BBC Scotland's Scheduling

Am I the only one in Scotland getting fed up of programmes being on at one time on BBC One / Two Scotland and the being showing the next week at a different time, or worse still disappearing from the schedule altogether.

For example " Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage In Two Years? " was on a Monday, then Wednesday at 7, back to Monday and Wednesday and finally on a Thursday. Also BBC Scotland didn't show the last Room 101 in it's Friday at 10pm slot. Masterchef, The Grumpy Guide, Graham Norton ( already! ), Timewatach and a host of other shows seem to be completely " moveable ", often without any announcement of when they'll next appear.

Even worse is the BBC One schedule which is always shifted to accomodate River City ( makes Eldorado look like Brideshead Revisited IMO ). Have I Got News For You? never completes a full run in the same time slot in Scotland.

I take it you haven't got satellite? I live in England and am enjoying watching Waterloo Road on BBC1 Scotland via satellite, as it airs four days earlier than it does on the other BBC1 nations and regions!

But I'm sure it must drive you insane. I used to work for a TV listings agency so I know how things get moved about in the different nations. I can only assume it's because the BBC (and ITV/STV/UTV too, to a lesser extent) have a public service duty to serve up locally-produced programming in prime-time. It would be nice for those with Freeview if you could just hit the red button to see the programme you are "missing" on BBCi.

It's all a matter of opinion, but I think River City is streets ahead of EastEnders these days, in terms of writing and performance.

There is no question in my mind about that.

The original poster lost my interest completely when dismissing a programme he's clearly never watched. "Makes Eldorado look like Brideshead"? Oh please.

Even when you put aside the benefits to the Scottish industry having a continuing drama in peak time, it is still a better programme than 'Enders. If anyone can point me to a dissatisfactory performance then I would be interested in hearing it. I watch with a critical eye and I have perhaps only once or twice winced at a ropey actor. Bad ones are removed very quickly, I can tell you.

The scheduling of programmes in Scotland isn't really an issue, unless you are reading English listings or expecting to see something based on a TVF discussion. Programme times are well signposted on BBC Scotland, and gone are the days when you heard "except for viewers in Scotland" on a promo or V/O.

there also comedy connection went a week later at least, adn that gets moved 30min later becasue of of side

also strangle last night that STV showed Real crimes instead of the highlight's of the English cup things

I have absolutely no objections to a prime time Scottish drama, but IMO River City is hardly a great example of representation. I have actually watched it but I'm not going to sit through hours of it if I don't like it. As I don't watch EastEnders I can't make a comparison there.

I don't actually agree that the scheduling is well signposted. I'm talking about programmes that " disappear " for a couple of weeks, or even when something like " Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage..?" moved, there wasn't always an announcement.

My original point was ( or maybe should have been! ) that if they are going to move a programme they could at least ( a ) show the whole series that's been moved and ( b ) keep it in a consistent time slot.

Thanks for the sympathy! I do only have Freeview.

In fairness your question was quite clear, I just got a touch of River City red mist and didn't read it properly, as is my wont.

I would agree about programmes being dropped and lost from the schedule or those in an endless state of flux. Didn't they do something odd with The Apprentice or perhaps Apprentice USA on 2? I haven't been too troubled by it of late because there's not been much holding my attention.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the last thing to be shifted that annoyed me was River City, when they pushed both episodes to a Tuesday for some months before recently restoring it. That was after the shift from Thursday to Friday, forcing me to watch the omnibus when I really wasn't in the mood.

So it seems that the schedulers in Scotland can poop on their own doorstep too.

there do what there like!

I remember when we only got one episode of the Simpson on Monday only and there were never NEW ones, then out the blue we got two per Friday - New ones just to catch up.

also Green green grass, film 2007, deaf programmes, top up tv, Eastender, one story, there TONE of thing been moved around!

it was even meanon on points of view, althourgh terry praised it because it never clashed to great shows instead of showing them at the same time like in England

And it can't be good when you're launching new series like The Green Green Grass and the new Nicholas Lyndhurst comedy for them to be in a different time slot. I seem to remember there was also a new Friday comedy last year ( maybe by Ben Elton? ) that we have yet to see.

I forgot about that new; Nicholas Lyndhurst comedy: which got dumped on a Sunday evening:

What Ben elton comedy is this ???