Around 1.5m then I'm guessing.

Jamie's Sugar Rush: 1.25m (6.1%) exc +1

Football League Tonight has been cut back to 60mins this Saturday (the Championship is on an international break) so that will minimise the ratings damage, and means Celebrity Big Brother can go out at the more respectable 10pm which should help that show too.

Cheers Neil. CBB got 1.39m inc +1 on Wednesday so when +1 is factored in to this rating it should beat Wednesday.

Perhaps

However I'm still hoping for the biggest shock of all, Simon throwing a strop and quitting live on air.

anyway ......

Eastenders still holding around the same figures for the clashes, which is a relief.

Of course SCD will win against XF but by how much is the question. I'd say SCD ahead by around 1m-1.5m, although since it's just the launch show for SCD they could be closer.

I'll definitely give it a watch, if Peter Kay is as good in it as he was in Car Share i'll be happy!

Not great looking for CBB but adequate, should be higher tonight with the eviction.

exc +1

Location, ...: 1.55m (7.6%)
8/10 Cats DC: 0.67m (4.6%)

Underground Britain: 0.67m (3.4%)
Special Needs Hotel: 0.71m (4.7%)

I thought Boy Meets Girl and Cradle To Grave were great. I preferred Boy Meets Girl but found both funny. Nice to see both get a decent rating.

Yep Weds got 1.21m.excl so its 130k up on the excl figure. Probably 1.50m.

Jamie did better than I expected.

Piers Morgan starts tonight, then we have An Extra Slice, Ripper Street and 8 out of 10 cats. Competitive 9pm tonight (for younger audiences) which may mean more low figures for CBB and a weak start to Piers? There's 4 shows I want to see in the 9pm slot.

Why is Stephen Fry's programme struggling so badly for ITV ? I'm sure he's done similar shows for the Beeb in the past that have been firm hits. This one can't keep up with BBC Two.


No ratings joy here just respectable but at least next time some misinformed idiot bangs on about C5 being full of poverty porn and not a lot else I can point them in the direction of this excellent documentary.

I think it's got to the point where people who might be interested in this topic aren't even considering ITV factual. A quick glance at the titles of Hot Tub Britain, Gems TV and Cash in Hand!: Payday Loans has probably brought that about.

Exactly the same problem being faced by Channel 5, people just expect benefits propaganda and shock documentaries from them. When they produce something worthwhile it can't even get a decent sampling.

Cradle to Grave probably the best thing on telly so far in 2015. Hilarious and Peter Kay stole the show. That's two great things he's been in this year (neither of which he had to worry about creating).

Do check it out if you missed it.

I'm slightly disappointed it only got 2.2m....

Amusing as this notion is, I don't think it's very likely …

Aside from NT obviously being past its best, there were a lot of problems behind the scenes with the series currently airing. It was handed from Wall To Wall to a new drama division of Shed, where relations between a senior member of the production team and one of the stars became so bad that the actor in question refused to continue unless said person was removed from the programme.

With that level of acrimony, I'd say it's unlikely New Tricks will return … for the time being, at least.

Maybe but when the Stephen Fry name alone on the EPG can't stimulate any real interest then it suggests ITV's problems are deeper than we first thought because talent-led factual is the easiest to get right.

Me too. A shame Cradle To Grave wasn't higher. Very funny and I laughed more at that than Car Share.

I agree. I think the fact no-one has been watching ITV can't be helping. They've put in so little effort over the Summer so I think now they're starting up again it'll take a few weeks to warm up. We saw something similar last year and it's not good. I wonder if there's an element of this in X Factor's ratings as well?

Having said that it was only a few weeks ago a similar series with Joanna Lumley was doing double the numbers of this, so perhaps it just doesn't appeal. I suspect there's probably quite an audience overlap with Who Do You Think You Are which won't help. Also they barely promoted it (surprisingly, as Lumley's series was promoted reasonably heavily) and are airing it after Flop Stars, so it's a perfect storm for a flop really. A pity as it's the sort of thing that should be doing well.

And the fact it follows flopstars with a very low audience won't help

EE 4.450 m (21%) with another 666,000 on BBC3

BBC 6 News 4.617 m
BBC 6.30 Regional 5.302
BBC Ten 4,109 m

Every year ITV do the same thing. Give up and put in little effort in Summer, then launch new stuff in September and expect viewers to just turn up. This is one way a channel will actually ht crises point, as viewers start to ignore the channel even when there is good stuff on. Therefore I think DM will be down on 2013.

Management is poor and should have been hit harder with Fincham at the Edinburgh Festival.

It also adds to the fact that Corrie is so weak right now and poor. This definitely weakens ITV more-so than when it as strong in from 2010-2013.

I think Richard Klein should be given the heve-ho. Apart from a couple of airport docs and police series nothing has been above 3m for factual that is new. Now LLF is past its best (ratings wise) new hits need to be found.

Most of his efforts have been sub 2m. Not what I would call a reason to keep him around.

IMO, part of the issue with ITV is that you have a bunch of London metropolitan types believing they know what the ITV heartland audience is and want. And the viewers just don't turn up outside the big-hitters.

The irony is that the BBC have become more federal whilst ITV who gave us great programmes from the regions have done the complete reverse!

That special needs hotel programme may do better in the 20:00 or 21:00 slot, CBB fans may wait through it to watch there programme if its on at nine.

Boy Meets Girl has real potential. It has a sort of feel of the old ITV show Watching but not yet as funny.

The leads blended well and the scenes involving the revelation by Judy were pretty much as it does happen but the exaggerated extended family dragged it down somewhat. They are presumably there to emphasise the reactions against both the transgender and age gap issues of the central relationship. But risk bringing the show down if they are over done.

If it gets time to develop beyond its unusual premise into a comedy about the two main characters it can really work,. If it goes off on too much of a crusade by bringing in every possible prejudice against Judy then it might easily become a one trick pony.

Worthy as it is, and in breaking the new ground that it has it is worthy, it has to remember that it is a sit com so being funny matters more than anything else.

As an example, see Sense 8 - the brilliant Netflix series by the Wachowski's and J Michael Straczynski - where one of the best characters in it is Nomi, a trans character played by a trans actress, but that - whilst not being ignored - does not dominate the show and the character becomes real as Nomi not a trans woman.

I trust the BBC will not go quite so far as Netflix in giving us nude sex scenes with Freema Ageyaman. But they have to ensure Boy Meets Girl develops the character and not just the issues.

Good start, though, probably gaining somewhat from the lead and the lack of competition elsewhere. But what happens next week will be key as Boy Meets Girl will have been marmite to those who tuned in so will lose viewers.

Boy Meets Girl needs to be funny to work. A sitcom with few jokes will have people switching off. Cradle To Grave had warmth but also lots of humour. I can name several moments that I thought were really funny. I can't do that with Boy Meets Girl.

TV player report is on the barb but for some reason I can't access it.