There is no mystery to me as to why Downton Abbey has fallen. It is purely and simply that the story has basically stalled and has become the Corrie of ITVs drama world.

The thrill of watching the fashions come and go and the glamour of the house, balls and dinner parties can only last so long. It has got very samey rather fast.

If they plan to carry on I think they need to revive the story by shifting it a decade into the future. The thirties were very different from the twenties and a lot could be made out of this. Morever, the way that the fashions and lives of the characters will have actually moved on a foot instead of an inch inside a decade would help the show.

If we are in 1927 or whatever next year instead then I fear the ratings will fizzle further.

I read that they do not want to take it up to the pre war years as other shows have done that. There is a reason for that. These are fascinating years of change in the UK.
Another couple of years on into the 20s will not offer enough scope IMO.

The two that spring to mind are Death In Paradise and Last Tango in Halifax. I think Happy Valley would be too bleak for Sunday nights.

Of course they have Sherlock too.

None at all and hasn't been really since its first special in 2011. BBC1 don't need to run scared of it or schedule to avoid it. I think comedy will be key. Imagine a half hour EastEnders leading into Still Open All Hours followed by Miranda then Mrs Brown's Boys on Christmas Day opposite Downton?

That's what I would do as a scheduler. Of course we don't know if Still Open is getting a Christmas special. Would be mad not to do another one.

The BBC are in a much stronger position than ITV or indeed any commercial channel. They have a loyal audience who will watch more of BBc1 than any other channel and remain loyal. Its is the only channel without adverts which does have its positives when all others do.

Our Girl is doing fine. The BBC do not need to rate as well at 9pm when last night they have figures of 4.5m, 6.3m, 8.8m, 5.4m and 3.6m. They are strong overnights. Strictly boosts the entire schedule as (forgive the stereotype) the older viewers flock to BBC1.

FFS, I'm not over reacting. I'm speculasting about an era in the not too distant future. DA isn't going to be around forever, so ITV should be considering this and ultimately trying to create an alternative. I never suggested that they were without it now did I? For goodness sake Andy, stop taking everything so literally and personally.

BARB has just updated for w/c September 22.

www.barb.co.uk

Out of interest, why do you consider Our Girl a third rate drama? Are you watching it?

Sad about Sunday Night at the Palladium dropping as it did last night. It was the best variety show of the series with a couple of very different acts on there which you would never see on TV otherwise (unless/until someone copied them and entered Britain's Got Talent that is).

Jimmy Carr seemed shocked himself to be asked (he opened his routine by asking if ITV had ever seen his act!). But he did okay given the limitations.

What was really bizarre given the ITV continuity fiasco of recent days (just checked and the Sky EPG is still showing X Factor as 7.30 pm next Saturday by the way) was how the Palladium show was basically one long promo for the rest of ITV Sunday.

I assume that Jimmy Carr was given the things to write around as all the skits and promos for X Factor and Downton and watching ITV on Sundays looked like it.

Perhaps if they replace all their continuity announcers with comedy links like this it might boost the ratings.

I agree. Calling Downright Shabby silly names is childish indeed! No seriously, I have nothing against DA at all. I also think Samuel is deliberately provocative but equally some posters are utterly gullible for rising to his bait.

I've stuck with it so far hoping it would improve. It is getting worse not better. I watch BBC at 9pm then Downton on sky plus to avoid adverts. Given up with Our Girl now.

Thanks for answering. Last nights episode was the weakest in the series so far and I have reservations about next week's. I'm not sure if it's getting worse but it isn't getting better. I think the BBC knew it would have limited appeal which is why it ended up where it did in the schedules.

Well, as mentioned, it's easy enough to catch up with both programmes with the recaps, and there are certainly more viewers about on the Sunday as well. There have certainly been occasions when I've been out on a Saturday but happily watched the Sunday Strictly.


Not sure running Strictly close is that big a deal though because Sundays have always been where the X Factor has shone with its substantially better slot. It's interesting to ponder what would have happened had they stuck with the Sunday Strictly in 2009 instead of foolishly abandoning it and allowing The X Factor to nip in.



I dunno, BBC1 tends to more or less done and dusted by midnight so they could happily slip one in most nights. Course, it was initially on BBC2, in 2005 they seemed to get it free when they bought American Dad (because it hadn't been successful on C4 and they'd given it up) and they showed both in a double bill on Saturday nights. They didn't do very well there, though, and at Christmas 2005 they stripped them every night, funnily enough after Newsnight.

Family Guy really is a great example of a series succeeding via word of mouth, both here and in the US, because back in 2006 when it first moved to BBC3, after its failure on BBC2, the new episodes were at midnight on weekdays. Used to be a bugger to find them.

Our Girl is not grounbreaking but its doing fine. Last weeks consolidated to 4.90m from 5.35m for the first week. Pretty good I would have thought against a 10m drama.

I made the same point earlier so I do agree although I would point out overeactions are not just confined to ITV shows. Much the same was being said when SCD was down 1m last week.

I have him on my ignore list.

I don't think Downton will have the same pull if it goes past the historical period it's in. Is it running out of stories to tell or not telling them well? Viewers have said for the last couple if years that it hasn't been as good but this is the first time the ratings have possibly reflected that. I think next year BBC1 won't be thinking of bungling factual against it and calling it a night.

yes, that is only my opinion as it's the only one i have access too.

i don't disagree that we have quality made drama in the UK, but in terms of it's ability to entertain and and be dramatic then i think we are behind the US by some way.

What happened to ITV HD here - http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new/weekly-top-10?

Why is ITV HD listed separately anyway if you look at past weeks? HD channels are not listed for BBC.

Given ITV is missing ITVhd for this week I have based the rating on last weeks hd figures.

Inc+1

Downton Abbey 10.4m

Cilla 8.07m

Plebs ep1 1.20m
Plebs ep2 973k

Celebrity Juice 1.54m

Paul O' Grady FTLOD 5.05m

These are rough figures with some missing HD figures

Separate advertising means it is classed separately.

Missing logs are normally added later on as part of the amendment cycle but could be waiting 6 weeks for those.

There is more excitement with a results show as people are voted out. Many people just watch results as Eurovision has shown over the recent years.


X Factor should be further ahead as they have a better slot and in later weeks the results are live whilst Strictly's are recorded. The fact Strictly has stayed close some weeks says a lot about both shows.

The worst thing BBC1 did was take off the Strictly results show. 2009 was a perfect storm for X Factor with the talent, popularity and a free ride on Sunday. Not one of BBC1's brightest decisions then, I think coming from Jay Hunt.


Family Guy might rate better than most BBC2 offerings at 10pm. I wouldn't put it too late as it would be a potential waste of a good ratings performer.

Christopher Eccleston is to the lead the cast of ITV's new drama series Safe House.

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According to DS article it could be a returnable series. Its 4 parts, but given the ratings of Chasing Shadows I don't hold out much hope.

Although tbf, the setting in the Lake District could pull in more viewers.

Speaking of the Lake District, ITV should be looking for dramas than combine the warmth of Darling Buds and the nice scenery of CF for a drama series.

The BBC asked BARB to bundle HD into its channels' ratings, as did Channels 4 and 5 and virtually everyone else. ITV didn't bother.

Channel 5 news today:


http://www.boxingscene.com/title-tor...el-5-uk--82902


http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/b...078312.article

Awkward slot (on weekdays at 22:00) though as it's only about 22 minutes long.