A couple of interesting new bits of info from Janice Hadlow in this interview - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TfKgJ1niAOY

The first being that the new daytime schedule (with all repeats following DQF) will begin in January. So presumably CBBC/CBeebies will leave BBC One and Two at the end of this year. And there's still no date for BBC2 HD, but it is 'coming soon'. I wonder if the two might coincide and that will also launch in Jan. I'm quite intrigued to see how BBC 2 will fill daytime, it could be great with lots of gems, it could be awful with continuous Coast and Flog It repeats.

After watching Person of Interest and seeing where US network TV has been going recently, I don't think anyone should worry - the quality of the mainstream shows have collapsed to an extraordinary degree.

Its kind of horrible comparing todays big US dramas to X Files; in fact its horrible to compare them to the big dramas only 5 years ago :/

Ripper Street is the ONE programme I am really really looking forward to.

I thought they were mainly going to show BBC Four repeats this time in high definition? And World News. Flog It is rumoured to go to BBC One isn't it?

Yay! Pets Win Prizes.

Bring back Pets Win Prizes, bring back the balloon.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pMXluUkKz4

(they only have the Winton version on YouTube, not the far superior Danny Baker original)

In fairness Person of Interest is a terrible show and I don't think anyone in their right mind would hold it up as an example of the best US television (or even US broadcast) has to offer. There is still some brilliant television being made in the US (and some of it is very popular). The only difference now is that because of the explosion of US imports on British television we don't just get the best examples of US television. We basically get everything.

Which BBC One show out of the following is the worst, and which could have the potential of being brought and tweaked:

The Waiting Game
Dog Eat Dog
Friends Like These
Don't Scare The Hare
101 Ways to Leave A Game Show
Pet's Win Prizes
The Murder Game
Just For Laughs
Totally Saturday

and that awful quiz with shouty Barrowman competing adults against children which I can't remember the name of....

Cable is exciting. Its funny how mainstream hits like Burn Notice (which is a great show) have began to come out of there, amongst the more niche shows.

Person of Interest I use cause for whats a very very well rated show in the states, its worse than BBC's Paradox I don't feel theres much great content as in the past outside of Cable that is.

The Murder Game has no right being in that list. I loved that show. "Special Investigator!" And they had the best way to eliminate contestants EVER! Playing The Killer's Game!!

BRING IT BACK!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtPjWnsqNlc

It will be repeats, mostly factual, from across the BBC TV archive, some old, some newish. World news, current affairs, politics at lunchtime-ish. But yes, it will be a good opportunity to show same-week repeats from BBC3/4, which will no longer have an HD outlet on BBC HD. They will of course have to be suitable or edited to be shown in daytime. (I think we can expect more repeats of post-watershed output from BBC3/4 to find a home post-22.35 on BBC1, as that slot's funding is being cut.)

General daytime programming (mostly factual entertainment along the lines of Flog It! and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is) will move from BBC2 to BBC1.

yes I thought Pirates would be better than it did as well. No matter, X-Factor still not firing on full cylinders, and last nights episode seems to have attract some very negative reviews, who knows what it will do next week. Red of Black? true it has not collapsed, but I think Ant and Dec will keep it above 3 million, but that is no reason to keep it around. If X-Factor was doing 10 million, it would look alot worse.

Ross looks low for being in primetime, if it was getting that rating at 22:30 it would not be a massive problem

As for Casualty, it won the night for the BBC (2nd only to X-Factor), but it brings home the point its best ratings days are gone, the BBC wont be axing it anytime soon however, not know its just built that brand new set.

Yes. I liked The Murder Game too. It wasn't received well though but it was quite scary for an entertainment show. I would love them to bring it back. Friday night, 9pm. Perfect! It ran on Saturday evenings about 9.20pm though didn't it?

No i meant they've added more of those scripted moments to TXF which Towie has sitting round drinking coffee having forced conversations etc

There is also Whodunnit?, which is something I have said should come back previously.

I was wondering the same thing and no news since then. There was another person that went for the BBC2 ident job and they failed. That's a pity because I liked the look of Jim Greenslade's ideas.

http://www.jimgreenslade.com/index.php?/1/b/

I believe the Barrowman show was 'The Kids Are Alright'.

I may well be alone on this but I honestly believe there's a good show lurking somewhere in the Dog Eat Dog format. I think if someone took sometime to rework it then it could be a solid little show. Friends Like These wasn't a bad show either. It wasn't great either but still.

And I think The Murder Game has a lot of potential as an idea as well. Perhaps not for prime time BBC1 but I do wonder if a show like that (with a few tweaks here and there) might find success on Channel 5 mixed in with their procedural dramas.


Broadcast is still very much the home of comedy in the US. With a couple of exceptions cable can't seem to get that particularly right.

There is still a lot of good-great drama on broadcast in the US though although admittedly a lot of it gets drowned out by the never ending wave of procedurals which are for all intents and purposes the exact same show (brilliant but flawed detective uses unique skills to solve murders - this tag also fits a lot of what cable churns out). But even a couple of those procedurals are very good.

With the weaker X Factor, if BBC did:

17:30 - family film
19:00 - Strictly Come Dancing
20:25 - Merlin
21:10 - Casualty
22:00 - Lottery
22:10 - BBC News
22:30 - Match of the Day

Would ITV put X Factor at 20:00 or 20:30? We know the first few weeks go on for 2 hours, so do they overlap with Strictly or finish the show at 22:30?

In previous years it would be BBC budging because The X Factor was stronger, but I'm not so sure this time around as Strictly and Merlin could benefit from a weaker X Factor, the latter in particular.

Sunday's will stay the same I would have thought, with it being Antiques Roadshow versus X Factor as usual.

Whodunnit? was fun as was Cluedo with Chris Tarrant in the 90s, but I see The Murder Game as a natural evolution and it was lots of fun. It was a crime that it didn't take off!

TBH I kinda see Whodunnit? as a show on BBC 2 / Dave, with 3 comedians attempting to solve the murder, whilst shoe horning in some jokes.

right ive got my bike shirt on, so im off on the bike, so if I dont return, my killer will most likely be a car not looking where its going.

You're right. After 9pm on a Saturday. The Killer's Game was the creepiest 5 minutes on TV at the time. I enjoyed it so much. A great show that sadly never took off.

I found it scary as hell! Watched behind a cushion. It was addictive. They should bring it back!

They did usually have at least one comedian on the panel each week. Alfred Marks or John Junkin if memory serves and some actors. Patrick Mower was on it each week and took the game very seriously. I was told he would feverishly make notes during a taping to work out the killer. Most weeks he worked out who the killer was and, so the story goes, producers asked him to stop being so good!

I was surprised there was no ident for the Olympics, surely the Olympic Stadium would have leant itself very easilly to a circle ident.

Having said that, creating special idents seems to be out of favour across the board. ITV used to create them for any old programme, whereas now they only do special breakbumpers.

They'd have to go at 8PM I'd imagine. I suspect there hope would be that the press would apply enough pressure to have the BBC move Strictly a little earlier as well and limit the overlap. I suppose there other option might be to get earlier. Maybe 7 or 7:30 and see what the BBC did. Would they want a full clash (or near enough)? Although I suspect that would have to be a bluff from ITV on a provisional schedule more than anything else. The provisional schedules could certainly be a lot of fun this year though.

It will be interesting to see how adventurous and aggressive the BBC are with their Saturday night scheduling this year. The Voice scheduling against Talent suggests they won't back down and go earlier just to avoid the clash. And that ITV moved The X Factor out Doctor Who's way should give the BBC even more confidence.

This issue does highlight ITV's real Saturday night problem though. As much as they might try and launch new shows around the likes of The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent (and to their credit in recent times at least they have tried) nothing seems to stick and that's left Saturday night as very much The X Factor show. All they have to try and fight back against any 'aggressive' BBC scheduling is The X Factor. They don't really seem to have anything else that will really give the BBC pause for thought.

Total Wipeout is due to end on Saturday November 3rd so it's safe to say this will be Strictly's lead in until then!

So it will probably be:

5.25pm Total Wipeout
6.25pm Strictly Come Dancing
7.45pm Merlin
8.30 National Lottery
8.40 Casualty
9.30 Live From The Apollo or similar
10.10 BBC News