Britian brightest did have potential but nearly the whole show needs a good makeover

The games are not that good. Clare balding does not suit this kind of programme and it needs broadcast in a different day and in a sunnier time of year. Its too austere for saturday evening and in cold january its just too dull. A bit of a rivita kind of game show very worthy but just not enough for winter. I dont think it merits a second series but im not sure bbc one will discard it so readily because they try flogging an idea before finally giving up. The magicians is a good example of the bbc just not letting it go. The ratings dont signal a second run should be given

I was so dissapointed with the special effects in matt smith first doctor who series. They were terrible and there was a noticeable drop. They pulled it back over the next two.

I'm not sure budget cuts equal quite the doom and gloom people are suggesting.

Reduced reliance on CGI certainly isn't a bad thing. Although in fairness that's not been quite the issue it was during the final year and a half of RTD where the philosophy of a clearly burnt out team just seemed to be throw lots of CGI and effects at the episodes to cover for some not so great stories. As long as the show produces the goods creatively then audiences will forgive some ropey effects. They always have and mostly always do for television shows.


In the BBC's defence The Magicians was an infinitely better show second time around so creatively at least they were right to give that another go. Obviously it didn't work out commercially but I think it was worth a shot. I think with Britain's Brightest it'll be hard to abandon because there are so many obvious and relatively minor changes that they can make which can make the show so much better and whilst the numbers haven't been great they've hardly been terrible. I think it probably deserves another run albeit on a smaller scale. Perhaps instead of something like In It To Win It or Secret Fortune rather than as well as...

Do you think it can be reworked as a better show then? Its place isn't a winter saturday evening though is it?

Single Handed was a very good show and deserved a chance in a winter slot. Bear in mind also the summer of 2011 saw some real stinkers on ITV1, as then was, I bet Peter Fincham would shoot me if the words Show Me The Funny and The Marriage Ref reappeared.
Also with regard to Channel 5, might not a Taggart revival suit them?

Even with the reduction of budget, its probably still the most expensive drama on the BBC as it produces 14 episodes per series, its still a moneymaker for the BBC through selling it worldwide as well as merchandise.

Britain's Brightest can absolutely be reworked into a better show. I won't comment on whether it would be a good show but it would certainly be better. Simply reducing the run time so the show has to move along at a faster pace would make it much more watchable than it currently is. I also don't know that its any less suited to winter Saturday night than something like In It To Win It is. Certainly it isn't and shouldn't be the centrepiece of any Saturday night schedule but as I said before it has the look of a decent utility player that can be part of a strong schedule.

I think we've discussed this before. For me, Taggart had run its course and probably skews too old to be of any interest.

After Dallas I doubt C5 will be looking to revive any other dramas in the near future.

I agree a shorter run time would help it along with a cut in padding about the contestants. I would get rid of the street section mind games and I think clare much as she is good should be replaced by someone more entertaining if a saturday was going to be its slot. The games need reworking as its televisual newspaper puzzle page which I think dates it and is its ultimate flaw. The games dont really work on screen and contrived. Be interesting to see if it earns another commission. Four million doesn't seem a great number for peak time saturday evening.

The population of Wales is over 3 million.

Jack Taylor while an Irish import is a good way for C5 to dip its toe into homegrown drama, I hope this leads to more on the channel if JT is a success.

It would be lovely, but at the same time I wouldn't want it to be money down the drain. It's got to be the right idea. I mean, you look at the figures dramas now manage on C4 and it's hard to be too encouraged about C5's chances of getting in on the homemade drama action successfully. And a lot of what they are doing is pretty high quality, albeit not always boasting obvious mainstream appeal.

If they were to find themselves in a position where they could do it, and a hefty amount had been set aside for marketing and such-like, I would maybe look at doing something with zombies. It's been long enough since Dead Set (which was one of the first BIG shows I can remember for E4) and it's not something that's been done to death, if you'll excuse the pun. Yes, they already have The Walking Dead, but look at how massive that became on cable over in the States and even over here when you look at how it does across both FX and C5. Look at how well received films like Shaun of the Dead have been as well. There does seem to be a real appetite for this genre of drama yet it's not something likely to be covered in any great depth by either the BBC or ITV and so it seems like an obvious route for one of the fringe channels to go down, particularly if they could get an international broadcaster on board.

Channel 4 drama while acclaimed isn't broad enough and I think Channel 5 should aim to do dramas more like Line of Duty which was very successful for BBC Two or the Foreign dramas like Spiral and The Killing. I'm not sure a zombie series could work especially as it would comparison to The Walking Dead but I wouldn't be against a drama with a supernatural theme.

I do think a international co-producer is necessary, maybe team up with a variety of broadcasters like RTE, TV3, BBC America or maybe FOX International Channels who have been a real player in acquiring content from America with The Walking Dead, DaVinci's Demons etc

I would watch anything with Miranda Hart in it. Even if they just showed a photo of her for an hour, I would watch that.


Me, a fan?

I thnk if Channel5 does a drama, the first one has got to be a crime procedural. This is the type of drama which does best for Channel5 from its american shows and is the safest type of drama to go with. Once they get a reputation for making dramas and start getting more and more loyal audiences for them, then they should expand and cover other stuff like zombies and non crime. But crime would be a good way to start off. I predict Jack Taylor to get 1.5million but I havent seen the trailer so far. Hopefully it isnt portrayed as something too grim because that can be quite offputting for some viewers.

Presumably though Five would be making very different drama to Channel 4's recent output? As good as some of 4's drama offerings have been they've not exactly had big mainstream hit written over them. I would think Five's taking a chance on home grown drama would probably be something more obviously commercial. Probably some kind of procedural that would sit nicely amongst their US imports.


Zombies sound like a terrible idea if only because they'd never be able to escape the inevitable comparison to Walking Dead and with the best will in the world I don't think they're going to come out on the winning side of that comparison. Procedural rather than genre seems like the obvious route for them to take. They already have an inbuilt drama audience for that type of show and it would seemingly fit quite nicely into their schedule. Of course the flip side to that argument is that maybe they don't want a show that just feels right at home on the channel but something a bit bolder that's going to grab more attention. Its a difficult decision and balance to strike.

I'd also add that I don't think the 'zombie craze' is the best thing for them to be getting in on. You have to be very early with these kind of things otherwise you get burnt and I think they've probably missed the boat on it.

Of course if they're looking toward The Walking Dead for inspiration then maybe the inspiration to take is comic books. There's some pretty cool British comics out there that they could transition to the screen quite nicely if they wanted to. Forgetting everything I said about avoiding jumping on a craze late they could try and do Blood Blokes. That would be interesting.

Well Taggart is on ice and while 3 million wasn't acceptable for ITV last time round, it would be a godsend for Channel 5. The station, which is trying hard, really needs a homegrown drama hit to silence the critics who trot out the same old argument that it's a dumping ground for Aussie soaps and Big Brother.

I always thought it was closer to 2 million, but never mind. That England game was a drag today, though.

A procedural would be the safest bet for the foray into homegrown drama, I've already mentioned remaking a foreign drama like Spiral. The US has found success with shows like Homeland which was based on an Israeli drama, The Killing on AMC, The Tunnel on Sky Atlantic and there is more in development such as Hostages which CBS are developing and Those Who Kill which A&E has ordered a pilot.

Another idea would be to adapt a novel into a series or one-off, I'm sure there are plenty of popular crime novels that have yet to be adapted by the BBC or ITV,

Channel 5 should pick up Love/Hate.

Not a bad rating for Nanny Mc Phee. ITV should air more films there. Do they have the Dark Knight? RTE run films in that slot every week; Garfield 2 yesterday and Toy Story 3 next week.

I presume Shetland is replacing Ripper St.(which won 2 IFTAs last night) as I saw it on the Media Centre. If they run The Lady Vanishes after that it would finish on Easter Sunday.
Luther finished filming this week, hopefully they air it before the summer.

Scott and Bailey and Lightfields are due to air in March. Lewis is being advertised in magazines as the last ever episode although I wasn't aware that it was, might see a boost.
Law and Order is filming this week, it's looking like a strong Autumn for ITV with Benidorm, Whitechapel, Downton and Doc Martin also returning.

So how will they schedule them? I'd imagine it'd be:

Sunday: Downton Abbey
Monday: Whitechapel
Tuesday: Football and filler
Wednesday: Doc Martin
Thursday: Benidorm
Friday: Law and Order

When's Broadchurch going to crop up? They're promoting that a lot at the moment.

As for BBC One, Luther could take the Tuesday night slot after Death in Paradise though it'll depend how long it spends in post production. Why have they got a lot of filler week commencing 18th February? Spy in the Huddle and Death in Paradise are fine but then we have a Meet the Izzards double bill followed by a New Tricks repeat - it's as though they're waiting for Death in Paradise to finish so they can strip something across the week...unless they have a whole list of new shows to air across the week.

I think The Lady Vanishes will be saved for Easter as its only a one-off, probably air Easter Monday if Jonathan Creek takes Easter Sunday, I imagine it'll be Shetland followed by Case Histories on Sundays, then Creek then The White Queen although I think that one might air in the Autumn or possibly summer.

There's four Sundays between Ripper Street finishing and Easter, not enough time for both Shetland and Case Histories. I think the latter and the Richard Curtis Comic Relief drama will take the Sunday slots, with Shetland either on Mondays after the Penguins or since its already on the press website stripped on the 27th and 28th.

Tuesdays I think will be filled by Prisoners' Wives, this time 4 parts, then either The Village or Luther (which finished filming last week.) I can also see May Day being stripped across the first week in May.

The White Queen has been slated for Spring according to many including the author of the books who I think was a producer as well. So Easter or the week after is likely, I think Easter would be better with Jonathan Creek on Monday not sure where that would leave The Lady Vanishes.

The population of Wales in 2001 was 2,903,100 according to my Penguin encyclopaedia.

I doubt Bleakley was offered the main presenting role on the Olympics, some paper somewhere said she was going to be "the face of the Olympics", which was a load of rubbish. I don't know what the main presenting role would have been on the Olympics - Gary Lineker did the primetime slot but he was just linking stuff in the studio. And nobody remembers who presented the Olympics anyway, she might have done Mishal Husain's slot at the most and Husain is hardly the biggest star on the Beeb.