WillHill currently has odds at 5/2 for Shrek Forever After being the top rated film on Christmas Day. This is a fantastic chance to get an easy £20 with putting £50 on!

Not often the ITV News at 10 beats the 9pm programme


Both the afternoon film and 5pm News seem on the low side compared to the past couple of weeks. Lack of Neighbours/Home and Away having an impact?


Good to see Body of Proof improve (thanks ITV ). C5 9pm should be doing better than that, but it's doing better than quite a lot of other C5 9pm shows recently. Looking forward to it's C5 return on 8th Jan


I can see why they are doing that, hoping it helps the 5* ratings - but using a foreign reality show bought for a digital channel as the lead out from your flagship entertainment show demonstrates how C5 still haven't sorted out complementary BB/CBB programming. The slot should be being used to start building up a comedy block, or a new entertainment format

If American Idol is to be shown on C5, then it should be off-peak IMO. Weekend daytime (which I think ITV1 did one year) or late night

A comedy block would be best but I imagine it'll have to be panel shows or US comedies first before they dip their toe again into sitcoms and sketch shows,

Body of Proof has 11 episodes left so I imagine CSI will air again in early March. Wonder if PoI will return in January as it has 12 episodes left to air,

Agreed about Wife Swap and Supernanny. Here's hoping C4 get some sense and do well next year.

Coming out of DS hibernation once again to confess that I've lumped on this. 2/5 (not 5/2) is great odds for something that is 98% likely to land. The only danger is Tangled but it's on ITV and not as popular as the Shrek series, which typically do VERY well on Xmas Day. Shrek should win comfortably, I can't even see it being close.

Fingers crossed then. Only negative is it looks like they will go by BARB officials so might have to wait a while for bets to be settled. But Shrek will timeshift more than Tangled so in a way it's another positive.

P.S. The Santa Incident, a film I hadn't even heard of, is the worst 8/1 shot I've ever seen.

For me Britains brightest is the interesting one.Sounds tosh on paper,however its presented by someone with a hugely growing reputation and highly likeable.

Sorry, got them the other way round! :sleep:. How much have you put on dancc?

Well that's a bit daft. Hang it out to dry against Dancing on Ice, or sandwich it between two of your most popular shows?

Seems a no brainer, it's either a fine BSI screw up or it's a load of rubbish. An awful slot.

Watched Last Tango In Halifax for the first time tonight. It's okay to do that cos the 2nd series has already been commissioned.

My mum has been watching and enjoying the series. I've often been in the room when it was on so I've caught the gist of what's going on. Last night I caught a bit more of it than normal and I saw the qualities that have made it a instant and sizeable ratings hit.

The script is very good. The characters are very well drawn. The acting is brilliant.

And the overall feel of the series is upbeat and feelgood, these being the particular qualities that have made New Tricks a big ratings hit. An upbeat, feelgood drama based around older characters played by talented, popular older actors. See the way to attract big ratings for your dramas, TV bosses?

I've put some money on too. Quite a bit of money in fact *gulp*.

But we can't lose... Can we?!

Same, such a shame WillHill's limit of £50 a day

I don't think it's that. Monday's film averaged over 1 million viewers in the 4pm hour with +1 included, so one of the highest rated yet, even without the aussie soaps.

Yesterday's movie was from 1996, whereas a lot of the titles they've been showing have been only a year or two old, so that's probably got more to do with it.


1.4m (inc. +1) is a decent number for Body of Proof. They spend less on it than other acquisitions as it airs on the UKTV network first. To be getting better numbers than Dallas, for example, with far less fanfare around it is a real achievement. It repeats really well on 5USA too, so it's a good little versatile performer.


It's just a one-off. I can absolutely see why they are doing it and for me it's one of their better scheduling ideas in a long while. Import or not it should go down well with the Big Brother audience and increase interest in what will soon be 5*'s flagship primetime show.

But totally agree that generally speaking they haven't been using the CBB lead-ins to good effect. Low-cost factual aimed at 16-34s seems to be the preferred choice, but a lot of it is uninspired. They should be aiming higher really. It would be nice to see them be bolder with it, take some more risks and give viewers proper reasons to stick around. They absolutely don't want to be a one show station and they are in danger of being that when Big Brother is on if they don't do something more substantial in and around it.

Oh really? That didn't seem to apply for me.... I've put a total of £1500 on (£1000 on WillHill, £500 on Sporting Bet).

Wow! You see, I want to do that but it only lets me put £50 onto my account in 24 hours!

But wow, that is a lot of money! but, we rating nerds know its certain ....... .

Good luck man

I may have said this before but I've always considered this a strange commission for BBC1. It seemed more suited for BBC2 or even BBC4.

I thought they might put it out on Fridays at 8.30 opposite Corrie. It's PG Wodehouse. I've never seen it as a big ratings player (despite the brilliant Fry and Laurie version of Jeeves And Wooster that ITV screened in the 90s. Not sure how well or otherwise that did in the ratings). But it would have been nice if BBC1 had tried it out between Countryfile and AR. They could have always swapped Blandings and CF round a few weeks down the line if it wasn't working out.

I can see why Channel 5 bought American Idol, it was declining on ITV2, but still had a big enough following to merit being continued on Freeview and will also raise the profile of 5's digital channels. This is a clever move showing it on the main channel after CBB.

Exactly! I keep thinking is there any way it won't win, but unless BBC One goes off air it's pretty much the safest bet ever. Knew ratings geekery would come in handy one day!

I watched a bit of Tango last night.

It's a bit Summer Wine isn't it, but with fewer laughs. Crossed with Emmerdale (Yorkshire melodrama with added lesbians). The acting is very good, Reid and Jacobi were the only real stand out of episode 1 for me but Sarah Lancashire was quite magnificent last night. Missed it tonight, but may check it out on iPlayer.

If only for the lesbo action...

Means one of two things...

a) they think it is going to be like Last of the Summer Wine
b) it is shit

That's a big bet. Braver man than me! But as I said, it should land.

My only concern is that the Shrek films have got progressively worse. But then so did the Pirates of the Caribbean films and they always rated well. Shrek: Forever After did far better at the box office than Tangled, and Shrek is also at the heart of the BBC's Christmas campaign with special idents so that kind of prominence will also help.

So yep, I can't see any other outcome. But I seriously hope we're right as that's a lot of money you've lumped on.

I have to say... i was a bit dubious about Last Tango when I saw the first episode, but the rest of the series has been excellent. Sarah Lancashire was just wonderful tonight, and I appreciate how the potentially cloying elements of the series have been tempered by more adult material.

Interesting that they're showing episode 2 on Channel 5 and not the series premiere. Wonder if thats the one with the highly publicised Nicki & Mariah spat? If it is, even though its an old show, it could be a masterstroke by Channel 5.

If it's rubbish though, or Balding turns out to be no good as a quiz host, they'll be no sympathy - and Clare Balding alone isn't enough to encourage high ratings. If it was the Paralympics would have done much better.

What a terrible timeslot. Dead from day 1.
I think the answer could be closer to B.


I agree. It's a show that needs a lead in.


I agree. Is George Dixon back?


It's never rated well. Even the Fry & Laurie thing was solid rather than a blockbuster. Why do I get the feeling they've seen it and don't think much of it? Wasn't it originally going to be a big Christmas show?

The ratings for EastEnders continue to rate lower than last year, I expected an upturn this week, however a core part of the audience seems to have switched off and are not returning in the run up to Christmas as Coronation Street pulls further ahead. It is similar to a pattern Brookside took when the audience drifted.