fair enough Joey, but Lauren has been with the show a few years.

TBH I think the promoting the crash alone would have been a bad move, it was a strong episode over all, with plenty for viewers to enjoy.

I suspect few shows can boast of household names, known even by those who dont watch the show, thats just how TV is now.

Stroppy teenager.

I don't know why people were saying it was a big storyline in EE last night. A car crash. But nobody died. So :yawn:.

And it wasn't trailed by the BBC. So I don't see how they were going to attract shed loads of extra viewer.

Lauren and Joey was only part of Fridays episode, without going into too much detail, alot of other very important stuff happened.

Even if no one died, they spent money on that stunt, and the cliff hanger is still valid, a little bit of promotion would not have hurt.

Agreed. This shouldn't be a controversial view given this is exactly what happened last year. EE comfortably won the night, even Ab Fab ran Downton close iirc in the overnights, but then Downton broke timeshift records over the following 7 days as millions more watched a recording.


Hard to judge Miranda. But if it can get 5m on BBC2, and 4m+ for 3rd/4th repeats on BBC1, and near universal acclaim, then it stands a good chance, particularly if they can get it away from Coro and Downton. I'd move mountains to get an EE and Miranda pairing against Family Fortunes.

I am 100% sure EastEnders will come above DA on the night. in fact i'd bet £100 on it. past years when EastEnders has been weak (as some seem to say) it's just surged at xmas and always has plus this year they have gone all out with it. It's Lorraine Newmans first solo episodes and its written by some of the older and better writers

week before xmas......(Sun 23rd) who's shagging kat reveal and then at xmas

A return
A Reveal
A Murder
A wedding
A Exit

and that's all we know about. EVERY family on the square is getting a storyline this Christmas too so there will be plenty of storylines for everyone.

EastEnders could get 3 million eachnight between now and 23rd Dec but I bet after that and into January it's 9million+ everynight.

Miranda was given the Xmas Day slot a long time ago. There was also no chance of it ever being ready earlier with it taking time to write and CTM duties too. It was recorded a few weeks back and as I type is still in the edit suites.

Unless she delivers a "turkey", like Victoria Wood a few years back, Xmas Day is the day...

Not really a risk imo. Gavin and Stacey's Christmas special got 7m in the overnights on Christmas Eve in 2008 at 10pm. The previous highest rating was for a repeat on BBC ONE which only got around 3.1m.
The following year it got 9.2m in the overnights on Christmas Day again at 10pm.

Has Caroline Aherne started writing the script for the Royle Family special yet?

I have been trying to think of a way that BBC1 can try and limit the damage from the inevitable Corrie-Downton match-up taking out/severely denting a 3 hour chunk of BBC1 opposition.

I think this could do it:

3.10 Film: Up!
4.45 BBC News
5.00 Room on the Broom
5.30 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special
7.00 EastEnders
7.30 Miranda
8.00 Doctor Who
9.00 EastEnders
9.30 The Royle Family
10.30 Mrs Brown's Boys
11.00 BBC News
11.10 Film: TBA

My reasoning:

- the 90 minute SCD isn't confirmed, but without it there is an obvious 30 minute gap to fill in the likely BBC1 programming line up. So I do think this could be happening. If there are 10 contestants, then it will have to be 90 mins won't it?

- if they are doing 90 mins, then it isn't just "Corrie fodder" but actually needs some careful scheduling. With SCD in great form this year, I'd get it on early and get bums on sofas and tuned to BBC1 early in the night

- for me, Broom/SCD/EE1 is a cracking teatime line up for BBC1, and a really fantastic "anchor" to the night

- DW then takes up the usual SCD slot. It looks late at 8pm, but it has aired later this year (sometimes at 7.45pm I think?) and it would give ITV a big problem I think. I doubt ITV will be very happy about the "Downton lead-in Corrie" going up against a high profile Who special, and they aren't going to give trusted DW combatants Emmerdale or ASFF that slot given that will be the Downton lead in

- and moving DA to 8pm isn't really an option, as I doubt they will want to clash Downton with Doctor Who

- similarly, splitting Corrie in 2, or airing it at 7.30 to get "the jump" on DW and dent Miranda, isn't an option because DA in airing at 8.30 would still be clashing with DW - indeed, DW has the 30 min head start

- and what do they do with Emmerdale - at 6pm, it starts 30 mins into SCD, so that's a no-no. 5.30pm is obscenely early, but I reckon they'd have to do it to keep SCD in check. Either way, at 5.30pm or out of sync with SCD, it's in trouble

- EE being split means no "all or nothing" contest with DA, and less downside risk of the anti-EE audience all jumping on Downton by default. Some will, but the prospect of a 30 min EE followed by Royles and Mrs Brown will keep millions away from Downton

- the two EE eps gives both Miranda and The Royle Family a lead in, at either end of the evening. Miranda is presumably less exposed at 7.30, against possible ITV filler, and could get a fantastic launch pad there

Against my proposed BBC1 line-up, I guess ITV would go with:

5.30 Emmerdale
6.30 ASFF (Emmerdale vs Daybreak - you'd think an EmFm lead-in/out is inevitable)
7.30 You've Been Framed at Christmas
8.00 Coronation Street
9.00 Downton

Or, if they aren't fussed about SCD:

5.30 You've Been Framed at Christmas
6.00 Emmerdale
7.00 ASFF
8.00 Coronation St
9.00 Downton

I doubt they'd play silly buggers and run an hour long Emmerdale against EE, knowing that as BBC1 usually rules the roost on Christmas Day anyway, such a tactic will backfire and they need to keep their soaps away from an EE clash.

I think it's a winning tactical line-up for BBC1 this, it works for me on many levels.

Now - can anyone spot the inevitable "check mate" I've somehow missed?

5.30 Emmerdale
6.30 All Star Family Fortunes
7.30 Coronation Street
8.00 Downton Abbey
10.00 Coronation Street

Emmerdale starts head to head with Strictly and has some momentum at the moment though Strictly should win that battle. All Star Family Fortunes will appeal to the non-dance/soap audience before Coronation Street covers the crossover lead in from BBC One before handing the baton to Downton against easier opposition than it faced last year (Who has the potential to timeshift more than Downton as well which will, arguably weaken it further). Coronation Street's second half may be on late but it will be inheriting the Downton lead in and is away from a BBC One junction.

Still leaves Downton going head to head with Doctor Who, which they won't want.

And splitting Corrie, which I doubt they will want to do - and certainly putting the 2nd Corrie on at 10pm will be a bit unpalatable. Also, when Corrie last clashed with Royle Family on Christmas Day (2003?) it did not go down well with many staff at Granada who make both Manchester-set shows. ITV Controllers got some stick for that, and I don't know what influence Granada holds within the ITV set up?

Arguable - last Christmas Day Doctor Who claimed 8.9m viewers (against 6.1m viewers on ITV1) while EastEnders pulled in 9.9m viewers (against 8.1m on ITV1).

Also Downton is also more likely to be palatable to audiences; I can see a few family members being content to watch Downton and catch up with Who via iplayer etc. whereas they would be more resistant to watching a cheap gameshow or a soap when a quality drama is on.

Who would do well, don't get me wrong - it's just not the behemoth a Christmas Day EastEnders is.


Coronation Street will be getting a 9m lead in from Downton though which is better than what it would get from Family Fortune, plus 10pm is not that late for Christmas Day. Splitting it isn't that a bigger deal - they do it every Monday and Friday as it is.

The Granada question is a bigger issue but it's about maximising ratings, not pleasing a few people who work on the show. It all blew over in 2003 and I'm sure it would again this year.

Ratings delayed

Saturday 24th November 2012
BBC One
15:00 - F1: Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying: 2.42m (16.2%)
* peak: 3.40m (19.55%) at 16:55
17:30 - BBC News: 3.47m (18.4%)
17:50 - Pointless Celebrities: 5.24m (24.9%)
18:40 - Strictly Come Dancing: 10.25m (42.3%)
* peak: 11.55m (46.4%) at 19:50
20:00 - Merlin: 5.81m (23.8%)
20:45 - Lottery: 3.29m (13.9%)
20:55 - Casualty: 3.68m (15.3%)
21:45 - Live at the Apollo: 2.60m (11.4%)

BBC Two
17:10 - Rugby Union: 2.32m (10.8%)
19:30 - Attenborough: 80 Years in the Wild: 1.10m (4.5%)
20:30 - Dad's Army: 2.02m (8.3%)
21:00 - QI XL: 1.64m (6.8%)
21:45 - Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane: 893k (4.0%)

ITV1
17:45 - The Golden Rules of TV: 1.51m (7.5%)
18:15 - You've Been Framed!: 2.59m (11.8%)
18:45 - Take Me Out: 2.99m (12.3%)
20:00 - The X Factor: 8.01m (33.1%), +1: 229k (1.0%)
* peak: 8.89m (36.8%) at 20:45
21:50 - I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!: 8.03m (36.2%), +1: 497k (3.5%)
* peak: 8.63m (37.6%) at 22:10
22:50 - ITV News: 3.37m (18.6%)

Channel 4
18:55 - Channel 4 News: 424k (1.8%)
19:25 - Heston's Fantastical Food: 364k (1.5%)
20:30 - Stephen Fry: Gadget Man: 647k (2.7%)
21:00 - FILM: The Wolfman: 980k (4.3%)

Channel 5
14:35 - FILM: The Town Christmas Forgot: 923k (7.3%)
16:15 - FILM: The Christmas Pageant: 980k (5.6%)
18:00 - FILM: A Christmas Visitor: 932k (4.0%)
19:55 - NCIS: 558k (2.3%)
20:40 - NCIS: 705k (2.9%)
21:45 - CSI: Miami: 1.30m (5.8%)

So no increase for XF being the semi-final. The final won't even make 10m at this rate.

It's even lower than it was when the live shows started.

Second worst ratings for XFactor live shows this series. Very bad ratings, over 2million behind Strictly.

Wasn't there meant to be a 'surprise' on XF this weekend?

I think this'll be the first year since 2006 where XF doesn't make the 2012 top 10 chart at all.

Nothing will boost XFactor until the final this series. There is a public apathy against the show right now. It hasnt even managed a front page headline on The Sun at all since the live shows started whereas a couple years ago it used to be on the front page nearly every day.

Some ITV2 ratings:

17:40 - Twins: 401k (1.8%)
19:45 - A Cinderella Story - 331k (1.4%)
21:45 - Xtra Factor - 312k (1.4%)
22:45 - I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here Now!: 639k (4.3%).

My prediction of 8.7m and 9.8m peak was completely wrong. My prediction for tonight however of 9.7m and 11.8m peak could be possible (around that range), but for the first time since 2006, won't be in the yearly top 10 at this rate. It'd need at least 12m which is well out of reach.

Apparently tonight they are going to realease the voting figures.

CSI Miamis last ever episode rated well in a tough slot for Channel5.

Thanks D.M.N.!


Is this tape-checked? Merlin was in top form again, I loved it.

All the articles around that specific twist suggest it would be introduced for next years series. I think they are writing this one off and have had the kick they need to make more effort for next year, including the voting figure twist which adds a story to the show every week.

Is that a new Live at the Apollo?