I was more annoyed at the BBC expecting us to believe the ridiculous storyline that the school, teachers and pupils had moved hundreds of miles North!

Good Cop should have aired once Accused has finished. Having two predominantly grim dramas in the same week could be part of the problem as to why it didn't rate higher.

Tuesday: Accused: (Bleak adult drama)
Thursday: Good Cop: (Bleak adult drama)

Perhaps having something a bit lighter on Thursday would have worked better, and ITV's decision to screen a repeat of Doc Martin confirms this as it did pretty well.

The Bletchley Circle sounds really promising and looks really good too. I expect 5-6m from it next Thursday night.

Even if it followed Accused it'd just be more bleakness and probably rate less. Accused sold itself on Sean Bean's first episode and now he's gone viewers are slowly drifting away. It's good but gritty and that's not always what you want. Last Tango In Halifax sounds far more uplifting and could do well for BBC1 on Tuesdays.


I said it'd be a hit from the moment I saw it. It'll become a Sunday night staple next year. You'll see.

How is the C4 Paralympics Breakfast Show doing in comparison with the final days of RI:SE?

X Factor last week:

What it should have got = 10 million + average and an 11 million peak

What it actually got = 8.4 million average and just over 10 million peak

This week:

What it should get = 9 million average (minimum), with at least an 11 million peak.

Red or Black:

What it should be getting = 6/7 million

What it is getting = 3 million.

Just putting my thoughts out there.

Last time I saw it someone had taken a photo of Mika's tits.

Can I say "tits" on the ratings thread?

The extended trail on the BBC HD preview loop was too bleak for me.

Doubt it. I for one gave up trying to figure out how/when/where to record it in the right order given the way they have messed it about. Have ended up with 5 episodes from 3 sepatate channels and not the foggiest what order they are supposed to be shown!

To make things worse the Sky box cannot handle channel switches so, when Channel 4 changed their schedules at the last minute the recordings and series links went AWOL mid week and I had to go chasing the remaining episodes via search and was utterly bemused as to which was which.

This is bound to lose some viewers.

Deal or No Deal, likewise, was set to record at 3.20 pm yesterday but vanished when moved to More 4 at the same time. So we lost that recording and have just given up for the duration.

Understand why Channel 4 did what they did for the Paralympics but it will cost viewers of other shows like these because of their too late decision making and the failings of their own staff not to write series links to transfer recordings to the channels they migrate to. I gather this is possible on Sky boxes but the channels have to set them up properly.

Any estimates for the fitba tonight? Facing the Paralympics, EE and CBB, I think it's going to be squeezed a lot. While Chelsea might be a bigger attraction than 22 foregners, I think 3.5 million is the best it can get.

It's just ridiculous. Waterloo Road moved to Scotland just stretches credibility.

You did twice and the forum hasn't exploded!

I suppose there will be a total of ten episodes in this run of Waterloo Road with 11-30 being shown sometime next year, so I guess they'll make a decision about whether to leave it on Thursdays after the first ten episodes.

I wouldn't have thought so, Waterloo Road will be aimed at the same mainstream female skewed audience that the soapy dramas usually are. Of course it's likely the only people still watching are teens and younger viewers as everyone else has been turned off by the increasingly far fetched storylines.

WR was moved to Thursdays to get a EE lead in to help it, rather than staying on a Wednesday where it would end up with a negative opposite Corrie lead in.



Not very good for Paralympic Breakfast. When I tuned in it was two poor presenters sat in Channel 4's bunker, so I'm not surprised it was well beaten by pre-relaunch Daybreak



Hmm, a bit closer than some were expecting. Good Cop's rating is quite poor considering Doc Martin wasn't even billed.




They could film it in outer mongolia, but still have set in Rochdale. Waterloo Road Reunited was filmed in Scotland, but you wouldn't have known it as it was still set in Rochdale. Moving a school 100s of miles up the M6 and then comissioning 'just' 50 episodes is madness.

Can someone provide for me all the peaks for this years BGT (every episode), including the peak shares?

Nothing wrong with 'Gritty Bafta' dramas but I think viewers prefer something a little more upbeat and escapism. I'm looking forward to Hunted but not sure where it'll go, I'm guessing Mondays or Thursday.

Just In...

CITV on ITV1 extended to 9.25am again at weekends from 8 September

WatchDog gets Waterloo Rd's old Wednesday 8pm slot from Sep 12

My concern with the 'gritty Bafta' drama is that increasingly it feels as if they're commissioned purely for critical plaudits and awards recognition rather than entertainment purposes or audience demand. The latest run of Accused for example feels like it exists purely to be a worthy drama on BBC1 rather than any real demands from audiences to see more. And its all well and good to have some shows like that it feels like there have been more than a couple of them on BBC1 already this year.

Yes, you can.

PS, they are for Wikipedia.

What's wrong with that? The BBC as a non-commercial organisation don't have to be as concerned with ratings a s we on this thread are. And they need to provide programming that can justify the licence fee - stuff with a bit of grit.

Aside from Accused and Good Cop, every other BBC1 drama on next week qualifies as populist. And New Tricks and George Gently have both delivered on the ratings front.

Any overnights for CBBC recently? I've been interested to know how Alesha Dixon's show 'Alesha's Street Dance Stars' has been doing lately.

Provisional scheduling news, thanks to Elgin on GB:

Saturday 15th September 2012
- BBC One has Strictly Come Dancing at 18:30, Doctor Who from 19:35 to 20:20
- ITV1 has The X Factor at 20:00
- Thus meaning a 20 minute overlap between The X Factor and Doctor Who

Sunday 16th September 2012
- ITV1 has Downton Abbey from 21:00 to 22:30

That the BBC isn't a commercial broadcaster doesn't mean that they are given license to simply ignore what the viewer actually wants particularly not on what is supposed to be their mainstream channel. I would also point out that in the post you quoted I said that it was all well and good to have shows like that and suggested that it was the increasing volume of them that was problematic and not their existence in general. Although actually I would point out that approaching the commissioning of any show (regardless of its genre or content) from the perspective of 'critics will love this' or 'this will win awards' is fatally flawed and more and more that seems to be the approach with these 'gritty' dramas.

And frankly I'd much prefer BBC1 put more effort into commissioning a variety of dramas rather than making sure they hit a quota of 'gritty' drama every year.

WTF? Of course there is demand for it. Talk about jumping the shark.