Thanks for the info & glad to hear it Agree on the last point!

The Big Bang Theory is brilliant and I think CBS should consider airing it afer TAAHM permanently and have RoE or a new sitcom air before or after HIMYM.

It will be interesting what CBS chooses and axes as they have limited slots. The NCIS spin-off is a cert as is the CTV show The Bridge. Looking at the pilots they have picked up I think Washington Field would fit very well in the CBS schedule either after CSI, Criminal Minds or if they want to take a risk The Mentalist.

Iam so happy that Waterloo Road is set to return next year, it's my favourite show at the moment.The cast are brillant as are the stories even if they are a little bit over the top.

It would be good to see the show nominated for a few awards.

I think the chances of it getting awards are slim, but where did you hear about this? As much as I'd be thrilled if it returned...

Awards? It's complete trash. And I watch it! But not for it's intricate storytelling or realistic portrayal of complex, three-dimensional characters who never deal in cliches.

It's pure escapism but it hardly sets the benchmark for quality drama. The day WR ever gets nominated for an award will be a sad day indeed.


MediaGuardian confirmed it in an interview with the creator, posted a couple of pages back...

I hope it doesn't win any awards so that the BBC can see sense and cancel that ghastly pile of LCD soap-drama tripe.

EDIT: You can probably tell I hate Waterloo Road. Only an opinion though.

I think BBT is more popular than RoE. When it aired after TAAHM (lots of acronyms here, sorry!) it got 1 million more which is encouraging. But I don't think they'll change it. It's working the way it is with the exception of Worst Week which might get cancelled.

New Adventures of Old Christine is down by 2.5m this year in the Wednesday slot. I think they'll abandon the Wednesday comedy block and cancel Gary Unmarried. That leaves Christine free to return to Mondays in place of Worst Week. Either that or cancel it as well and commission a new comedy.

The Ex List was taken off air quickly and The Unit is set to go as well. If they axe anymore, then it will maybe be Cold Case or Flashpoint (but it's ratings could be excused as it is on Fridays).

I disagree.

Waterloo Road is brillant,the cast are great and some of the episodes have beeb brillant tv.

Fat chance of it being axed when its very popular with teens/20's.

Somebody a few pages back was taking about the summer schedule and it got me thinking - what is British TVs problem with repeats?

(Fantasy schedule warning!!!) Here's how I think BBC One should look over the summer in the 9pm slot

Sunday - Film Premier
Monday - New Drama
Tuesday - Repeat Factual
Wednesday - Repeat Drama
Thursday - Repeat Drama
Friday - Live at the Apollo/Panel Show/Repeat Comedy

Over the years, the BBC has made some of the best TV around (as well as some crap). They've got so much in the archives that they could be showing, but it seems that shows are broadcast once these days and then bumped onto digital channels.

If you marketed Tuesday and Wednesday a "Classic BBC Drama" evening, then I think you could pull in the people.

For example, I missed the State of Play when it was on (I was a bit young at the time), so knowing that I'd never see it on TV again, I went out a bought it. OK, it was only £11, but the point is that it was critically acclaimed drama, that was broadcast once and has never seen the light of day since. Other examples include Bleak House, North and South, Life on Mars, Jonathan Creek, Hustle, Criminal Justice, Cranford, Boys from the Blackstuff, etc.

They're also sitting on a goldmine's worth of classic comedy and factual, especially David Attenborough's natural history programmes. His Life... programmes - seen once then never again.

Also, this strategy would have the knock-on affect of allowing more moeny in the schedule to be spent during the rest of the year, with dramas being moved forward or back e.g. New Tricks could be going out at this time of year, as there always seems to be a derth of drama between January and early March.

So, what do you think?

Until a few years ago the Summer was full of repeats.

I think classic Dr who could do well on Saturday nights.

Is it true Noel's House Party is set to return?

9pm hour

BBC1 Nature's Great Events 4m
BBC2 Building the Olympic Dream - London Calling 602,000 2.5%
ITV1 Taggart 3.9m 16.8%
Channel 4 Grand Designs 4m
Five Minder 1.2m 5%

Source: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/88...ie-4m-viewers/

WR is great.

Last year's series was the best ever.

And this one is great too.

I'd have to disagree. The first series was probably Waterloo Road's best. It was actually a serious gritty educational drama and I think the first series would have been worthy of awards, as it tackled school issues in a realistic and intelligent way.

I still enjoy it now, but it's become a much more watered down unrealistic soapy drama. Despite this, I still find it very enjoyable as I think it's just pure escapism. I'm glad it's returning for a fifth series as its ratings of just above 4 million is proving stable for BBC1 in a tough Wednesday 8pm slot.

What did last nights Desperate Housewives get on Channel 4 at 10pm?

Also, what were the ratings for the first look DH on Sunday at 10pm on E4?

It's worth noting that both Only Fools And Horses and One Foot In The Grave took off big time as a result of summer repeat runs. Maybe similar scheduling could help Outnumbered attract the figures it deserves. I like to see a rerun of the first 2 series on Tuesday or Thursday at 8 o'clock. (Preferably Tuesday when it could be sandwiched between Eastenders and Holby City - the art of scheduling.)

I think the big problem with BBC1 running classic old repeats in peak viewing is cost. The older the repeat the more expensive the repeat fees.

As a huge fan of DW for many years (I've got loads of the books, DVDs etc) I have to say that nonetheless I really, really hope they DON'T repeat classic Who on the terrestrial TV channels.

Why? Because, like most other dramas made so many decades ago as a mixture of film and studio VT, those shows look really ropey, slow and stagey compared to today's output - and especially compared to the fast-paced, glossy and glamorous show which DW is these days.

I fear it would damage the brand of DW, currently the hottest and most popular drama the BBC has, if you hoicked out of the archive the stuff that's there.

Remember how badly the Pertwee/Baker repeats flopped in 1999 on BBC2, only a few years after they had succeeded well on the same channel in 1993/4? Like it or not production standards had moved on immensely even ten years ago - and much more so now.

For those who want to see classic Who (and don't get me wrong, I adore the old stuff myself having grown up with it) there are plenty of ways to do so - and BBC4 occasionally show an old Pertwee or Tom Baker - but please don't let us damage the brilliance of the success of the new show.

Repeats of Eccleston or Tennant eps always seem to do well on BBC3, though, so repeats of those on BBC1 might well be a good idea.

Given the new (American-set and cast) film version of State of Play which is expected later this year, I suspect a repeat of State of Play on BBC4 is really very likely.

I watched Waterloo Road last night, and I think viewers turn off because the storylines drag a bit. And when I say that, I mean an hour episode is too long.

For example, it took ages for Bolton & Paul to get the secret out.

I feel the next series should be split into half an hour episodes that run throughout the whole year bar the summer.

Then again, it did pull ahead of The Bill in the last quarter of an hour. The ITV cop drama is getting very stale.

BBC's Press Office has updated for Week 12 (21st to 27th March), see here. Key notes:

- The Apprentice slotted in to start on this week... but at the moment is unplaced; as is the You're Fired! show.
- Saturday 21st looks like a bumper day for BBC One with Six Nations finale from 13:00 to 19:00. There's then a gap from 19:00 to 21:00 before Casualty starts. My guess is that the Lottery and a Weakest Link special or something along those lines will slot in here.
- Final episode in Mistresses series will air on Tuesday 24th March.

Apart from that, at the moment its same old same old. Unfortunately DigiGuide hasn't updated itself yet; nor has the ITV Press Center.

Interesting that Sky is exempted!

One law for Sky and one law for everyone else.

Everything seemed down last night on every terrestrial. The stand out figure though is 0.6m for BBC2 in primetime!! I didn't expect it to flop that much.

FIVE seems down with its usually strong 8-10pm lineup, but both shows are still above the 1m mark. Though if Minder falls again next week i can't see a recomission.

The Bill is down purely because it hasn't been on a Wednesday in a long time and is the conclusion to the 2 parter that aired last Thursday & was dented by strong competition then. It will bounce back next Wednesday for sure, though it's impressive still that BBC1 now has only a 0.2m gap between Waterloo Road & The Bill. Interesingly Waterloo Road has an episode next week which could easily end the series as its the end of term and it would be a good idea to give it a short break like last year imo, but it seems BBC1 are running this years 20 episodes in one whole run.

Decent ratings for ITV2's comedies for a slot which they tend to struggle in.

Or maybe the final edition of Total Wipeout, because they're repeating episode 3 this weekend.

And Virgin Media