical version could fall short - but I'd certainly enjoy it if it were any good.

your saying ITV couldn't do that?

Even if they could would anyone watch it or would it be dismissed as 'too quirky' for ITV1?

depends on the promos I suppose.

True, and the scheduling/opposition. It'd probably be aired on a Tuesday against a new series of New Tricks.

Did Hustle have a +1 screening or a BBC Three repeat on Friday night then?

I watched the tribute to Bill Cotton last night and I'm glad it attracted 2 million viewers. The Ken Russell documentary was bound to fare badly as it was less accessible.

well far be it for a humble viewer such as myself to make this suggestion, but how about not airing it on Tuesday

Tuesday is so bad right now for ITV 1, that the BBC could air the test card and it would still outrate the flop zone.

...or ITV.

Since when has common sense and scheduling been comfortable bedfellows for any broadcaster?

You see, I don't think it would be. ITV1 would be tempted to hour Coronation Street in one go if EastEnders wasn't there which could be countered by starting a decent show opposite it a 7.30pm, whether it be a film or comedy etc.

No - but they could do that with ANY show.

But it'll have to at least be different to the BBC version to stop it looking like a rip off.

Apparently this is not to be missed tonight, expecting a bumper audience for it, possible 2.5m rating inc HD. Up against tail end of Sherlock, That Sunday Night Show, The Reader & Celebrity Big Brother.

so how to change it so its not a rip off of Sherlock, but still keep the same audience and demographic as Sherlock.

Thats a tricky one.


fair enough