I've got two back issues of Radio Times from October 1978 and January 1982 when BBC1's Sunday schedule on both occasions was
7.15 Period drama
8.05 Film
(and in 1982 Omnibus was on at 9.40)

I remember Autumn Sundays in the 1980s as being
7.15 Sitcom
7.45 Howard's Way
8.35 Sitcom
9.05 Highbrow drama

Howard's Way would hold its own in the ratings against the likes of The Ruth Rendall Mystery whilst the highbrow drama, sometimes under the umberella title Sunday Premiere, would be thrashed in the ratings by the mighty London's Burning.

I notice ITV are trailing the new run of Primeval (first shown on Watch) as "The beginning"....... "Of The End".

Howard's Way did signal a fightback for BBC1 as this was a soapy drama about yacht builders that attracted 14 million viewers and was a hit for 4 years. However, I do remember them showing this very tedious and pretentious play opposite the snooker in 1985 that must have been moved from BBC2. Also in 1985 the return of Alf Garnett and Open All Hours( against the megaflop soap Albion Market, 3 million on a good day) saw BBC1 really make inroads on Sunday nights.
The second half of the eighties saw BBC1 on the rampage, while ITV seemed to be worried that its audience was too downmarket and falling and took the axe to such C2DE fare as World of Sport, Crossroads, wrestling and old school variety.

Memories, i watched that as a kid,first time i ever stayed up late to watch snooker.

Snooker's golden era as football was mired in violence and a ban from Europe in those days and audiences were shrinking for it. There was also a dispute over rights in 1985/86 which meant almost no highlights of matches could be shown and interest was at an all time low.
Actually BBC1 experimented with several live matches on Fridays from 1983-85, but ratings never exceeded six million and viewers found it unnatural.

London's Burning was massive. Got 18m in 1992 and 14-16m consistently until around mid 90s. I know by 1996, ratings were at 12-13m, and the year after (Series 10), ratings were at 11-12m, but ratings just dropped after Paul Knight left and David Newcombe arrived, coupled with the disastrous move to Saturdays.

ITV drama was going through a glorious period. Anyone remember Band of Gold about the prostitutes in Bradford that attracted 13 million viewers? Another mega hitter at this time was the more than watchable Peak Practice with 17 million at its peak in 1994. Then it did some cast changes and did a London's Burning.
Meanwhile Auntie's drama efforts were largely dying. Perhaps their biggest and most expensive flop was A Year In Provence which never did more than 4 million.

Maybe there should be a "Ratings Thread: Gold", to discuss classic ratings seperately?

You know you could be right but I think all us older members have enjoyed it.

No, if you don't like the discussion, ignore it. Simple.

A couple of other BBC flops were Westbeach, which was a Casualty replacement shown in Summer 1993, and Seaforth which I think was shown on Sundays in Autumn '94 and was mooted for a second series which didn't materialise (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...h-1390558.html).

I'm not old but I've enjoyed the discussion. ITV's era of dominance on the drama front started to wane by the late 90s. The Bill had a revamp from its half-hour format following falling ratings, London's Burning was also revamped, Peak Practice was axed not long after, Soldier, Soldier didn't seem to recover from the loss of Robson Green and Jerome Flynn.


There was another 50-minute show, same length as Casualty, called 'Harry' which was axed after a while, starring Michael Elphick.


Would be a good idea actually. I'd be fine with that.

Yes of course - I remember them launching Harry on Saturday nights after Casualty in Autumn 93, and they were so desperate for viewers after a few weeks that they even did a credit squeeze promo over the end of Casualty, which was very unusual at the time. Casualty was at its peak at this point, and was still a very powerful show, so there wasn't much appetite for two dramas running back to back. Harry did return for a second series, but it wasn't until early 95 and in a midweek slot.

One more - No Bananas from 1996, which had an excellent cast including Alison Steadman and Stephanie Beacham but just didn't catch on.

Then there was some deadly dull drama set in fifties Scotland called Strathblair that didn't do much, Tales of Para Handy, which could have done better as it had Gregor Fisher but fizzled out. Seaforth was a shame as it was quite good, but faltered in the ratings. Actually among these Eldorado doesn't seem to have done so badly and I still think Auntie should have stuck with it.
On the comedy front the BBC seemed to fare better as Men Behaving Badly, Birds of a Feather , Keeping Up Apperances and One Foot in the Grave pulled in 12-14 million while ITV had no real comedy hits at the time.

I always wonder what would have happened if Eldorado had been allowed to continue - would it still be going strong 20 years later, or would it have fizzled out after a few years?

There was another BBC1 drama around 92/93 which was to rival ITV's The Bill..I think it was called The Specials about volunteer Police Officers..it was a right stinker, it was made by Pebble Mill and was filmed around Birmingham and had a load of awful Brummie actors in it..I am a Brummie myself but the accent isn't one of the best...lol

ITV had Shelley I suppose as well as Mr. Bean and the first series of Men Behaving Badly was on ITV . One big sitcom you forgot on the BBC was The Vicar of Dibley. BBC2 had Rab C Nesbitt.



The Bill was on fire anyway with 13-14m viewers at the time, until their Friday episode went to Saturday in mid may-93, which didn't do well at all. Ratings dropped to 12m for the normal Tuesday and Thursday episodes in that period, presumably as people just stopped watching. There were a lot of rivals to The Bill - Between the Lines, City Central etc

Yes - Specials was dire. It was Autumn 1991
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkZI1G3zTi4

PS I loved that Ferris Wheel promo. Far away and my favourite BBC1 early 90s seasonal continuity

Mr Bean is the only ITV comedy hit I can think of from this era, YBF would come under the comedy umbrella and had 16 million viewers at its height, but it's not a sitcom. MBB didn't do that well on ITV and moved to BBC1.
Another huge drama hitter at times could be Taggart, which pulled in 18 million on New Years Day in 1992.
Also don't forget at the start of the nineties ITV had a worthwhile Neighbours rival with Home and Away, which was pulling in 15 million, and Aussie soaps were a popular daytime staple.

I think the BBC expected too much too soon from Eldorado it was a slow burner, some programmes need time to grow and adapt..but it was awful to start with and that was the nail in the coffin, the acting was more wooden than Epping Forrest, but over time it started to change the acting got a lot better and the storylines heated up a bit and the audience started to grow to around 8 million after falling as low as 4m..if it had been left to grow it could have probably been BBC1's Emmerdale in the sun, but it got slated to start with but I am sure it could have been a lot more sucessful if the BBC had given it another 18 months..but we will never know for sure.

Weekend Multichannel Ratings
Friday 8th June 2012
BBC Three
20:30 - FILM: The Accidental Husband: 519k (2.3%)
22:00 - EastEnders: 716k (3.5%)
22:30 - Russell Howard's Good News Extra: 610k (3.6%)
23:15 - Family Guy: 890k (7.1%)
23:35 - Family Guy: 961k (9.8%)
24:00 - American Dad: 650k (8.4%)
24:20 - American Dad: 670k (11.4%)

ITV2 (inc +1)
20:30 - You've Been Framed!: 601k (2.7%)

ITV3 (inc +1)
18:50 - Poirot: 554k (2.7%)
20:00 - Midsomer Murders: 1.05m (4.6%)

ITV4 (inc +1)
11:30 - French Open Tennis 2012: 0.3m (2.7%)
22:00 - TT 2012: 0.4m (2.1%)

Sky1
21:00 - A League of Their Own: 354k (1.5%)
* series average: 468k (2.1%)

Saturday 9th June 2012
BBC Three
19:50 - FILM: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: 1.14m (5.2%)
22:25 - Russell Howard's Good News: 665k (3.9%)
23:00 - Family Guy: 923k (6.3%)
23:20 - Family Guy: 888k (7.2%)
23:45 - American Dad: 755k (7.8%)
24:05 - American Dad: 720k (9.1%)

Film4 (inc +1)
21:00 - FILM: Star Trek: 0.6m (2.8%)

ITV2 (inc +1)
19:15 - FILM: Mr Bean's Holiday: 607k (2.9%)
21:00 - FILM: The Holiday: 885k (4.7%)

ITV3 (inc +1)
21:00 - Susan Boyle: An Unlikely Superstar: 633k (2.8%)
22:00 - Lewis: 679k (4.4%)

Sunday 10th June
BBC Three
19:40 - FILM: Madagascar: 690k (2.7%)
21:30 - Live at the Apollo: 677k (2.8%)
22:00 - Family Guy: 1.05m (4.9%)
22:20 - Family Guy: 842k (4.6%)

E4 (inc +1)
22:00 - Desperate Housewives: 1.26m (6.8%)

ITV2 (inc +1)
16:40 - FILM: Nanny McPhee: 866k (4.5%)
18:45 - FILM: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: 715k (3.0%)
21:00 - Benidorm: 761k (3.0%)

ITV3 (inc +1)
20:00 - Midsomer Murders: 874k (3.5%)

ITV4 (inc +1)
16:00 - French Open Tennis 2012: 698k (3.6%)
* main body of text says 0.8m (4.1%), so unsure which is right

Source: ITV Media

I think it's fair to say there were some hefty multichannel shares over the weekend. Thanks to ITV Media as well as they are the only site I think to provide Top 10's for both charts.

I was enjoying it, but knew the BBC had been badly rattled by the critical reception and wanted to drop it. Actually since EE launched, no new British soap has done much in the ratings: a real disaster was Albion Market that was cancelled after a year and ratings of 2 million, then we have Eldorado, the best of a bad bunch, Family Affairs, Hollyoaks struggling and always being too teen for the mainstream, and ITV's big flops from the early noughties Night and Day and Crossroads and the stinker a few years ago that was Echo Beach. Doctors does well in its slot, but is really just a daytime show.
However, on to one soap that will outlive all of us, any predictions for tonight's one hour Coronation St?

Excellent rating for Desperate Housewives there. Was a great episode.

Really? I thought the last epsiode was a bit of a damp squib

There's life in this show yet and it has been an asset to Channel 4.