I would do:

6pm ITV News
6.30pm Thunderbirds Are Go!
7.00pm Britain's Got Talent
8.30pm Ninja Warrior UK

Just encase NWUK flops keep it behind BGT. If Thunderbirds doesn't do well enough for 6.30pm then later episodes can be pushed back earlier in the schedule if need be, but hopefully it proves a ratings hit. Its a big investment and I hope its good and does well. Saturday's are missing some escapism that Merlin used to provide.

It rated better than I thought it would.

Being from Sicily, this programme is probably going to be more riveting to me than most people. When I'm there, I constantly hear of these things.

Looks like it's goodbye to Clarkson and Top Gear in its current form. A shame if confirmed as I love the show but Clarkson only has himself to blame.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cele...y-the-BBC.html

Its the only decision they could have come to.

Michelle Keegan's performance in Ordinary Lies has gone down pretty well. Good for her. Corrie should never have killed her off.

Agreed - she gave a blinder tonight. I hope we do find out what happened to her friend who is a Dominican jail.

Agreed. He simply had to go.

Interesting to read his future might lie with Netflix. Something I foolishly hadn't considered but makes complete sense from their perspective, particularly if they can persuade one or two of his co-stars to join him.

Clarkson pretty much is this incarnation of Top Gear, its a poisoned chalice for any replacement. He will haunt the brand and the BBC for years. Its hard to call whether Hammond and May continue, if they don't then the show will be in intensive care-Clarksons elephant in the room will be so apparent it will fill the studio.

A wholly subscription channel is the only option, really. No ad funded channel would allow him to slag off their major clients - least of all Sky (home of Ford Super Sunday).

Its dead without Clarkson surely - whatever the BBC may think.

So what is Thunderbirds supposed to rate at 5pm do we think?

more to the point, is this a one off?

It looks like the Thunderbirds documentary is being switched to ITV2 on the night of the election debate, airing at 8pm. It's called 'Reggie & Thunderbirds: No Strings Attached' so I presume the 5pm showing on the Saturday will be actual episodes.

If they did get Chris Evans on board I bet it would do almost as well. There aren't many presenters who can fill a Clarkson sized hole though, it needs to be a big personality.

Viewers are loyal to the BBC and often stay with a show and it's replacement host even when the original host leaves. Bargain Hunt is one example.

Completely agree, the message from Lord Hall (if true) shows they probably wanted to keep him but in the light of the circumstances (which do sound pretty petty and wholly OTT reaction wise) they absolutely had no other option. It sounds like he's pretty lucky the producer's on amicable terms with him as a 30 second physical assault is a little bit more than a fracas imo- I kinda hope he doesn't get rewarded with a big netflix show for this, as if what the telegraph is reporting is true it sounds like he's a complete bully used to getting his own way and I hate to see that rewarded

Some viewers watch to see Clarkson put a cow on roof, others want to see Supercars or Hollywood Stars doing a lap.

Clarkson is not the Top Gear brand, the producers make the show, with or without him - if he died, (considering Hammond almost did) they wouldn't axe a worldwide brand.....

Yes Top Gear was a bit dull in the 1980s/1990s....Rover cars and Ford Sierras, nowadays cars are so much better.......

I did not think they would axe it - I just think it will die on its own especially if Hammond and May dont sign up.

If Hammond and May leave then Top Gear is dead. It will struggle anyway without Clarkson.

For a BBC Two show Top Gear has a long way to fall. Take off 3m from it's audience and it'd still be a decent performer. Even a loss of 4m would keep it on the cusp of respectability.

They just need to move forward wisely - it might be time to move Hammond and May onto other projects and allow a whole new team to take over Top Gear. As proven by The X Factor panel, though, personality and gelling as a unit is key.

The whole thing is very strange.

Yes, it's been thrown under a bus by the scheduling decisions in the last few weeks. In fact, it's been moved about far too much since the start of the year.

If one goes, all three will go, and Top Gear will die.

I just hope we're spared a short-lived PC reincarnation before the BBC realise the golden goose has been shot and stuffed.

I think Chris Evans would be good although they would need to find a way of fitting in his Radio 2 show as well.

Suzi Perry who presents F1 and Moto GP and did The Gadget Show for a long time would also be a good option. She originally was approached to present it by Andy Wilman but she turned it down so perhaps she might be approached again.

The BBC only have themselves to blame - they should have roped Clarkson in years ago instead of giving him umpteen warnings.He always seemed to ''misunderstand'' what the BBC had told him. No presenter/performer is bigger than the network as several have discovered over the years.