Hardly anyone likes Shakespeare. At school, it used to be the one thing no-one looked forward to.

It was never going to be a ratings smash, was it? Not why it was commissioned.

The plots in Shakespeare's plays are great, but too many people find the language daunting.

If the BBC want to introduce his work to a new audience, they should set the stories in a modern context, like they did with Canterbury Tales a few years back.

What NO EastEnders?

I can picture the hoards caterwauling in Clarendon Road as they hold a EE candlelight vigil in protest.

Sorry thats never going to happen, at a time of budget cuts there is not a hope in hell that will happen, its ratings are decreasing yearly as in common with all the primetime soaps, it has been through two years of turmoil that has significantly damaged the reputation of the production and brought the BBC nothing but bad publicity.

In ten years time tv viewing will have fragmented further hurting mainstream tv channels/productions. EE if around will be lucky to reach maybe four million if the current trend continues. And the money for this extra episode pray tell where does it magically appear from?, the last time i looked there were no magical money trees growing on the Elstree set.

Back in the real world money would have to be found in the existing combined continuing drama budgets of Casualty/HC ,Doctors. Would it be fair for fans of these productions to witness a reduction in episodes,quality in order to fund another EE episode?, that would be extremely selfish action to undertake.

The BBC has a drama department that has produced some cracking hits in terms of ratings/quality, 'Call the Midwife','Wallender' and recent now ended successful dramas such as 'Spooks','Hustle', if there is extra money available then it should be used to invest in quality BBC drama.

They did, it was called Shakespeare Retold and they did Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

BBC Two showed a filmed version of Hamlet with David Tennant and that only attracted 900,000.

Certain i saw this on the EPG,ITV3

They're probably holding it back for the autumn schedules where they can squeeze some more cash from the advertisers. Knowing them they'll pitch it against the Strictly final and it'll sink anyway.

Volcano Live performed excellently for BBC Two which had a very good night overall. The soaps seem back at a decent level after a shaky week last time but Monday's seem to always result in a boost. Big Brother is having a very consistent series. I'm surprised ITV1 didn't hold Millionaire? back to throw against the Olympics. It would've probably got around 3m per night, maybe slightly lower, but it wouldn't have disgraced itself. I dread to think what they're lining up instead.

A lot of films from 2009 haven't been shown yet especially from Warner Bros like The Hangover and Sherlock Holmes. Wonder if ITV's output deal is up? Same applies with Channel 5 who have hardly shown any terrestrial premieres this year,

Roger Mosey had tweeted and this schedule appears to be incorrect - @rogermosey: I think the first schedule has an error or two in it! There are just two News Specials on the day.

It got pushed out of its slot by the tennis and didn't finish until Midnight. Some of its viewers may have thought it had been cancelled. Next week's episode is on at 8pm so we wait to see if the figure increases.

Another 9pm slot win for @ITV1 with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire live (3.4m/14% share inc+1)

3.1m viewers for episode 3 of #LineOfDuty on #BBC2 including #BBCHD #OriginalBritishDrama

Sources: Jenny Cummins, Roxie Maskall

ITV1 won the 9pm slot? On a Tuesday?

ITV flopzone wins the 9pm slot!! Wow. Bet they are glad they brought WMTBAM back.

Perhaps ITV will make it a regular or at least semi-regular Tuesday fixture...

This is using the word "win" in the loosest possible sense. Yesterday some people were saying how good Millionaire's ratings were on Monday. Really? 4 million? For what used to be the biggest programme on television? And if X Factor launches its new series with 4m viewers will those people be saying "Wow! Four million for ITV1 on a Saturday night in August. Brilliant." ?

Millionaire's ratings are "okay but nothing special".


Line Of Duty is doing impressively well holding above 3m in the overnights, especially when you see how other recent BBC2 dramas have fallen as they progressed.

At last ITV is following through with my idea of WWTBAM split across the week at 9pm... it works and can fill up weeks where ITV has nothing to show. Cheap and easy, and viewers seem to like it.

If eventually returned to its original format (with no clocks) and with a careful mix of contestants, I can definitely see a 5m+ potential if scheduled anywhere in the winter months. Just one or two weeks a year would be fantastic.

It is July and WWTBAM has been revamped and looks a lot cheaper than it did. Given the severity of ITV's flop zone, and the fact it actually built on its lead-in, 3.4m has to be seen as pretty impressive.

So it seems Turn Back Time lost out last night this is what I watched and Volcano Live.

Whats the point of comparing what who wants to be a millionaires ratings were 13 years ago? I dont see anyone comparing EastEnders 7million ratings to 20million it got just 11 years ago.

I accept that Millionaire is performing better-than-average by ITV1's current performance but I can't work my way up to be "impressed".

As in "coming first"?

V. close in key 9pm slot - ITV's live WWTBAM strip wins with 3.232m (13.4%), BBC1's Turn Back Time 3.1m

Teatime Ratings Wars Day 2: Tipping Point: 2.131m (16.2%), Pointless (rpt): 1.752m (12.9%)

Source: Liam Hamilton

That purported Opening Ceremony schedule reminds me of BBC1's Millennium Eve coverage, 24 hours from noon to noon. Everyone said it was overkill to see the new millennium in around the globe but it got amazing figures - didn't they average >10m from 5pm to 1am?

I notice a split between 7-9pm and 9pm-12.30. Good for the averages. And ITV1 are countering possibly the biggest TV audience of the year with.... a repeat of the Ernie Wise "Unforgettable"?

Maybe it really could peak >25m?


I caught a bit of the repeat showing last night and agree with this. It is Millionaire-lite, as if Challenge TV had bought the rights and done a remake.

I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm 'impressed' with Millionaire's ratings but it's doing alright. Better than most Tuesday stuff on ITV despite being in July. It's decent Summer filler and it held its audience from Monday to Tuesday better than most ITV shows do too.

Next Summer they could maybe do a full week and they could maybe have a small run at Christmas too (probably just 3 days again, with a celebrity special too). Scatter a few live one-off celebrity shows throughout the year and I think they're in a good place with it.

I think when the show is live they need the clock in the early rounds. I get that it can take away a bit of the tension but it really speeds it up and the shows this week have been pretty fast paced which is great. When people spend ages dithering over questions it gets very dull. They can get away with it when they're pre-recording the show as they can cut chunks of it out but obviously they can't do that when they're live. I'm not sure about 5m+ but it's definitely capable of doing decent enough business in quiet periods of time, and ITV don't have many shows capable of that, so they should use it wisely.