TV Wrap
In TV Wrap we look at the fall in ratings for Richard and Judy, how Children’s BBC is feeling blue and ITV Drama has a stinging nettle. Richard and Judy Unwatched
Reports claim Richard and Judy’s latest series is about to be axed. Having switched from Channel 4 in 2008 to the obscure ‘Watch’ channel the couple have seen their ratings drop almost as low as Finnegan’s boobs.
The ‘golden’ couple, who met while working in regional television in Manchester, found fame fronting Granada’s networked This Morning programme between 1988 and 2001.
The Sun suggest their audience currently is around 8,000 viewers; a drop from 100,000 when the programme ‘New Position’ first launched. The most amusing thing about their switch to Watch was reports that while filming the opening trailers Judy ended up bum over boob showing her bloomers when a stunt went wrong.
An insider told The Sun: “Every day, we think an announcement will be made, saying ‘That’s All’. It looks unlikely this show will come back.”
Richard and Judy once commanded audiences of up to 3 million at their peak on ITV.
A Sting In The Nettles
ITV Drama is a bastion of quality. When you’ve finished laughing at that last statement I’ll continue. Okay, ITV Drama is often more miss than a hit, but they have had a fair share of hits – mainly shows that have stemmed from the days of regional production – however one such show is to undergo a major change in 2011.
After twelve years, and nearly 100 shows, John Nettles is giving up his lead role as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby in Midsomer Murders having solved over 200 murders – which is almost as many as Emmerdale have had in the last year.
ITV drama commissioning director Laura Mackie told Broadcast magazine: “John has been instrumental in creating a much-loved character and a hugely successful long-running series for ITV.
“He will be missed by us all and Barnaby will be fondly remembered as we move forward with the show, but we hope to work with John on other projects for the channel.”
Peter’s Feeling Blue
The BBC Trust have told us the obvious: Children’s programming on BBC One has been damaged in the ratings by the transfer of quiz show The Weakest Link to the channel. The show was switched from BBC Two to fill the gap left by soap Neighbours when it switched to Five.
Children’s BBC programmes such as Newsround and Blue Peter have been effected by the move because Neighbours filled a 25-minute slot whereas the Anne Robinson fronted quiz runs for 45-minutes and thus the children’s slot has been moved earlier into the afternoon schedules.
With the changes, the BBC Trust commented the ratings for the two shows had fallen from approximately 300,000 per episode in 2003 to 200,000 in 2007.
The BBC have said they have no plans to move the Children’s BBC slots again, however Jana Bennett, the BBC Vision director, added: “The BBC‘s children’s services are a great success story devoted to providing creativity and dedicated to enriching children’s lives.”