Will be very interested in tomorrows ratings. 38pct of tonight's XF episode clashed against Strictly Come Dancing [30mins out of 80]. That SCD overlap % must be higher than any Saturday episode from the last 4 years. It's going to really damage its average, when you consider 10min clashes last year were knocking down their overnights by about 0.5m.

Be careful what you wish for - you are not always right.

Can I just point out that NOWHERE in that tweet does the producer say he's editing boot camp? He could be editing next week's episodes for all we know.

Yes, that didn't help either, maybe they didn't count on how much quicker it would run without Brucie, although I still feel Tess isn't brilliant in the main role. It would be great if Claudia could do the whole thing by herself, but that isn't possible.

Im not always right. But trends from the last 3 years show us that whenever XF clashes against an SCD overlap, its ratings go down. The longer the clash, the more it goes down. Last year it was clashing against SCD for about 20% of the XF's runtime, tonight it was almost double that. So its ratings will almost certainly be damaged compared to last Saturday's figure.

There always that chance. We could either be seeing Samuel at 9:32am or 6pm in the evening depending on the rating.

To be fair I think everyone seems to be getting a bit overwrought about SCD/XF this year. The chances are from what we have seen so far that both will be down yoy but still miles ahead of everything else. It really should not be such a big deal.

Shouldn't think that sort of technicality matters.

It's more fun when things are a big deal, sometimes. It's no more or less overwrought than any other year since I've been on DS anyway (5 years).

In fact, it's tamer. GeorgeS vs RobbieSykes was hardcore at times.

The only thing I have watched tonight is DW which was great fun I thought.
Then I caught up with Marvellous - which was absolutely marvellous.

the x factor was never going to work on a friday was it. +1 could be interesting tonight .could doctor who be low as 830 is a very late start slot and with most of its audience on itv it could be a casualty - of course i might be wrong but thats the point of debate isnt it.

grantchester starts on monday week btw.

It was, the perfect episode to try and keep hold of the Strictly audience, shame there was such a long gap between the last dance and it starting.


Granchester? Never heard of it.

DW Was great fun tonight, less Sci Fi more a SIt Com but it's the one TV Program that can switch like that week by week.


X Factor was damaged by the irresponsible decision to put it on a Friday there has been, two X Factors to catch up on this afternoon, and it's over exposed on repeats.

The tabloids have had a field day with negative comments re Fix, " The Axe Fixer" and this has damaged the brand further. It's getting press for the wrong reasons. People could give up on it and clearly Simon Cowell do far hasn't stopped the decline, he might have made it worse.

The thing with DW is it's must see TV for many, but when they want to watch it, so it time shifts very well, overnights are less relevant for it.

SCD was very good tonight, slick, enjoyable, good clean Saturday entertainment, and not a fix in sight.

Telegraph gave tonight's XF 3 out of 5, so a slight improvement from the 1 out of 5 it got for yesterday's episode.

The X Factor, boot camp ep 2, review: 'like Hunger Games without the crossbows'.
The Boot Camp stage is excessively cruel, says Isabel Mohan http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/t...medium=twitter

This is by no means an unusual occurrence for shows of this nature or indeed The X Factor itself. As others have said its likely that a version of the episode had already been completed and that the edits carried out this week and this morning would have been last minute revisions. In the case of this weekends X Factor its likely they responded to criticisms of various aspects of the Friday night show. Although edits would also previously have been re-opened in response to contestants that the audience have and haven't responded to and where they decide they want the live shows to go. Its also worth remembering that the BBC clearly had the edit of The Voice re-opened during its run (particularly in the first series) to respond to audience criticism and response. They've done it with The Apprentice before as well. Meanwhile shows like Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity regularly edit down to the wire because of the very nature of the content they're dealing with. These are professional people. They're completely capable of these quick turn around edits.

I would suggest that the real problem with The X Factor's consistency (or lack thereof) this year is driven more by the obvious lack of a clear vision as to what the show actually is now. This is a problem that plagued the US version of the show as well. No one involved really seems committed to or confident in any specific presentation of The X Factor now. I imagine this is probably because they're panicked about the ratings and just scrambling for anything that might catch on.

The press reaction to Friday night's show is probably the clearest indication to date that the show is in a lot of trouble. Rewind a few years and the press would have eaten up Friday's episode with unrestrained glee. There was literally nothing in that episode that The X Factor hasn't done a hundred times before and that in and of itself is probably not an insignificant part of the problem.

Telegraph gives Strictly a glittering 4 star review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/t...medium=twitter

Yes, Strictly isn't manipulated at all... and I'm the King of Sheba.

The difference between Strictly and The X Factor is the former is currently better at covering certain things up. The X Factor seems to be reveling in the accusations and always has. Remember the fix allegations of 2010? And that was the highest rating series.

Far be it from me to suggest that the star ratings of reviews don't match with the actual content of a review (and that perhaps an editor somewhere has decided they're backing Strictly) but from this review:

Overall this was a solid return for the sequin-spangled contest.

Doesn't exactly scream 4 star review.

You have said this before - so would you like to explain this time?

For one thing Strictly certainly has manufactured judges comments and producer favourites just as all shows in this genre do. Its always worth remembering that these aren't talent shows. They're entertainment shows and the production will, as much as possible, lean toward and weight the scale in favour of entertainment.

Would not disagree with that at all - but the implication always seems to be that SCD is just as bad as XF which I would not agree with.

You seem to say this a lot and I can't say I agree with you. Maybe you should provide some evidence as you keep on claming this. The Xfactor on the hand, well I could write you a book and sequels.

Why is that not a four-star review? The reviewers only criticism is a concern that the judges are ageist in their marking.