Being selfish though, the story itself has been extremely entertaining and more to come

Watching it really brings home how much of a part of the show Mel and Sue are. You actually see them more than Mary and Paul.

Paul will go to Channel 4 I think- it would not be a surprise. Not sure on Mary. I think they need to be careful though, because they are going to come off as going for the money- so they need to have their statements worded very well!

Promote it to the hilt. Give it the best send off imaginable. Shut up those who say the BBC rule over the industry with an iron fist and get some nice juicy ratings. The BBC is far bigger than one show, even with the Tories slicing it up.

If either Mary and Paul do go to C4, they should insist that what they're paid is far lower than what they've been offered. Hey maybe that's what the rumours of these crazy offers are designed to do?

That was another example of the BBC not wanting to pay more than they thought a contract was worth.

Promote, promote, promote. Get a mega rating for the last ever episode (notwithstanding the potential Christmas specials), and then laugh when the 2018 final pulls in sub-50% of the viewers who watched 2016 one.

That's what I'd do anyway.

Morse isn't in HD or in widescreen neither is Upstairs Downstairs plus repeating something in primetime ITV is more expensive than ITV3 and I doubt advertisers would be impressed with ITV showing decades old shows in a prime time slot.

Imports could work but they can get expensive and you're at the mercy of being a hit in the US otherwise you're stuck with it for 13-22 weeks

It's amazing how old films from 1950s look as good as new, but TV programmes from the 1980s and 1990s look like crap.

Yes. I think its the case that Poldark last year faced a weak drama on ITV (Mr Selfridge) which was rating under 4m. This in turn gave Poldark an inflatated boost - January is usually the highest rating Month on the year for dramas.

It has highlighted that a competitive drama can take on POldark, but two dramas cn live together and rate over 6m.

But the consolidated rating was a surprise. I expected it to rise up over 7m at least. So 6.7m seems a little disappointing.

Films can be remastered since they're shot on 35mm film whereas something like Upstairs Downstairs was shot on video and that can't be remastered. Morse was shot on 16mm film so could be remastered but I don't think ITV thinks it's worth the money. Thunderbirds for example was shot on film as was The Avengers so remastering it for HD isn't difficult.

Don't know about anyone else but it was horrible watching Bake Off today. It felt so flat and Mel and Sue will be missed and tonight's episode bolstered this point. Oh how sour this has all become and so quickly.

Bergerac must have been filmed on 16mm for most of its run because the picture quality looks awful now. I think the final series might have been recorded on videotape.

Old sitcoms, where the interiors were on videotape but the exteriors were on film, really show how film deteriorates.

Yes the BBC are obliged to get the best deal under the General Agreement on Trade in Services. It's all about getting the best possible deal. That's what Love think they did.

Key word. The have to get the best deal. Love are not obliged to get the best deal. There are far more things to consider there. Money and the good value of it, loyalty, impact on viewership to name a few.

Yeah they'd have to convert them to a better definition like has happened with Friends.
One thing you notice a lot on itv now how they don't have any actual adverts. They just have ITV trailers.

Like I said, Love think they did. Only time will tell.

More info on Bake Off's move: http://uk.businessinsider.com/how-gr...ve-show-2016-9

- Tony Hall (BBC's Director General) blocked the corporation from paying £25 million
- Channel 4's deal was not the largest on the table
- Allegedly, an offer of £50 million per year was rejected
- Channel 4 had been preparing the bid for months, the contract was two sides of A4 paper

It seems there will be no overlap between Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor on Saturday 24th September, with Strictly confirmed for 6.30-8.00pm and X Factor from 8.00-9.30pm.

Quite surprised actually, I presumed Strictly would go at 7pm.

X Factor is the 6 Chair Challenge that week. The Sunday show is 2 hours (7-9pm) but there's no Strictly that night. That's a lot of X Factor in one weekend, but it means the 6 Chair Challenge has been cut from 6 hours (across 3 weeks) last year to 3.5 hours (in one weekend) this year. It seems they're going back to the usual 10 live shows, rather than last year's 7.

Yep, Netflix or Amazon Prime was the one who bid £50m after being the first to bump up to £25m. I think the reason they went with Channel 4 is having made lots of stuff for them before, and Bake Off just wouldn't work on VOD.

Tony Hall did the right thing, I think. If it came out that the BBC were paying £25m a year for Bake Off, the right wing press would complain, and considering the Tories are hellbent on cutting the BBC as it is, they'd point to that as an example of the BBC not getting value for money. Plus, it wouldn't have looked very good if it came out about rival broadcasters and the BBC going in all guns blazing to keep the show when ITV have already complained about them chasing ratings.

As awful as it seems now, the BBC did the right thing. They've got Mel and Sue, and they'll potentially have Mary and/or Paul.

Sources told us this is likely to be equal to, or more expensive than other formats, such as BBC1's "Strictly Come Dancing," and ITV's Simon Cowell juggernauts "The X Factor" and "Britain's Got Talent."

These shows sit pretty at the top of the TV money tree, but are strikingly different to "The Great British Bake Off." They are enormous undertakings, with giant sets, huge talent costs, and weekly live episodes. "Bake Off" is filmed in a tent in Berkshire.

Makes you wonder how much Strictly would go for if it wasn't BBC in house.

Is is true that one of the reasons a show moves to BBC One if it become popular in BBC Two is because the costs increase so it's too expensive for BBC Two to continue commissioning.

I know a few shows like Top Gear and Dragons Den turned down the transfer to BBC One as they didn't want it to affect the show. A show like Miranda which was very mainstream was always likely to move to BBC One

It's possible but very unlikely. Usually a show will sign contracts for several seasons at a time guaranteeing a certain budget/price per episode. That's how Red Dwarf was able to stay on BBC2 for 8 series despite getting overnights of 8m.

A few years ago - when BBC HD first started - they showed a few episodes of The Avengers and it was remarkable. As good as many modern HD programmes,

Surprised they have not bothered doing this again as they did not seem to show many episodes. But if I remember this a decade later it shows what an impression they made.

The Hunt has spoken, in tomorrow's Telegraph, a letter:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...tish-bake-off/