Waterloo Road is back 3rd January for another 10 week run.

A new family consisting of a gobby single mum and troublesome kids are coming into it according to the article in the Christmas What's on TV. Sounds like new ground that they've never covered before!

The mother is played by Zoe Lucker (Vanessa from EastEnders/Tanya Turner from Footballers wives)

Auntie seems to be strong in drama and comedy, but weak in LE, something which would have Bill Cotton turning in his grave. It might sound a bit cliched, but have they ever thought of bringing back The Generation Game or getting Noel Edmonds back.

With a good presenter. Nice set and the right scheduling. I think bringing back The Generation Game would work. It's a good format that just needs updating a bit.

Ken

I think Graham Norton would be ideal as this show did best when it had a camp host( and I mean it in a nice way).

I totally agree there! I watch Norton mess around on his show on Friday and see him get laughs. He would be perfect.

Ken

Auntie could run this in the gap between SCD and TV, when ITV tends to be weak on Saturdays. I'm sure 5 million people would tune. Also might not Noel Edmonds be interested in Saturday nights again as DOND seems to be on the way out?

So still on Thursdays against Emmerdale then. BBC1 seem to be not bothered by its lowly ratings. I'm willing to bet Danny Cohen loathes the programme but he's been lumbered with it for the next 224 years thanks to... Who is responsible for these far-too-big commissions for Waterloo Road, Casualty and Holby? Was it Jana Bennett and George Entwhistle. Quantity above quality in the bid to save money. That's why Waterloo Road has gone down in quality (according to those who've been long term fans. Not me. I've always hated it.) - because the more episodes the production team have to make, the less time thay have to give the stories and scripts proper thought. Witness the new family arriving in the next run. The words deja and vu spring to mind.

I saw about 5 minutes of that McFly Show and I have to say it was execrable shit.

5 maybe 6m I reckon.

On Noel Edmonds he would interested in a quiz or a gameshow in Saturday night. It would be nice to see him on the BBC again.

Ken

Didn't Graham film a pilot for Gen Game a few years back? Or was it Paul O'Grady? Or was it no-one?

I think Graham or Paul would do well as hosts. Also Bradley Walsh. Maybe BBC could lure Ant and Dec away from ITV with the show.

But what do I know? When I was watched Jim Davidson present Big Break I used to think he'd be good on the Generation Game but when he presented it he was a bit rubbish.

We've had plenty of eeks on txf final weekend before, for very different reasons, but that was ok of course....


I must have misread the reported peak on this thread earlier - thought it was 12.75m, hence "13m".


He filmed a pilot earlier in the year didn't he, at Cohen's behest, but didn't like the format, so it went no further?

O'Grady.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3148272.stm

Did the pilot for BGT, didn't he?

The Voice production team should look at the X Factor dip and be concerned. The X Factor is a slickly produced and expensive entertainment brand and if it cannot sustain an audience for three months in autumn winter then how will the Voice regain ground on the viewers it lost by May and June. I think it may have a hard fight from the start of the next series as it offers nothing fresh to the genre, do viewers simply want something different.

Graham Norton recorded a one-off special called Generation Fame at Christmas 2005 which involved celebrities and their parents/children. Rupert Grint being one of them. This was shown on BBC One,

Paul O'Grady recorded a unaired pilot in 2004 but he hated recording it. Saying it was exhausting and he was injured from it..

Graham Norton did a one off celebrity version of The Generation Game while the BBC were finding shows for him to do. It didn't work. It also shows why Ant & Dec won't leave ITV. Why come to the BBC and leave behind your signature shows on ITV? They can bring Takeaway but BGT and I'm A Celebrity will stay on ITV. It's madness to join a new channel when you don't have a show lined up or is as good as what you left. That's what Brucie discovered in 1978.


Paul O'Grady did an unbroadcast pilot of The Genrration Game but he said he couldn't do a series as it was too stressful. This was after his heart trouble and he was on beta blockers. O'Grady was the original host for BGT but I think ITV dropped him when he went to Channel 4.

You put that much more succinctly than I did!

He has been in talks with the BBC, as DOND seems to be on the way out now. I think a light hearted quiz like Telly Addicts could be ideal for him.

One problem for GN is the disaster that was Totally Saturday-he doesnt seem to be at the forefront of choice for primetime at the moment.

Yes only in a different reality it would seem.

The money they get from ITV is obviously enough for them to remain glued to the channel, but it would be interesting to see what the Beeb would do with them if they were able to work for more than one channel. I think the BBC would have got them onto Christmas Day in one way or another.

Ant and Dec haven't been on the BBC since the nineties. I think the problem was the BBC saw them as childrens entertainers, when they wanted to be all rounders.

Noughties.

Remember Friends Like These?

Except in this day and age it would have to be Celebrity Telly Addicts....

Harry Hill was on a daytime show last Friday (This Morning possibly) and did not suggest a return was imminent. He is seemingly too busy planning his new X Factor comedy musical (!!!) set to open in Spring 2014. He has now got approval from Simon Cowell and is seeking a singer to play him.

With Fearne Cotton, Kerry Katona, Peter Andre and Sarah ,Millican, who would turn up for a crisp packet being opened.