And 8-14 - is Grange Hill suddenly a primary school now too?
No, I think what they're planning to do is have a storyline whereby primary-age children come into the school (as happens) to do creative work there. But it sounds as though these will become characters in their own right.
A couple of points about the Broadcast article: the "creative learning centre" spoken of is the IT block which has been a part of the show since 2005! Also, there WILL be a sixth form (the teen pregnancy story is one which began last year, and if there wasn't Chris Perry-Metcalf would have nothing to do) and last year's Year 9 will mostly be back, so it looks like there will be characters older than 14 after all.
TMi should have its Christmas stuff up by tomorrow as it's the first, last series they had their Christmas stuff up on the 9th.
TMi confirmed at the end of their show today that the Chrimble decs will go up next Saturday.
A very bizarre moment in the show today in "Call yourself a Friend" in which a dare was played in which Mark had to get milk from his glass into Sam's empty glass. Seems simple enough but was told they had to use mouths to do it!
This was achieved by Sam being on the floor and Mark stood up dribbling the milk into Sam's mouth and then he placed what was in his mouth into his empty glass.
I'm not sure whether to laugh, be sick or be appalled to see this. Although funny in places, it suddenly pushed the taste boundaries. After the event, Sam asked for a towel whilst Mark asked for some counselling!
TMi have been a bit obsessed with High School Musical this series. Its a shame its ending early, hopefully if there is a third series it'll run in to the new year next year. Also it looks like the credits failed to run at the end.
TMi have been a bit obsessed with High School Musical this series. Its a shame its ending early, hopefully if there is a third series it'll run in to the new year next year. Also it looks like the credits failed to run at the end.
I think its the same amount of episodes as last year but this run started earlier.
For anyone interested or likes Ed Petrie & wants to see him do art, he is on SMart.
i didn'nt mean for it to rhyme
He'll be on it:
Today at 8:30am on BBC2 (1hr) (includes cartoon)
Today at 5pm on the CBBC Channel (45 mins)
Tuesday (i think) on the CBBC Channel at 5pm (30mins)
Wednesday at 4:30pm on BBC1 (30 mins)
Not very impressive. I suppose at least it's something.
Wait until you see it in action! Its far better than last years
'woossh wizzy wiizzy bang'
ident effort which was awful.
Was last years that bad? I know that the whole pres was that bad, but didn't they have the fairy bauble with the tree, or was that the previous year?
The stills look ok, a bit cheap how they appear to have just stuck santa hats, tinsel and presents onto current ones, but I imagine that they'll have a few of them rather than just relying on one.
What will the end logo be like, the usual with snow that you can only see falling over the logo, or just a sprig (sp?) of holly onto the logo.
The biggest question is how far will they take the office set? They seem to always have something to decorate it, whether it be halloween, a birthday, a doctor who convention or the big debate on Wednesdays.
If only they could record some Christmas links for Christmas mornings on BBC One with Ed & Oucho as a little present.
I presume that these will start a week on Monday then, not too early, not too late, well that would obviously be pointless.
Onto TMi, the bit with the milk was a bit weird, I was laughing and cringing, but part of me was thinking 'should they really be doing this?'.
Mark, Kirsten and Mike turned out to be great guests, and I liked the quiz SMart vs SMark. Even the TMiers were full of a hell of a lot of coffee by the sounds of it, its a shame that they ended up with nothing on the game with a noise as a title.
I do hope that they bring back that fantastically lovely Christmassy version of the theme tune as seen and heard here, it's just a shame that they dropped the original titles instead of just reworking the visuals with them starting off from bed or something, anyway I digress.
Will the Christmas edition be on the Saturday? As in the early Christmas guide (yes I know not to take notice usually, but...) they had a CBBC slot for 90 minutes on BBC One on Christmas Day from 9am, and the press release did mention a TMi Christmas Special.
Here's hoping, it's all for the kids on Christmas day, and us too!
Grange Hill revamp, from Broadcast:
BBC children's drama Grange Hill has ditched almost two-thirds of its cast as part of a Hollyoaks-style makeover to move the show away from its gritty roots in a bid to reach younger viewers.
The next 20-part series, to air on BBC1 in spring 2008, will focus solely on eight to 14-year-old characters and will dispense with ongoing storylines in favour of a more episodic structure. Topics that touch on sensitive but universal issues such as child abuse and teen pregnancy will still appear but in a more subtle way.
In a further departure, the show will move away from pure naturalism with fantasy sequences. One episode of the forthcoming season involves a child becoming a skateboarding superhero freedom fighter and is filmed like a graphic novel.
The BBC ordered the changes to comply with its new commissioning structure for children's shows, in which all programmes in the CBBC weekday afternoon slot must be suitable for children aged six to 12. Teen-oriented shows now appear on new Saturday afternoon strand Switch, while CBeebies will continue to target children under the age of six.
Next year marks Grange Hill's 30th anniversary and the final year of Lime Pictures' current three-year contract to produce it for the BBC. The two parties are in talks about the show's long-term future and the overhaul will be watched closely to see if it retains the younger audience. Lime Pictures creative director Tony Wood said the BBC's request posed major challenges. "Since the early 1980s, the show has drifted towards the sixth form," he said. "It has tackled difficult issues. It follows a rite of passage for its adolescent characters as well as its audience."
Younger characters will be introduced through a "creative learning centre", in which primary school children work with older pupils. Despite skewing younger and lighter, it will still cover sensitive topics. "We didn't want to move too far away from the programme's intentions and will still cover things like teenage pregnancy and losing your virginity, but these will have to be told through the eyes of younger characters and usually within a comic framework," added Wood.
Controller of BBC children's programmes Richard Deverell added that storylines solely of interest to older viewers such as preparing for university were out, but promised: "We can still do crunchy, weighty issues in a careful way." Wood and producer Dave Hanson drew up the new format in consultation with Grange Hill creator Phil Redmond. "It's something Phil thought long and hard about as more than anything, even Brookside, Grange Hill is his baby. It was important that he was comfortable with what we were doing," he said.
Old school tune
One sign that Grange Hill is staying true to its roots is the restoration of the original theme tune, coupled with a "pop art" update of its comic-book style opening credits.
"It says that it's bouncy and jaunty in ways that subsequent themes weren't, which fits the new tone," said Tony Wood.
I remember Grange Hill having a central core of characters for the 5/7 years and then restart the cycle. This is how children/teenagers grew up with the show. The same also went for the other long running series - Byker Grove - until the BBC implemented changes which destroyed the soul of the show. Why destroy it like this. I feel it will definitely be the final death-nail for the show considering Series 29 is yet to be shown on BBC1!!!
Series 29 was on BBC1, but not Series 30. I understand Series 31 will be back on BBC1, where it belongs - which I think leaves just enough time to show 30 before Christmas, even if on a daily basis
Anyone seen the studio yet? There's hardly any green and its basicly all white but the problem is that Ed & Oucho are complaining that its freezing and Ed's wearing a jacket & hat (maybe gloves & scarf aswell) and Oucho is wearing scarf and hat. People won't wanna see that everyday for the next few week.
Anyone seen the studio yet? There's hardly any green and its basicly all white but the problem is that Ed & Oucho are complaining that its freezing and Ed's wearing a jacket & hat (maybe gloves & scarf aswell) and Oucho is wearing scarf and hat. People won't wanna see that everyday for the next few week.
I'm not sure whether it's for Christmas, or just an afternoon/weekly theme.
The idea today is that Oucho needs a hotter climate so hired some fellow Cacti to fix the air conditioning/heating system, but ended up freezing the studio.
Whether this is just an introduction to Christmas, or as I said maybe it's just a little skit. I think they've gone just a tad overboard with the white in my opinion, and as you said, you can hardly see any green remaining.
Would it be too much money to waste just for a day, and are we to expect that this is the Christmas set?
When Christmas officially starts on CBBC (I presume it will be next Monday) will they then add Christmas decorations to the snowy set such as trees to bring back the colours to the set.
