I thought the first episode of MBB was marginally better, however for me its success will last as long as the novelty value of a man in drag who uses the F word lasts. Its more or less a seventies style sitcom with added profanity.

This has passed me by but tonights lottery draw was the last midweek version to be televised by the BBC. The saturday ones will continue but it must have been part of the new contract.

I enjoyed both. I felt as though Mrs. Brown's Boys was an 'adult' version of Miranda, though. Apart from the swearing, that nativity scene could have come straight from Miranda.

And Friday is also the last one. This is the first I have heard of it actually.
It's not been in the press at all has it?

Not that I have seen.

The Dancing on Ice Final will be on Sunday 10th March. The main show is labelled as 1/10 on Radio Times for Sunday 6th January, whilst the Skate Off is only 1/9 meaning the Final will be one long show. The reason the final is slightly earlier than usual is because there are only 12 couples this year compared to usually 16 - so they've made the very wise decision of cutting the length. No doubt the shorter length is an attempt to reverse the ratings drop from last year.

Mr Selfridge is also 10 episodes - so both will finish on 10th March.

EDIT - Wikipedia says 9 episodes for All Star Family Fortunes so ITV1 line-up will remain the same for Q1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Sta...tunes#Series_8

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=1610

Very good decision re reducing the number of couples.

Seems very random then I wonder how many people actually watch the draws on a Friday & Wednesday?

Thanks for that.

I thought Miranda was great tonight. I enjoyed them both but thought Miranda was stronger. However I've come to realise that Miranda is a very marmite show - people will either love it or hate it, and most of the comments I've seen on Twitter will attest to that.

I think Robbie was a bit overly scathing about MBB tonight - has he already run out of Christmas cheer?

It will be interesting, for the last few year DOI has I think peaked with its first episode, so if it thrives presumably they are doing something right this time.

Nope just lowering expectations

I agree, I'm not sure why people keep saying MBB wouldn't be suitable for Christmas Day - when you consider the doom and gloom of EastEnders, and the graphic scenes of childbirth in Call The Midwife, a man dressed as a woman saying the f word now and again is hardly going to bring the BBC down. You only have to look at the ratings - it's a massive hit, and it's exactly what was missing from the schedule last night.

Hmm, Britain's Got Talent to air from 16th March, then? Though that would be even earlier than last year when the auditions show started on 24th March. If it's the same format as last year then the live shows will air 29th April - 4th May. If they delay it a week it'll air across the same time period as 2012.

Interesting changes for DoI. I think a reduction is a good call but will the 2 weeks after be rating at 7m like DoI would have done? Probably not. And I hear DoI will all be wrapped up by 9pm instead of 10pm like past years. That sounds like a good decision too - but it could face CTM which could cause problems again.

As for Mr Selfridge. Is this ITV's biggest new drama since Downton? I've seen the trailer and can see it rating well - but it will be against Ripper Street which if it gets a good audience to start with that could hinder Mr Selfridge. It's not my thing though, I won't be watching. Hawaii Five-O will be back then for me.

TBH I think I will give Ripper street a go, it looks the most promising of the two.

TBH I am surprised Jeremy Piven can work with ITV, given how badly they treated Entourage.

Tonight i watched my first episode of MBB. Switched off after 10 minutes, i don't get the appeal at all...nevermind

Meanwhile Dick Twist is still trending 2 hrs later

Yes, I'm sure that's the primary consideration every actor makes when going up for a new project.

I think the BBC are doing a Call The midwife Christmas special next year. But I doubt that it will air on Christmas day.

I think the overnights suggest that people are fed up with the same old tired formats each year.

Mrs Brown is to feature in a new Saturday night entertainment show. So if this is a success I could see them doing the Mrs Browns' Christmas Celebrities for Christmas night and having the two part Mrs Browns Boys on New year's Eve and New Year's day.

HBO made Entourage. ITV just bought it and showed it. I think Jeremy will get on fine with ITV.

I'm sure he has had numerous sleepless nights about the scheduling of Entourage on ITV2.

So the #1 show on Christmas Day had a secret wife, a couple trying to deal with a recent affair and someone dying. Cheery stuff indeed. I thought people exaggerated when they said EE was doom and gloom on Christmas Day.


Looks like they've spent a bit more on the people they do have as well.


I think so. Unlike Downton, this is being made by ITV Studios and I think it has already been sold to PBS in the US. 10 parts and probably a pretty big budget as well.

Ripper Street seems to have been talked about for ages - I remember it featuring quite prominently in BBC1 promotions during The Olympics. I guess that could either work for or against it.

Not always. Christmas eve was quite happy with the community spirit during the xmas party and tonight had some happy scenes aswell

EastEnders does 'Doom and Gloom' better though and that's what people tune in for. It's gloomy storylines are some of their biggest and best ones.

There has only been 3 deaths on Christmas day in EastEnders 2006,2009,2012

Depends - if the breakdown heads south on Sunday then Mr Selfridge could send it to the death bed early.