EastEnders did have the baby swap saga to boost this time last year; it doesn't have the same kind of storyline this time around.

All 1997, this post. It was indeed at 8pm, which was a bit of a thankless slot for BBC1 in those days. The least popular Palin programme was probably the Hemingway Adventure, because it was too esoteric and didn't really seem to have a point. Full Circle was the first Palin series on a Sunday, though, Around The World and Pole to Pole were both at 9.30 on Wednesdays.


Yeah, well, on weekends especially the new season would take a bit of time to get going, there'd be films and repeats qute a lot in September, and Alright on the Night used to be wheeled out on a regular basis. For what it's worth, the Beeb's 9pm dramas that autumn were The Lakes and Tom Jones, while on ITV a new series of London's Burning was scheduled to begin the following Sunday but...


I remember William Phillips in Broadcast saying there'd been more disruption to schedules that any week since World War II, which is some going given that the war saw all telly stop. On the day of the funeral, BBC1 and ITV dropped everything, Saturday night on BBC1 had Free Willy and Only Fools and Horses and ITV had The Darling Buds of May and their adaptation of Emma, the kind of shows they're supposed to wheel out during Royal deaths.

Nothing at all scheduled on BBC1 and ITV was shown. Saturday night on BBC1 was supposed to be a fairly bog-standard affair of Confessions, Bugs and the new series of Casualty, an extended 75 minute episode, which as you say eventually turned up on the Thursday. You really had to keep your eye on the schedules that week, it was announced right at the last minute, presumably they needed to get it out because of the length. Also scheduled for that weekend was Bright Hair, a psychological thriller with a young Emilia Fox, which was supposed to be shown over Saturday and Sunday, I can't remember what they replaced it with on the Sunday but they eventually showed it over a weekend in mid-October.

Meanwhile ITV on the day of the funeral was supposed to be new series of Gladiators, Blind Date and Family Fortunes, all of which were postponed to the following week, and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. The first London's Burning was also delayed a week as it was considered inappropriate, I can't remember what they showed instead.

I do remember, though, that Channel Five showed the new series of Night Fever on the day of the funeral. The other thing in the news that day was that Scotland were supposed to be playing that day and the SFA refused to reschedule it despite massive derision, and eventually they gave in and played it the following day (that was also the qualifying campaign they played in Estonia and Estonia didn't turn up). I remember England were playing on the following Wednesday (it was an international break but England didn't play on the Saturday) and the papers said it would be postponed if it was scheduled for "an official day of mourning". I used to have the News of the World from the day after the funeral, with the back page headline "INCE: WE'LL WIN WORLD CUP FOR DIANA".

In fact that day too, BBC Scotland were going to opt out on BBC2 all night because it was the week of the devolution referendum and they had an evening of programmes about Scotland scheduled (including highlights of the Scotland match). God knows when all that went out in the end.

Elsewhere in that week, I remember the Nine O'Clock News on the Monday being extended to two hours. On the day of the funeral they had a Newsround Special scheduled for about 8am but I remember the start time for the funeral coverage kept on moving earlier and earlier and I think it turned up at about 6am in the end. On the Friday before, loads of stuff was dropped so they could show the coffin being moved, and the Queen did her speech of course, and I'd gone out that night and it turned out Top of the Pops had been shoved to BBC2 at the last minute so I completely missed it.

Also on the Thursday, Clive James was supposed to start a new series, Clive James on TV, where he'd wax wry about archive stuff (not Clive James on Television, it was all British stuff, and they did two series) but it never happened, it was recorded the week of transmission and Clive seemingly didn't fancy doing it. The schedules really were all over the shop, virtually nothing got on that week.

I have vivid memories of that period because it was the weeks before I was going to university and I assumed it would be the last time I'd be able to study TV in such depth, Of course, as it turned out, at university I watched more telly than I've ever done before or since.

Why are the soap ratings out but no sign of the general tv ones?

Well then better stories are needed. If you compare to 2 yrs ago the picture is just as grim. Corrie up a bit now compared to then, whilst EE is down by an even bigger margin:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/ne...p-march-8.html

When are we going to stop making excuses for a show that is clearly going through a bad patch?

I know! I want the normal ratings!

Ken

The last few eps of EE have been quite good but you need strong storylines to hook people in. There's only so many everyday episodes viewers can take before they get bored. EE's problem is there hasn't been a big storyline in over 2 months. As a producer you're supposed to take advantage of the first few months of the year as it's during this time soaps can achieve some of their highest ratings of the year. Corrie is proving that right now with their Frank storyline.

I must admit I am not a huge fan of the Frank Foster storyline as I don't believe it's right to use rape in the way that they have but at least the acting has been brilliant and it's obviously drawing people in.

oh I really think we should

Certainly I'd say that yesterday's figure was poor considering the circumstances, and when even a soap sandwich can't help a show out (a crossover audience should've been there) then it's more than just a one off blip.

I dont think anyone is saying it isnt going through a bad patch but there is a difference between a bad patch and a crisis. The fact is people were saying the show was in a crisis just a couple of weeks after getting some excellent ratings following Pat's death. There hasnt been any big storylines since Pat's death but there is a big one coming up in a couple of weeks. The picture will be clearer then.

There is no real draw to EE now, casual viewers will not tune in to watch teenagers passing out due to alcohol, they need Phil back, maybe a big storyline for Kat also.


Not sure how how accurate they are, or if they include +1 for the former.

Well indeed. Normally a stronger Corrie is good news for EastEnders. The fact it actually made losses week-on-week is not a good sign at all and nobody can spin it as a good result.

ANTM seems low as well. Maybe it's a case of fatigue with this format as the British one was down this year. However, it has been a long running hit in the past in relative terms.

Phil is back on Monday and he gets a special RED BUTTON episode at 8:30PM too.

The Murder storyline kicks off on a Monday and it's looking like the BBC are going for a Monday-Thursday week with a 7:30PM Wednesday episode which will mean

Heather is Murdered on Mondays episode and her Body will be found at the end of Wednesdays episode so setting it up for Thursday's episode (the final one of the week)

That EE rating is shockingly bad for a dark Monday night in March.

I'm a fan of the show and even I didn't watch it last night. Surely now is the time for the big wig's to do something about it?

I don't know that people are making excuses for a show going through a bad patch but rather saying that a show going through a bad patch isn't the same a show in crisis.


The show isn't in crisis though it just isn't doing fantastically. Its numbers are OK.


I concur.

As I said yesterday EastEnders is in crisis when you post its numbers in isolation and say that's bad and not when its bad because its x behind Corrie and 'only' x in front of Emmerdale.


I'm not sure anybody is trying to give it positive spin. Unless we're counting bad doesn't mean crisis as positive spin now...

BBC One
20:00 EastEnders: 8.12m (32.6%)
21:00 Empire: 3.44m (14.0%)

BBC Two
21:00 The Tube: 1.9m (7.7%) inc. HD

ITV1
19:00 Emmerdale: 7.51m (34.5%); +1: (110k/0.4%)
19:30 Coronation Street: 10.02m (42.0%); +1: (165k/0.7%)
20:30 Coronation Street: 10.64m (41.8%); +1: (232k/1.0%)
21:00 Whitechapel: 5.89m (24%); +1: (266k/1.6%)

Channel 4
18:30 Hollyoaks: 1.2m (5.9%); +1: (131k/0.6%)
21:00 New Series: Embarrassing Bodies: 2.95m (12.0%); +1: (509k/3.0%)

Channel 5
13:45 Neighbours: 682k (9.4%)
17:30 Neighbours: 1.07m (6.6%)
18:00 Home & Away: 869k (4.7%)
21:00 Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan: 973k (4.0%); +1: (52k/0.3%)

Sources: Digital Spy / Broadcast

For a randomly scheduled repeat on The CW Top Model didn't do too badly especially not this season. The original episode on Wednesday was low though and the last cycle was a disappointment for them as well. I'd agree that the problem is that its an aging format that's run out of tricks at this stage. The problem is The CW has nothing else.

As this is the Ratings Thread and not critique corner let me just say that EE Ratings are low, but not in crisis. If each episode was rating under 8m, that is a crisis of sorts. The kind of crisis EM has most weeks of the year. CS is going through a purple patch right now, we will monitor EE closely on an episode by episode basis - lifeboats at the ready....

Surely BARB have the general ratings by now. I am waiting for the multi-channel ratings.

What specifically are you after?

Dirk Gently and Skins.

Dirk Gently had 737k.

Skins we might get later when DS updates (if at all), if not they should be up tomorrow on channel4sales.com.

Thanks. Decent ratings for Dirk Gently.

Excellent for Corrie last night. Both episodes around where I expected them to be. It would have been nicer to see the second episode alittle bit closer to 11m (exc. +1), but it will be over 11m officially. That's very low for EE on a Monday night in March. And again, only 0.6m infront of Emmerdale. It's becoming a regular thing is this now on a Monday. I'm surprised EE and Emmerdale are lower than last week with up to 11m Corrie viewers floating around last night.

Whitechapel has been very consistent this series, and showing it every Monday instead over consectutive nights has worked better. The Empire died further whilst EB on Channel 4 did very well. I changed my prediction on the RPG game from 2.9m to 2.5m. That was a mistake. I should have gone with my gut. It's 3.46m (inc. +1) is an excellent rating!

Excellent rating, including +1 it came 2nd to Whitechapel.