Originally Posted by AlexiR:
“Where does this idea that Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife were out of nowhere hits come from? Its a bit like describing Sherlock an out of nowhere hit for the BBC. Its not really true. Admittedly the scale of their success might be a little surprising but its not like either of these shows flew under the radar and came from nowhere. Both received sustained promotional campaigns from their broadcaster and both were given plum Sunday night slots and Downton was given an X Factor lead-in. I just don't understand where this idea that both or either show came from nowhere comes from. Downton in particular. Regardless of whether it was airing on ITV there was an obvious expectation surrounding Downton given the writer, cast and cost.”
Many shows are given plum slots and extensive promotion and don't deliver. The talk of last year was that Upstairs Downstairs was going to be in a big ratings battle with Downton. CTM wasn't on anybody's radar, certainly not ITV's who had been doing very well with Dancing On Ice & Wild At Heart on Sundays. There were complaints that Zen was axed to make way for it. And Zen received masses of promotion and didn't fly opposite Wild At Heart or Dancing On Ice. Nobody expected CTM to be as big as it was in its first series and that included the writer.
With Downton it was following The X Factor but some felt that Single Father with red hot David Tennant fresh off massive ratings for Doctor Who would do well. It certainly wasn't expected to be crushed.
Some at the BBC weren't sure Sherlock was going to be a big hit either and felt it could have been another Jekyll for Steven Moffat.
There are solid hits and then there are super hits and super hits don't come along very often and are not always the ones you suspect. So I disagree and can't be convinced otherwise so no point trying. Let's talk about something else instead.
