The figures mean Gavin & Stacey and Wallace & Gromit have become the top two most-watched scripted programmes of the decade so far
Barb’s official seven-day ratings for Christmas Day 2024 show that nine of the top 10 were broadcast on BBC One:
– Gavin & Stacey (BBC One, 9pm) 19.1 million
– Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (BBC One, 6.10pm) 16.3 million
– Call the Midwife (BBC One, 8pm) 7.6 million
– Doctor Who (BBC One, 5.10pm) 5.9 million
– The King (BBC One, 3pm) 5.7 million
– EastEnders (BBC One, 10.35pm) 5.6 million
– EastEnders (BBC One, 7.30pm) 5.5 million
– Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 3.55pm) 5.4 million
– Tiddler (BBC One, 2.35pm) 4.7 million
– Coronation Street (ITV, 7pm) 4.4 million
Pretty much agree with that although I think MAFS is best left where it is - I don’t think it would do much better on C4 so it’s better it looks like a hit for E4 than a flop for C4.
The schedule is a mess though - I used to watch C4 pretty much nightly growing up and it had a very solid schedule of returning programmes. Now it’s a waste land after 10pm (in my youth that was when C4 actually got going) and it’s all a bit random and bland before that too. They still produce some good sitcoms but they can end up airing any night rather than one night being known for comedy as Fridays were back in the day. Gogglebox still rates but is too dominant in the schedule, whilst The Last Leg is very tired. And having moved Hollyoaks in late 2023 they’ve now moved The Simpsons to E4 as well meaning that younger skewing 6pm hour is gone.
Drama wise they just can’t get a break - C5 can seem to easily get 2m watching any drama they put out but C4 struggle to break 1m, and there is too much ITV style crime drama although the more C4 style shows they’ve done lately (Screwed, The Gathering) which were critically well received didn’t rate either. Axing The Gathering was a surprise though as it picked up loads of awards and C4 usually like that sort of thing - it was probably the best teen drama they’d done since Skins and felt very C4.
They also miss the stability US network dramas used to bring, anchoring the 10pm slots a couple of nights a week. They still show some but scheduling is all over the place and pretty much every imported drama in the last few year that has started out at 10pm has finished it’s series in a post-midnight slot.
I think C4 is a very (please forgive me!) middle-aged and middle-class channel these days. The Simpsons and Hollyoaks don’t really fit that bill, which is probably why they’ve been shuffled off to E4. Tbh I’d be surprised if Hollyoaks is still being made in five years’ time.
‘Channel 4: born risky’ - but completely risk-averse in its middle age. (Unless it’s one of Ian Katz’s vanity projects…) The problem is that so much of its primetime lineup would have been daytime fare 20 years ago. Same goes for BBC2. I guess that’s what the depression in ad revenue (in C4’s case) and constant cuts (in BBC2’s case) gets you - daytime TV being served up in primetime. And daytime itself is all just repeats now.
I never thought I’d say this but I’m starting to think privatisation isn’t such a bad idea. As long as funding for Channel 4 News is cast-iron guaranteed, the government should get shot and let it loose into the private sector. Maybe some of the money could be used to shore up the BBC - lord knows they need it.
I could write a book on how much I dislike Channel 5! As rockstar Adam Faith famously said on his deathbed: “Channel 5 is all shit, isn’t it? Christ, the crap they put on there. It’s a waste of space.”
And don’t get me started on how they’ll start a show, then cancel it after a couple of episodes, then maybe it’ll reappear months later in a graveyard slot under a slightly different name. Shows total disrespect to the viewers. I get ratings and all the rest of it but just put it all on My5 if it’s not performing on linear.
For me, the best era was when it was branded as ‘five’ and went a bit more upmarket, showing more nature and arts docos. Then it was sold off and went downhill…
Ever since they changed it back from ‘five’ to Channel 5, it’s always felt a bit cheap and nasty. It was really bad for a while after Richard Desmond (tabloid newspaper/softcore porn baron) bought it and filled the schedule with shows like ‘OK! TV’, ‘The Big British Benefits Debate’ and ‘The Big British Immigration Debate’. The secondary channels had their airtime slashed in order to air more teleshopping. Incidentally, it was under Desmond that their current controller Ben Frow was hired.
Since Viacom bought it it’s improved a fair bit, but I think that says a lot more about how bad it was under its previous owners. They’re investing in a lot more drama now, which is obviously good, but overall it still feels a bit naff and a bit cheap. Must be all those air fryer shows…
And 2 hour 20to01 style cheap talking head countdown shows and best music clips of the 80s. It’s just the worst shit. Then they moved their news to 5pm and even with Dan Walker it’s like watching This Morning.
Yes 5 News is abysmal. Apparently the idea is to be news for people who don’t watch news, which is probably why it’s like This Morning. But I’m not sure that really works. It’s obviously only there because it has to be - that’s why they have an hour at 5pm where it’s out of the way.
Little bit before my time, but IMO 5 News was best when it first started, when the newsreaders stood up and walked around the newsroom. Yeah, it was a complete rip off of Citytv in Canada, but it was something that hadn’t been done here before, and it really shook up TV news. Now look at it, they all compete to see who can be the most boring.
Agree re: 5 News. It’s so bland and forgettable nowadays. Been going downhill ever since they cut the hourly updates and never really recovered from the period Sky News had the contract.
I never understood why they ditched the original format, something so unique and innovative, in favour of basically the same thing the other channels did (except instead of sitting behind a desk, they sat on a bench. Wow! THAT’S different…) and now it’s just… there. A bland, beige morass of nothingness. Goes well with the rest of the channel, I suppose.
Message to the producers of Have I Got News For You…
Please do not try a sport version of this again. Ian and Paul make it what it is. I like Maisie and Jon but when combined with the panellist they did use, with the exception of maybe Eddie Hearn, didn’t quite mesh well.
ITN has produced 5’s news service since it started in 1997, there was a brief period where it was produced by Sky News in a 5 year deal which started in 2005, but it later returned to ITN.
5 inked a further 5 year deal for them to continue producing the news bulletin and the Jeremy Vine Show in early 2023, plus a separate 2 year deal for the supply of entertainment news.
A series has reportedly already been commissioned. I thought it was quite poor as well - maybe it would improve if it was more topical like the main show. Certainly need to cut it down to two panelists two.
