ITV is to air a feature-length episode of Downton Abbey at Christmas. The broadcaster’s plans to air the special show could lead to them winning the coveted Christmas Day ratings war against the BBC, with their rivals as yet unsure what to screen head-to-head against the period drama.
The BBC may rely on EastEnders – which traditionally draws in the biggest audience – another Royle Family special, or begin airing their three-part Great Expectations series starring Ray Winstone.
There is also the possibility that ITV could air Downton Abbey at an earlier time than its usual 9pm slot for the festive special, which could result in it going up against Doctor Who in the ratings battle.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “A feature-length episode of Downton Abbey is likely to skew the figures considerably in ITV’s favour.”
A spokesperson for ITV insisted their Christmas scheduling has not yet been finalised, but added: “We are delighted that Downton Abbey will be part of ITV’s Christmas line-up.”
In previous years, ITV has beaten the BBC in Christmas Day primetime ratings just twice.
In 1999, two editions of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? topped the annual battle as the BBC struggled to fill the slot left by Only Fools and Horses, and the previous year the BBC’s screening of Titanic failed to attract as many viewers as predicted.
Before I even begin, apologies to anyone who arrived at this article expecting to see that woman who has starred in many internet videos showing her, *ahem*, lack of gag reflex. Alas, this article is about something very different indeed. Basically, this isn’t about fellatio, but rather, the untold story behind the MPs’ expenses headlines that will be revealed in a new humorous drama for BBC Four written by Tony Saint (Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk To Finchley, Micro Men) and directed by Simon Cellan Jones (Generation Kill, The Trial Of Tony Blair, Our Friends In The North).
Barbara Windsor has announced that she is to leave Eastenders next year after 15 years strutting around Albert Square. Windsor, who plays Peggy Mitchell, stated that she’s looking forward to spending more time with her “old man”.Ain’t that sweet? But whose going to spar with Pat Butcher and get drunk in ice-cream vans now?
It’s time for one of the most stupid, trashy, idiotic TV shows ever (read: Mindlessly engrossing and thereby, brilliant) to return to our screens. Yessir, it’s time for Waterloo Road (BBC One, Wednesday, 28 October, 8pm) to come back with a brand spanking new series.
We all like watching a bit of pap now and again don’t we? We Brits haven’t had any high-gloss syrup since Cold Feet. If we have, I’ve clearly forgotten it. So, like always, we look to America to give us our cheap thrills. One illicit gloop of saccharine sweetness that seems to be getting the big push all over the world is Ugly Betty (Channel 4, Wednesday, 24 June, 10pm) which returned to our screens once more, with an episode called The Manhattan Project. It’s star has obviously dimmed as it’s no longer got the prestigious Friday night sitcom slot and now tucked away on a Wednesday. Is it getting worse?
The Mentalist (Five, Thursday, 18 June, 9pm) has been slowly bubbling away on The Channel That No-One Really Watches for a while now and to pretty much zero praise. All the critics have their eyes squarely on the BBC channels and The Other Two. Hell. Even Dave gets more column inches than Five. So with that, I figured I’d take a chance on their poshest import (I mean, I wasn’t going to watch Krod Mandoon and Mitchell and Webb never really do it for me in sketch show form) and do you know something? I really rather enjoyed it.
Tonight the glorious ‘Company Man’ episode hits terrestrial TV in the UK, but over in the States ‘Heroes’ is faring poorly in its second season. The NBC show came in third in its Monday night 9pm time slot, behind ABC’s double of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and new sitcom ‘Samantha Who?’ and CBS’s ‘Two and a Half Men’ and ‘Rules of Engagement.’ The show has sunk to its lowest viewing figures among its core audience of adults aged 18-49 and has caused many critics in America to speculate on a ‘sophomore slump.’
While this TV Scooper can appreciate the criticisms (I too have felt underwhelmed and frustrated by certain creative directions in season two), creator Tim Kring remains confident that this slump is a product of people watching online, or recording to watch later, a theory substantiated by similar drop-offs for other top shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty. “People tend to look at last season and see things in it that were not in it,” Kring told the LA Times. “We haven’t deviated that much.”
For those of you who might be a little blasé about Heroes (crazy fools) tomorrow night’s episode ‘Company Man’ is the one that will surely bring you back from the dark side and see the light. I understand that for many of you nay sayers, there has not always been enough action, that you want to know more about the mysterious Mr. Bennet and that you consider some characters such as Matt Parkman peripheral to the central story line. Worry no more, as ‘Company Man’ brings Claire’s mysterious father centre stage in a plot that takes us both past and present to reveal a man of unexpected emotional depth.
To say any more would be cruel, as this installment really is one of the highlights of the Heroes series, and so make sure your phone is off the hook, that you have a scary enough jack o’ lantern in the window to deter sugar-crazed trick or treaters and treat yourself to a master class in television.
Although I am enjoying The Tudors on BBC2, the Showtime period drama hasn’t quite lived up to my (possibly too high) expectations and media hype. This oh-so-slight disappointment meant that when watching the onscreen posturing of the impossibly pouty Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII on Friday night, I became distracted by his background crony William Compton played by Kris Holden-Reid. This chum of the kings seemed to bear an uncanny resemble to falsetto warbler and hubby to Gwyneth Paltrow, Coldplay singer Chris Martin.
With their two pictures lined up, I am more convinced of the similarities: the beards, slightly messy hair and wide foreheads. Granted Chris Martin’s blue eyes are more boggly and scary than anything Holden-Reid could muster, while the actor is decked out in finery even Martin’s music royalties would struggle to finance – but the resemblance is there. Uncanny.
Season four of Lost won’t be with us until some time in the New Year, and fed up with hearing which cast member has most recently been popped for drunk driving (Daniel Dae Kim) us fans of the enigmatic island drama are hungry for news about the show itself. And so, to help oblige those of us desperate for their Lost fix, here are a few tasty tidbits (spoiler haters: look away now) as executive producer Carlton Cuse has been revealing what’s in store for the survivors of Oceanic flight 815.
Remember the season three reveal that Jack and Kate make it off the island? Well, we’re in for plenty more flash forwards. “Moving forwards, you’ll get a mix,” explains Cuse. “Every week will hopefully be a guessing game as to not just who will be focused on, but when we’re focusing on them.” And though he met his maker, Charlie’s importance is not diminished: “Desmond will have to deal with the after-effects and the guilt of [Charlie's death],” elaborates co-exec producer Damon Lindelof. “He will question whether or not Charlie would have made this sacrifice, had he not told him that was what he was going to do. He will question the role he played in Charlie’s death.”
We’ve had to wait months to know what all the fuss was about, but now that we’ve seen the final scene from The Sopranos (aired last night on E4), finally we Brits can enter the debate on the seminal show’s ending. Or interesting lack there of. In an interview in new book The Sopranos: The Complete Book, creator David Chase, who recently won two Emmy awards for producing and writing the HBO drama, has spoken of the creative decisions behind that ending.
“There are no esoteric clues in there. No Da Vinci Code. Everything that pertains to that episode was in that episode,” claims Chase. “And it was in the episode before that and the one before that and seasons before this one and so on. There had been indications of what the end is like. If people want to sit there figuring this stuff out, I think that’s just great. Most of them, most of us, should have done this kind of thing in high school English class and didn’t.”
The End. Finished. Over. Last night, the 86th and final episode of The Sopranos had its premiere on UK television and now we Brits can finally appreciate the controversy that surrounded the show’s last scene when broadcast in the US. But before we get to that, let’s take a look at how creator David Chase decided to spend our final minutes with Tony Soprano.
Waking at the safe house he had fled to, Tony and his crew adapted to life without green vegetables and with a new recruit in the form of a stray cat. Tony met with Agent Harris, informing him of the bank used by the two Arabs he was interested in, hoping that the FBI worker would reciprocate with news of Phil Leotardo’s location. Harris didn’t oblige on this occasion, but this odd relationship was clearly a source of optimism for a beleaguered Tony.
I knew it was wrong of me to get my hopes up. The season finale of Grey’s Anatomy was, like the second half of the series, a complete mess. It made a half-assed attempt to resolve some of the long-running plots but essentially provided no closure, little suspense and lots of groans. The combination of hospital action and personal sagas, which has been so deftly handled in previous outings, was pretty shambolic and all-in-all it was very depressing. Urgh.
So here’s what happened – the good, the bad and the very bad. And unfortunately for us fans, there was a lot of the latter two, and very little of the former. Again.
Either there is absolutely nothing to do in Hawaii but get tanked and go driving or there is something in the water on the Lost set, as actor Daniel Dae Kim has now become the fourth member of the island drama to be arrested. The star who plays Jin-Soo Kwon on the hit show was stopped by Honolulu police at around 3am on suspicion of drink driving, booked at the station and released after posting bail after 5am.
Cast mates Michelle Rodriguez (Ana-Lucia) and Cynthia Watros (Libby) were also charged with DUI during their short-lived stints on the show, while Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Eko) was arrested for driving without a license and disobeying a police officer before charges were dropped. Interestingly each of these characters died shortly the actor’s negative press, though Libby will be making a short return in season four. How long will Jin last now that he too has been popped for DUI? Take your bets now.
What is there to say? After years of following Tony and his two families, Sunday night will mark the end of an era as the superlative mob drama comes to an end. E4 have been counting down the days in a dramatic advertising campaign, with every new reminder only adding to my excitement and suspense. Who will be left standing after the two mafia clans have gone head-to-head? Does Tony really deserve our sympathy as he finds his empire, family and existence under threat from the vengeful Phil Leotardo? And will we ever see a show this consistently brilliant ever again?
The end scene (which I have endeavoured to learn nothing of these past few months) caused controversy when it aired in the US back in June. Some considered it a beautifully crafted moment while others felt unsatisfied and confused. Creator and mastermind behind the show, David Chase defended the scene: “There’s nothing more in TV that I could say or would want to say” and it will be for us here in the UK to make of it what we will. The episode is billed as slightly longer than normal (10.30-11.50pm) and so we will have to savour our last minutes of Sopranos glory. Enjoy.
We usually like to give a bit of advance warning when selecting programmes for our ‘set the video’ category, but such has been my utter disinterest in recent Grey’s Anatomy offerings that I completely forgot that tonight’s instalment is, in fact, the last in the series. With that realisation, I come to you as a GA fan so that we can cross our fingers, silently pray and do all that we can to hope that the season three climax is a marked improvement on the show’s recent slump. And so, as we hit the home stretch, how do we think it will end? Will Alex admit to his feelings for Jane Doe/ Eva/ Rebecca? Will the tiresome love triangle between Callie, Izzie and George finally come to an end and will the interns have passed their exams?
One of the problems that GA has developed is its swollen cast. Each character cannot possible be given the screen time they deserve and so, rather than more stream-lined efforts with smaller casts and more focused story-telling, the show desperately strives to cram in everyone and everything. All this means that some sagas will inevitably go unresolved tonight, and most probably bleed into season four, but there are at least two that require immediate attention: the exits of Addison and Burke.
Broadcast, the television and radio industry resource, has revealed its winners in this year’s Creative Report with TV Scoop favourite Life on Mars crowned as the most creative show in 2007. The poll, which celebrates the best in British television, covers 16 genres and is based on performance at major industry award ceremonies over the past tear, saw the buddy-cop show total 30 points, beating Planet Earth into second place with 28 points.
Interestingly Granada soap Coronation Street came in third, helping the production company win its category with 76 points. Other shows from its impressive stable included The Street, Longford, The Royle Family: The Queen of Sheba and Granada Reports: Morecambe Bay. Talkback Thames took silver in this group, based on well-received offerings such as The Apprentice, The X Factor and Green Wing.
Like all residents of southern California, the showbiz community has been affected by the horrendous wild fires that have killed a man and destroyed homes and businesses in the area. Many stars have been forced to leave their homes and now news reports are confirming that production on TV shows has also suffered. One such programme is real-time action thriller, 24, which had been shooting at a military base near Irvine, Orange County. Work there was abandoned after the cast and crew endured breathing problems and blurry vision, with shooting transferred to sound stages. Line producer Michael Klick said:” By 1 pm we’re back here and had shot two other scenes. When the dust settles, we probably lost five hours’ worth of work, and we have to reschedule the two days we missed.”
Other shows affected include Sky One’s crime drama Cold Case which saw its set blown over by the string winds, Big Shots and Living’s NCIS, which saw its crew depleted by members rushing home to protect their properties. It’s another blow to 24 after the last minute plot overhauls and star Kiefer Sutherland’s scheduled jail time.
Now that the nights are getting colder and darker, the TV networks are bringing out their winter heavyweights, which traditionally have included literary adaptations. On Monday night, BBC4 welcomed John Cleland’s saucy Fanny Hill while tonight will see ITV1 strive to reinvent Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for a modern audience. And so to celebrate these new interpretations of classic novels, TV Scoop brings you our top ten literary adaptations.
Note how keen I am to stress that the source of these television gems must be those heavy things that fill libraries: books. A period drama, such as Rome or Band of Brothers, is keen to set the piece in a bygone era, but is not bound (ho!) to a plot by the work of a novelist. Other conditions of the list include no long-running serials (Jeeves and Wooster), no collective works of an author (Marple) and no, repeat no Catherine Cookson. The adherence to the author’s original work is all too often not what it should be, but any attempts to introduce the likes of Elizabeth Bennet, Rochester and Flora Poste to a mass audience must always be a good thing. And so on to the top ten…
Dannii Minogue might be busy having backstage clashes with fellow X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne, but the Aussie star is to get back to her roots with a special appearance in Home and Away. Minogue starred as naughty tear away Emma Jackson in the soap for a year in 1988, a stint that won her a Silver Logie Award for the ‘Most Popular Actress on Australian Television’, and now with the show set to celebrate its 20th anniversary next year, Dannii is keen to join in the festivities.
A source claims: “Dannii knows it was Home and Away that really got her to where she is today, and she wants to help them with their anniversary celebrations next year. Even though she is very busy with work at the moment, she is planning on setting aside some time to do a couple of episodes of the show. She’ll be in Australia anyway, judging on Australia’s Got Talent, so it won’t be too hard for her to pop along to the set.” I’m sure Sharon will be so sad to see her go.
From:Set The Video: NASA: Triumph and Tragedy, BBC Two, Wednesday, 24 June, 9pm