Last night’s Gavin & Stacey pulled in 11.5m (peaking at 12.3m) - the biggest Christmas Day ratings for over a decade.
That’s not a particularly high bar.
My children now are at the same age I was during the late 80s so, really the golden age of Christmas telly.
I don’t think they watched anything on linear on Christmas Day other than the Queen after dinner which is a real pity. (I usually watch the queens speech in the morning, just before I head off to the homeless shelter).
If the BBC or ITV can’t think of any original programmes to have during Christmas Eve/day/Boxing day they should just cram the schedule with decent family films- there are so many l, even if they are holder.
Who can’t remember a Christmas watching Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Back to the Future or similar growing up?
I agree with you in principle but film premieres / film repeats don't tend to generate especially large audiences for the channels these days. For example, I would hazard a guess that Paddington 2 tonight on BBC One will not get much more than 5 million. I know there are exceptions to the rule, however.
It feels like a very long time since we last had a big film premiere on Christmas night on BBC One - they seem to have adopted a strategy where home-grown Christmas specials are the priority. To be fair to them, the strategy is working in terms of the channel's dominant performance yesterday, even if the figures are in decline in terms of figures of yesteryear and it's becoming an all too familiar line-up.
Last edited by Custard56 on 26 December 2019 3:40pm
Also it wasn't as easy or affordable back then to get hold of a film you wanted to watch, so it was more of an event if the "big film" at the time was getting a premiere on Christmas Day. Nowadays you just need to know what websites to use and you can get almost anything you want for free. Hardly surprising that Christmas specials are becoming more prestige. It would be impossible to find the Gavin & Stacey special on a torrent website unless there was a very unfortunate leak.
Also it's very easy and cheap to get a legitimate DVD copy of the films you like too, the days of £30 VHS tapes or having to rent for a weekend are long gone, you can have it there to watch when you want, you don't need to wait until it's on TV. You can often get even the biggest blockbusters for only £5-10 within a few months of being released on DVD or Blu-Ray.
They really need a replacement for Doctor Who on Christmas Day. Of all the regular staples they could have shifted they took the one show that was for kids, leaving them with nothing but films they've probably seen before anyway.
Who can’t remember a Christmas watching Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Back to the Future or similar growing up?
ITV had
Rogue One
this year... on the 14th of December, and I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't accidentally catch the late-night repeat the day after.
They really need a replacement for Doctor Who on Christmas Day. Of all the regular staples they could have shifted they took the one show that was for kids, leaving them with nothing but films they've probably seen before anyway.
Or they could just move it back. Next week's episode is the start of the new season, but they've already filmed a holiday special for next year (it was filmed at the end of series 12). Currently intended for New Year's Day 2021, but what's stopping it from airing on Christmas Day 2020 instead?
They really need a replacement for Doctor Who on Christmas Day. Of all the regular staples they could have shifted they took the one show that was for kids, leaving them with nothing but films they've probably seen before anyway.
They did have Worzel Gummidge but scheduled it for today.
Doctor Who was moved out of Christmas Day because the new show runner Chris Chibnall felt they had exhausted Christmas themed shows, and they simply want to launch their new series on New Year's Day with an extended opener.
Last year's New Year special was not meant to be festive, it was simply an extension to the end of the series.
So for as long as Chibnall is show runner I think we can say there will not be a Christmas Day Doctor Who in 2020.
Even Steven Moffat said they were running short on Christmas special ideas, given the fast there had been a Christmas Day special since 2005.
They already filmed it, so it wouldn't be Christmas themed anyway. It doesn't need to be - it'd just be a one-off episode with a slightly longer runtime than usual. Anyway, Chibnall isn't in charge of scheduling. The only reason this year's New Year's Day episode is the season premiere is because the season starts in it's regular Sunday timeslot later the same week!
They really need a replacement for Doctor Who on Christmas Day. Of all the regular staples they could have shifted they took the one show that was for kids, leaving them with nothing but films they've probably seen before anyway.
The One Show isn't for kids though... #yesiacceptthisisabadjokebutitschristmas