But hasn't Torchwood always been the "adult" version of DW - hence the 9 pm post-watershed slot when series 1 and 2 were shown on BBC3 and BBC2 respectively?

(Sure, a version of series 2 was shown at 7 pm on BBC2, but that was specifically edited to produce a pre-watershed version).

Having said that, it seems a bit odd that the BBC Press Office announce the week but say the slot is "unplaced" - for a show which we have been told for months was commissioned to air Monday to Friday, at 9 pm, on BBC1.

Does anyone have the ratings for The Take, the new British crime drama last night on Sky1 and Sky1 HD?

It was actually pretty good, IMHO.

Solid figures for ITV1 last night


19:00 Emmerdale 6.39m (34%)
19:30 Coronation Street 8.35m (41.9%)
20:00 The Bill 5.27m (24.6%)
21:00 Spain : Paradise Lost 4.28m (19.8%)

Why is this a problem? Have I Got News For You takes a week off mid-series every Autumn for Children In Need.

Highest figure in a few months there?

648,000 for part 1 rising to 674,000 for part 2.

Probably boosted because of the leaving of Sam Nixon and this news being heavily promoted during the day on other ITV shows.

On Whitechapel Steve Pemberton was on This Morning today and confirmed nothing had been comissioned but expressed hope that something involving his character and that of Rupert Penry Jones still might be one day. Phil and Fern seemed surprised nothing else had yet been signed up.

A shame to see Occupation falling quite badly. It was never going to be a mega-hit with a subject matter like that, but I'm sure they were hoping it would hold the 4 million it managed on Tuesday. ITV had a pretty good night with The Bill doing well and Paradise Lost seeming to hit a chord with the viewers too.

The Torchwood scheduling seems a bit of a mess. I guess either Casualty 1909 or Hotel Babylon will have to have to have an episode postponed. I can't see how it will work otherwise. The whole point of the thing is that it plays out over 5 consecutive days - they really can't mess with that.

In addition, of course, Hole In The Wall, like 1 vs 100, is an independent production, so it'll presumably have exactly the same production team, it'll just be filmed in a different studio. It's no different from when 1 vs 100, a few series back, moved from Fountain Studios (was it?) to Maidstone.

Yes, Jet Set completely died thanks to being moved to Wednesdays, a slot no other light entertainment show is ever screened on. Also, I think it was about eighteen months after the previous series, so everybody had forgotten about. Viewers certainly aren't going to switch off thanks to poor set design, otherwise 8 out of 10 Cats would have no viewers at all.

As for high production values, if you look at the TV Studio History website (www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk) which is written by a lighting director, he says that the general consensus in the industry is that they could never make BBC light entertainment shows look as glossy as their ITV counterparts because TV Centre's studios never looked as good as LWT or Teddington on screen. But again, This Time Tomorrow was just a boring format, you shouldn't have a BBC show announcing "this show is all about the prizes", which Tess Daly did.

Here's a boring fact - the kids sports show Activ 8 in the nineties was made by three different BBC departments, it was originally a BBC Manchester production but after two series or so the BBC Manchester kids department closed down so it was made by the Beeb in London for a series or two, and then when they made a committment to produce 25% of kids output in Scotland, they moved it up there for the last few series. Well, I said it was boring.

BBC press pack released for series 3 of The Street

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pre...7/street.shtml

Quality stuff.

Always found it quite ironic that ITV's best programmes are on other channels.

The Street is on series 3? It's not to my tastes.

The Street is excellent. One of the few dramas I make an effort to watch on the BBC. Proper, adult drama that makes you think.

And character and storyline driven too - not just a vehicle for the latest soap rejects.

My favourite BBC drama is Waterloo Road.

Waterloo Road is simply incomparable to the pure mightiness of 'The Street' I'm afraid.

You got the dramas the wrong way round.

Yes 'The Street' is great but judging by last night it will probably get beaten in the ratings by some crap ITV doc.

I sometimes wonder whether the great British public deserve any decent drama - if its not reality rubbish they just dont seem to be interested. Really depressing!

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in this, but here is the 2010 FIFA World Cup match schedule. Of course next year's World Cup will affect soaps, so here are the scheduled kick-off times (UK time). I've also put the likely programme duration for a non-England match in brackets as to how it'll affect schedules:

Friday 11th June
- 15:00 (14:30 to 17:15)
- 19:30 (19:15 to 21:45)

Saturday 12th June to Monday 21st June
- 12:30 (12:15 to 14:30)
- 15:00 (14:30 to 17:15)
- 19:30 (19:15 to 21:45)

Tuesday 22nd June to Friday 25th June
- 15:00 x2 *
- 19:30 x2 *

* as above but BBC1/BBC Red Button or ITV1/ITV4

Kick off times similar throughout leading to the final on 11th July which has a 19:30 kick-off time.

Source: FIFA (time converted to UK time)

Similar to World Cup 2006, not sure what it'll mean for Emmerdale though. Another 10pm slot?

Here's an (unpopular) idea.. rest the soaps. They need it.

Heres another (unpopular) idea.. rest all reality shows for a year. I need it.

With a 19:30 kick-off, the programmes would have to start at 19:00 to fit in highlights or the earlier games.

I don't watch them so I couldn't really comment on whether or not they look like they need a rest. It's not necessarily unpopular. I wouldn't miss them. But I don't think it's a good idea.

I think soap watching in the UK is a habit. If they spend any substantial amount of time off the screen, it certainly won't do them any good.

And it's not practical either. If Corrie and Emmerdale take a rest for a few months, there won't be an ITV for them to return to.

Good for ITV last night - that's what they need on Tuesday nights now, some consistentcy. Shame Occupation dropped considering the standard of drama. Big Brother did ok but not brillantly. I don't think Torchwood will be aired before 9pm - the last series included a sex addict alien!