But if the ratings are steady, then viewers are finding the programme in spite of the changed times, so it is more likely that any decline over the years is down to the crap storylines, writing and love affairs and the lack of grittiness,

I'd say it is both. I'm one of the luddites that don't have Sky+ and a very slow broadband speed so I-Player is of no use. My digital signal comes through my dvd recorder so I have to watch whatever I am taping - therefore I see nearly everything on transmission and programmes being moved about are annoying - EE never having their Omnibus on at the same time at the weekend is the main reason I often miss episodes of that but rarely do Corrie or Emmerdale.

However, if a programme is good enough, 'must see tv' then you ensure you know what time it is going to be on each week by checking the schedules and setting a recorder it you are going to be out. Frankly, neither EastEnders or Casualty are currently good enough (in my opinion) to warrant going to the (very small) trouble of checking the Radio Times and making sure I turn over for it. Doctor Who doesn't start at exactly the same time each Saturday - it varies by a good half hour most weeks but I never miss the beginning because I care enough to check when it will be on in advance.

The Sky and BBC subscriptions are 2 very different things, It is illegal to watch a television (whether it is the BBC or another commercial channel) without having paid the Licence. We may not approve of how they spend the money but then I don't approve of how the Government uses the money from my Road Tax. Fact is though, if I want to drive a car I am legally obligated to pay it. If I want to watch TV I am legally obligated to buy a TV License.

Atlantis needs to have all its episodes (I think it is 13) transmitted by Christmas and they won't manage that if it misses a week. As Casualty has a break of several (but not many) weeks in the Summer, it is much easier to skip a week and just have the season end a week later in several months.

What within the 4 hours of primetime would you suggest they should have moved? Atlantis is a family show which they are still trying to promote and there are only so many Saturdays left till Christmas for them to fit the episodes into. Same with SCD, they can't miss a week because then they'd have too many contestants for the Final in 6 weeks (plus it is one of their highest rated programmes). The News still needs to be on as does the after news Sport (and that would probably have been too late at night anyway) so Casualty really is the only option. That isn't them picking on it, it is just scheduling necessity.

casualty is a family show aswell.

i thought altantis was a drama?

But do you miss episodes of Casualty?

And would you say that your situation is representative of people on DS, or the wider outside world? My view is that it is not.


And I think that you have hit the nail squarely on the head. It's only the core fanbase that now watch on a regular basis. Casual viewers, and those who used to be fans of the Casualty of old and who see today's Casualty as a shadow of its former self no longer bother.

I must admit, having followed it from day 1, i's no longer must-see TV for me, and I get heartily sick of the focus on the love lives of everyone rather than the accidents, mishaps and issue-led drama that used to define Casualty


You can watch a television as long as you don't watch live TV [/i]as it is broadcast[/i]. So you can watch any of the catchup services with no requirement for a licence.

I don't know if you are saying this as a wind up but not everybody that has respect for those that fought and died for us, or an interest in Politics of History is boringly PC or a Pensioner. I don't know why you assume that Pensioners and those interested in Politics would be watching Casualty anyway - back in its prime what a lot of us found interesting was the Political and Social aspects of its storytelling.

It is once a year and doesn't always affect Casualty anyway. Not only is it about remembering the 'War to End All Wars' which virtually every family lost someone in, it totally changed the face of the World, triggering more conflict over the next Century and people are still fighting and dying to keep civillians safe and try and make the World a better place. I don't agree with the reasons behind all Wars but I do respect those that die in them and losing a tv show once a year really isn't a very big sacrifice.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

as i have pointed out this isnt the first time casualty is moved for something else

I don't think that it is representative of most people on DS or Social Media but I think that it is of a wider audience. I do know a lot of people, especially older people that do not have Sky+, Virgin, TIVO etc or Broadband. Older people tend to just not have bothered, they are content with the Freeview they had to get due to the Digital switchover and a lot of younger people that are feeling the pinch because of the Recession just decided that it was an expense they could no longer justify. I had Sky for 15 years but when I lost my job it was a luxury I could no longer afford - especially as 90% of what I wanted to see was available on Freeview anyway. Equally I got rid of my landline as that was wasted money when I had a mobile (which I did need) which I could get all my calls and internet on for less than half the price.

Yes I do miss Casualty a lot as I tend to have my mother over on Saturday night and if I do switch BBC1 on it either hasn't started or I've missed 20 minutes so just don't bother and we watch something else - usually Holby City as she tends to miss it on a Tuesday so I record it for her. However, as I say, if I really enjoyed Casualty as I used to, I would check what time it was on and set a reminder or set the timer on the recorder. It isn't good enough to warrant me making any effort to see it but I suspect that if it was on at the same time each week, straight after something I watch then I'd see it more often from pure laziness, I really don't like Waterloo Road very much but do tend to catch it as I always know where it is - Corrie finishes and I'm 'oh what's on, shall IO check - oh WR - that'll do'

I didn't know that was the case, I thought that change in legislation had merely been suggested. How do you prove to the Investigators that you are only watching catch up and surely you shouldn't be allowed to watch any BBC productions at all as you haven't contributed to the funding that made them. It doesn't matter if you are watching them live or 3 days later. I realise that I-Player has complicated things a lot but I thought that actually watching something on the TV you still need a license, live or catch up. And, as I say, how do you prove when you are watching it? Surely everybody that has Sky+, Virgin, TIVO etc could use that argument? I'm not doubting you, just genuinely interested as to how it works when the TV Licensing people get in touch.

Yes because it is invariably the easiest thing to move in the schedules. Most of the early evening family shows have 13 episode runs and need to run between certain points of the year. Atlantis (or Merlin, Robin Hood, Doctor Who etc) always start at the beginning of the Autumn schedule (September) and then run the 13 weeks up to Christmas. Same with SCD. They (as I understand it) have a legal duty to transmit the News during the prime time hours and then there is also the National Lottery. That doesn't leave anything except Casualty that can be moved without causing a lot of problems for rescheduling. It is the same with the January 'term' of programming and even the Spring when you have 'The Voice' instead of SCD.

They will never cancel the big Soaps like EastEnders. They can't cancel the News. Big Serials that they put out in the 9pm slot during the week like Ripper Street, Escape Artist etc bring too much prestige for them to disrupt soo it will always be 'old faithful's like Casualty, New Tricks, Waterloo Road which get dropped for special events as they have a loyal enough audience to wait for the next week (somebody tunes in the part 2 of a 3 part series and it isn't there, they may well just not come back the following week), it doesn't disrupt the story too much and they tend not to need to be finished by a certain point in the year - plus there tends to be leeway - New Tricks, WR etc tend to have episode runs of 10 rather than 13 episodes so it is much easier to miss a week. Same with Casualty with its 40 or so rather than 52. Having shows with 52 episodes a year causes issues to drop as it means you have to have a week where they show 2 episodes which happened with Holby City in 2010 when they had to drop it for the forming of the Coalition Government.

Just looked it up and indeed you don't need it if you only use catch up like I-Player or 4oD (see BIB1 below taken from the site) but I think that something like Sky+ you still would as I think it falls into the following category (see BIB2)


You don t need a licence if you don t use any of these devices to watch or record television programmes as they re being shown on TV - for example, if you use your TV only to watch DVDs or play video games, or you only watch ‘ catch up’ services like BBC iPlayer or 4oD. Letting us know you don’t need a TV Licence

Before you cancel your TV Licence, please make sure you won’t be watching or recording television programmes as they’re shown on TV at your new address, using any device. This includes a TV set, computer, mobile phone, games console, digital box and Blu-ray/DVD/VHS recorder. You don’t need a TV Licence to watch ‘ catch up’ services like BBC iPlayer or

So as far as I can see, the specific services given by the main what we would call Terrestial channels like I-Player are okay but Sky+, Freeview+ etc wouldn't be as you need to programme it in to record as it transmits.

Interesting.

Atlantis is made by the Drama department (as is Casualty, Waterloo Road, Doctor Who, EastEnders) but aimed at a 'family' audience just as Merlin was and Doctor Who is.

Casualty isn't a family show in quite the same way as it deals with more adult themes and there is more blood and guts. You are unlikely to get the subjects of rape, violent abuse, nasty death etc touched upon in a show like Atlantis. They are designed for the whole family from toddlers to elderly grand parents to sit and watch together comfortably without awkward questions coming up.. A lot of children do watch Casualty I accept but there are themes in the show that they might not understand or need explaining to them and some adults might feel uneasy watching with young children. At least if it is being done right.

That restricts the time of day it can be shown at but the more important thing in coming off the schedules is that it is made in blocks of 13 all of which they want to show before Christmas. If it had come off this week, they would have to carry one over to the New Year (which they wouldn't want to do) or they would have needed to start it earlier in the Year to fit it all in.. They don't have that issue with Casualty due to its longer episode run. They need to make sure the Christmas episodes transmit at Christmas of course but I would assume they knew about this break early enough in the writing process to allow for that.

well as i said they moved waterloo road whenever they liked even though it shouldve been shown within the school year. if they can move that they can move altantis

[quote=kitkat1971;69715811] I realise that I-Player has complicated things a lot but I thought that actually watching something on the TV you still need a license, live or catch up. [quote]From the TV Licensing site:


http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/f...ramework-AB16/



This might help explain:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-i...-needed-top12/

Ultimately, it's down to demonstrating that you don't watch live TV as it is broadcast - detuning the TV, removing aerial connections etc.

But that is the subject for another non-soap thread.

[quote=mossy2103;69717009][quote=kitkat1971;69715811] I realise that I-Player has complicated things a lot but I thought that actually watching something on the TV you still need a license, live or catch up.
Ah I see, not having an aerial, satellite or cable connection would make sense to prove it and as you need one of them for Sky. Virgin etc. you should still need a License for any of those.

I just remember that when my grandfather was dying and not living at his home for several months the TV license was cancelled and they kept visiting and leaving letters and when my father contacted them to explain the situation they just argued that they could see a TV was in the room through the window so we needed one and just wouldn't accept that it wasn't being used but we didn't want to advertise the house was unoccupied by packing away furniture etc so my experience shows them to be very dogmatic and disbelieving.

You're right - it is off topic for here but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to explain how you'd prove it as I'd looked at the website and it doesn't make it clear.

Zzzzz "why is Casualty always targeted?" What!!!! This isn't a war. It wasn't on TV in Saturday, but it will be back next Saturday. I will not get off my high horse cos I'm not actually on one. Remembering the dead beats a soap style drama in the schedules. Simples

if you read my posts youd know i wasnt dissing the programm (my sister is out there so why would i?) casualty IS always moved

isn't atlantis missing a week on the 23rd when Doctor who is on, casualty is on that week.

People keep saying that Casualty was 'moved'... It wasn't! If it was 'moved' then it would have been scheduled to air in the first place.. It's the same as when Eastenders is not shown on Children In Need/Red Nose Day except for the special mini episode they usually do for RND (Liam/Gang and Whitney/exploitation) yet no one kicks up a fuss about them because its something people are generally happy to watch instead.

[quote=kitkat1971;69717539][quote=mossy2103;69717009]
If that's what they were using as an argument, you should have let them take you to court and just sit there smugly smiling at them across the room.

I might have hiking boots on my feet whilst I sit watching a catch up service in my living room but proving that I had or have the intention to climb Mount Everest just because they saw them through the window is not enough evidence to build a case.

Most of the people that get "done" for not having a licence are tricked, bullied or manipulated into self incriminating themselves

moved/changed whichever one it doesnt matter lol

i am annoyed about EE this week lol but im used to it

That isn't a surprise

lol i havent moaned about it though and i do tend to enjoy CIN

Could well be (in fact it will almost certainly have to be) but they'd have known about that when they worked out the Autumn schedules so looked at what date they needed to start Atlantis to finish by Christmas. They've known they were doing a d50th special for Who for well over a year and even put the date up on screen at the end of 'The Name of the Doctor' back in May.

[quote=Dante Ameche;69725214][quote=kitkat1971;69717539]
Oh I know it was ridiculous and they did finally accept it (possibly when my grand father died and we gave a copy of the death certificate and the house was put up for sale) but it was hassle that my Dad could have done without whilst nursing a terminally sick man at their home and I doubt a Court case would have made that any easier.

This was some time ago (18 years), they may not use such heavy handed methods now.