I actually think a one hour Coronation St might not be a bad idea on a Wednesday night, as it would give whatever comes next a big lead in and would free up an extra slot on Friday or Monday for different shows.

The first few weeks of The Premiership and what it did to ITV's Saturday nights, were what put ITV behind BBC One for the first time in its history*, and it's been behind BBC One every month since then.

*BBC One won the odd Xmas week in the past.

I remember reading an article on Teletext, where she said she'd stepped in to "save" Saturday nights, by phoning Charlie Allen to remind him he had a new series of Blind Date sitting on the shelf.

We already have a Sherlock, ITV need a new detective show that appeals to those demographics. The thing is Downton Abbey and Sherlock are phenomena. Not easy to get those types of drama successes.

First time I saw Jasper Carrott was his live LWT stand up show from the Palladium, Beat The Carrott.

I remember he had a portable TV on stage and tuned into to BBC1 and 2 to see what everyone else in the country was watching. Only three channels in 1981!!

Yes, it's hollywood executives who tend to think "the public" are suddenly into a particular genre, when the reality is just down to good entertainment always being popular.

Although some of those 'Sherlock' episodes have been rather poor.

Laila Morse (Mo from EastEnders, who has quite openly said she doesn't want to spend too long on DOI, take the money, and have a nice holiday!) is about to skate (attempt to anyway).
Actually it's admirable not hearing an actress talk about "my journey" and all that.

I think Laila Morse is a bit old for that kind of bullshit.

Some people on this thread seem to be forgetting that ITV did a highly acclaimed version of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett which ran from 1984 to 1994 and still gets regular repeat screenings on ITV3. That will be why the BBC1 version is set in the present day - because they needed to do something dramatic to distinguish it from its illustrious predecessor.

There is definately a gap in the UK for a late night talk show - and ITV1 is probably the best place for it now the BBC is slashing the budgets after 10.35pm too. He wouldn't be my choice but I think Jonathan Ross would serve ITV better in a Mon-Thu slot at 10.35pm than on Saturday nights - but the issue is advertising. Generally speaking the primetime ad quota is used up by 10pm, with ITV unable to show another at until 11pm. In a daily format I think any UK chat show could probably only sustain a 30-40 minute format, so they could do 10.35-11.15pm with a break as close to 11pm as possible - so the format would need to work around that.


C4 have made a similar mistake with many of their recent poaches - Mary Portas and Jimmy Doherty being the obvious examples. There is virtually no advantage at all to the broadcaster in signing up people like that on an exclusive contract, especially if you sign the talent before you have the format.

Darts fans spoiled this weekend,the final heading for extra time on BBC2.

I dont know about that, im sure if they wanted to make a show set in the same time period as the books, but be different from the ITV show, they could.

Also it may have escaped some viewers attention that Laila Morse is actually the 2nd longest serving actress on EE, not bad considering she has never had a storyline.

Baker Street, just round the corner from Coronation Street, on the Granada studios tour!!

could ITV do a sequel series, a sort of "Son of Sherlock" or if we never saw Sherlock having sex, maybe a son of Mycroft Holmes, who hooks up with Son of Watson, and solve crime.

Some estimates for tonight

Channel 5 schedule change for tomorrow...

'5 News at 6:30' replaced by '5 News Special: Cruise Ship Rescue'

BBC1 already had two versions at Christmas set in the past with Richard Roxburgh (The Hound Of The Baskerville) and Rupert Everett (The Case Of The Silk Stocking). Moffat & Gatiss made a conscious effort to make it in contemporary as the previous style had already been done. The ITV series was acclaimed but not as much as this new version we have now.

Think the Beeb could have a big hit with Call the Midwife. Zeebox perhaps not the best guide but on there its currently twice as popular as Wild at Heart. Getting rave reviews on Twitter too, but launching against DOI who knows...

Basil Rathbone managed to do Victorian and Contemporary Holmes (albeit 1940's) with great aplomb and witty remarks. As much as I enjoy the present day BBC version - they can't compete with the Rathbone film versions. I am really glad the BBC Sherlock are proving very successful in the ratings, well worth watching.

The BBC did one if not two adaptions in the noughties set at the time of the books and the BBC actually adapted the series for TV first in the early 60's iirc.

Edit Cylon beat me to it

I haven't watched an hour of BBC One in the last two weeks without a trailer for Call The Midwife appearing. Think it'll launch high too, it's in a perfect slot between Countryfile and Sherlock, it couldn't have asked for better.

Up against DOI and WAH, CTM could be squeezed somewhat, hopefully a lot of the Sherlock viewers tuned in to watch - rather than see Z listers on Ice and African Heartbeat (copyright 2012 - R.Sykes)

I'd say ice skating has more youth appeal than ballroom dancing. Plus, even though the BBC have tarted up Strictly in recent years, Brucie must seriously put younger viewers off. Brucie is definitely something for the older audience who loved him back in the day and find him endearing now.

The channels probably play a part, particularly in the ABC1 demo. Age might have something to do with the channel as well but I'm pretty sure DWTS skews really old in Australia and the US version definitely does as well.

I am quite surprised that DOI is matching or bettering Strictly's 16-34 numbers, though. DOI must skew a bit younger than I thought.

Note that the Darts Final can get anything between 2.5m and 4m, depending on how one sided or not it is. Either way, it usually dents Dancing on Ice, and I expect it will have knocked it down a notch tonight given its working class/"core ITV" appeal.

Given the 15 minute overrun, I suspect it will have dented Call the Midwife's prospects as well.


I haven't tuned in, but the trailers hardly sold it.

Looks typical stodgy "Sunday night comfort" fare, something like "Born and Bred" (tame 1950s Heartbeat inspired BBC1 guff), and I can't see it getting more than 5m. Launching mid-DOI and not on the junction won't help it one little bit. I reckon it's 50/50 whether it turns out to be a complete turkey.

Oh, I've been calling it that for some years now.

Anyway Caitlin Moran in The Times has come up with a better one - "Emmerdale With Giraffes"