I suspect she means it's the last one she will appear in although she did say she wouldn't do series 3, nothing to stop the BBC continuing HV without her character.No date set yet for filming she said.

You might be interested in this guys. This is how the new sitcom pilots did on BBC2. They played various nights at 10pm.

Home from Home - 1.4m (8.4%)
Motherland - 1.2m (7.2%)
Our Ex-Wife - 1m (6%)
The Coopers vs The Rest - 801k (4.3%)
We the Jury - 605k (3.7%)

I guess we might see Home From Home and Motherland move to BBC1 for series, I think Our Ex Wife and The Coopers Vs The Rest will get series to probably on BBC Two. We The Jury wasn't great and can't see it getting a series.

I don't see it as being sad, I see it as a show knowing when to end while it can. Series 2 was only spoiled by it's predictable ending imo.

I am a bit wary of whether that is true or not. I can't see Sarah Lancashire telling The Sun a big exclusive like that, as she is a notoriously private person and doesn't give interviews to just anyone. There was a story at the start of this year where she had told The Sun she was done with the show after series 2, which was later proved to be bollocks.

You have a good point, I think the second series suffered with Tommy Lee Royce being in prison. His lady friend wasn't as mental as he was so the series wasn't as dark.

Is Doctor Who that big a deal on Christmas Day now? Is it providing that much of a lead in? Strictly actually gives Call The Midwife a better lead in than Doctor Who. With no Downton will we see a split EastEnders again?

Very different if you reboot a show. Hawaii 50 nailed it. Heartbeat is a natural reboot. Wild at Heart is a revival.

Minder and Open All Hours disappeared for a few years. As did OFAH. You can rest a show.

Worth pointing out that the top two sitcoms were on Tuesday after New York: America's Busiest City which has been getting over 2m. They've had the best lead-in.

Sometimes shows need a few years off. Like 24 and X Files. Bourne and Bond in Hollywood. Downton will return.

That Minder revival on Channel 5!

I don't see that as an issue. Tommy Lee Royce kidnapped, raped and murdered people in series 1. It was obvious that in series 2, his scenes were always going to be entirely set in prison. It would of been bonkers if this didn't happen His scenes in series 3 will most likely be the same. I thought the story-line of using Shirley Henderson's character as a ploy to contact his son was brilliant.

My problem with series 2 was to do with Kevin Doyle's character. Sally Wainwright is a great writer but she does have her flaws. She isn't strong when it comes to wrapping up crime cases. She isn't a crime writer and I feel she tries too hard to be one in Happy Valley. She is at her best at just writing characters in real honest situations. Last Tango In Halifax is a fine example of Sally Wainwright at her best. Most of the resolutions on Scott and Bailey were half arsed, the one off series she did called Unforgiven was left empty with it's weak resolution and the resolution to this crime case in Happy Valley Series 2 just fell flat.

Walliams and Friend is returning as a series.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/lat...ams-and-friend

I think Downton will be back in the next 3-5 years as it has a never ending story really. I would love to see how Downton changed during the second world war.

Heartbeat and The Royal are supposedly on "production breaks" according to ITV so you never know.

I was wondering about this. It was quite good actually so I'm glad it's returning as a series

Yes, you are right there is no way he would have been let out of prison but I just think the first series was grittier and even without him the second series could have been just as grittier.

The Kevin Doyle character was so predictable. I'm glad they killed his character off though as at least the story won't go into series 3. I hope Katherine Kelly is in the next series though.

I think it was around 250k-300k exc. +1, probably around 400k inc. +1, so similar to Stage School.

Bob Says Opportunity Knocks

21.3.87: 14.05m
28.3.87: 12.8m
4.4.87: 13.3m
11.4.87: 12.8m
18.4.87: 11.45m
25.4.87: 11.25m
2.5.87: 11.9m
16.5.87: 9.75m
23.5.87: 10.1m
30.5.87: 11.0m
6.6.87: 9.05m
13.6.87: 11.05m
20.6.87: 12.5m *

(*Final was at 7pm, results at 9.35pm, but this is the only rating I have)

5.3.88: 9.7m
12.3.88: 9.7m
19.3.88: 9.9m
26.3.88: 9.2m
2.4.88: 9.1m
9.4.88: 8.6m
16.4.88: 8.6m
23.4.88: 8.9m
7.5.88: 8.9m
14.5.88: 7.3m
21.5.88: 7.6m
28.5.88: 6.8m
4.6.88 (7.5pm): 8.2m
4.6.88 (9.5pm): 9.65m

4.3.89: 10.69m
11.3.89: 10.90m
18.3.89: 10.69m
25.3.89: 9.12m
1.4.89: 8.66m
8.4.89: 7.4m
15.4.89: 6.3m
22.4.89: 7.6m
29.4.89: 7.2m
13.5.89: 7.0m
20.5.89: 7.60m
27.5.89: 6.72m
3.6.89 (7.5pm): 10.81m
3.6.89 (9.45pm): 12.82m

Opportunity Knocks (with Les Dawson):

31.3.90: 6.9m
7.4.90: 7.5m
14.4.90: 6.2m
21.4.90: 6.0m
28.4.90: 7.08m
12.5.90: 5.7m
19.5.90: 6.0m
26.5.90: 5.6m
2.6.90 (7.30pm): 8.10m
2.6.90 (10.5pm): 8.79m

Thanks Ray.

Not as big a hit as I assumed. I knew the Les Dawson version was the least watched of the lot.

Thanks. Spin-offs and crossovers work. Still amazes me that Eldorado and Albion Market weren't spun off EE and Corro.

As far as I know London's Burning was never connected to The Bill which is bizarre. It's a lay-up.

They're recording it at the London Studios from this Saturday so I assume it'll be ready to air by November.

In other news, Cormoran Strike is shooting soon with Tom Burke in the title role, I doubt it'll be ready by January but March/April could be doable.

Except old shows can be new shows. Hawaii 50 isn't really an old show. You can rest a show for a few years. That's what the BBC does with Dr Who.

There's really nothing new about a show set in a London or big city fire station. It makes no difference if the show is called London's Burning except it gives it a head start. Ditto The Bill or Grange Hill.

I always thought the BBC should do the same with Holby. They did make Holby Blue though which failed. By the way is Hawaii Five O any good?.

A movie would make sense than sacrificing a show to Midwife. There's no financial incentive for commercial TV to chase Xmas ratings when adversaries are low. BBC1 has always ruled xmas because it cares more.

And both came back worse. Better to have remembered them as they were.


First few seasons are great - The natural successor to those of us who adored Magnum pi. These days however it's a comedy/soap with some crime stuff in the background. Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park are shamefully relegated to bit parts when arguably they're the most interesting characters and frankly, the better actors too. 'O Loughlin and Caan's car banter (carguments) were enjoyable early on but they over rely on them now resulting in too much of the aforementioned comedy. Eps always perk up when Terry 'O Quinn (Stepfather, Lost etc) guest stars but usually that means more of a fairly ludicrous back-story with McGarratt's uber-spy mom. The addition of guest artistes Chi McBride and Jorge (Lost) Garcia becoming regular cast members has also hurt the show IMO, with Garcia especially by way of more unfunny "comedy".

Mark (Crying Freeman, Drive) Dacascos as super-villain Wo Fat is also good value in early seasons too.

In short it's watchable still but nowhere near as good as the first 2-3 seasons.

Regarding Christmas scheduling, remember that there's two Bake Off Christmas specials to schedule.

I don't expect it to go on Christmas Day (would it be a good fit?) but interesting to see what happens with that.