Watchdog

This is the problem with putting share buttons on social media - nobody bothers to research anything. The "put your PIN in backwards to summon the police at an ATM" thing can be defused as junk in two seconds for example, though if you research into it it was a genuine proposal in America that died on its arse.

So yes, while Watchdog may not have the "bite" it once had, it's still a useful piece of television for the most part.

Maybe Watchdog could go back to its roots as as strand in an extended One Show (it started as a feature on Nationwide). Spin Rogue Traders off as a show in its own right as it was originally.

The merging of Rogue into Watchdog was a big mistake. It's not the same condensed into separate VT's in the Watchdog running order as they squeeze all the content into those 6-7 min segments.

It's arguable this isn't just about Watchdog but about pre-watershed primetime on BBC1 as a whole - outside of The One Show, EastEnders and Holby they don't really know what to do with it and it's more about filling hours than delivering content.

Even Holby has had a drop in viewers recently. They've been getting basic medical issues wrong. Casualty and Holby despite being too soapy used to pride themselves on getting the medical terminology and associated skills correct.

Incidentally Holby and Casualty now have one Executive Producer for both shows, Simon Harper who will divide his time between Elstree and Cardiff.

That's ridiculous. They should only share an EP if they're filmed in the same place. The commute will cost him valuable hours that could be spent on research.

Why would an Exec be spending time on research?

They are there to make high level decisions on the direction the drama is going, and also sign off storylines, handle high level casting and staffing decisions etc. They may also approve episodes before they are picture locked etc. They will also need to be across budgets.

A lot of this can be done remotely, though I suspect it would be entirely feasible to be based in London or Wales (or mid-way between the two - lots of BBC Execs seem to live in Oxfordshire...) and commute to either location.

Unless you actually live in Cardiff or Elstree - there will be travel time either way let's face it...

It's entirely possible for an Exec to look after series in multiple locations - particularly two weekly programmes. It's probably more cost effective than having an Exec per show... Doesn't strike me as ridiculous at all, particularly as the two shows are supposed to be linked.

It makes sense for this move, as the shows were always meant to be in the same world, so their needs to be a link at the highest level. The link between the two shows have largely lost in recent years, probably since the days of trying to get Holby Blue off the ground, I remember even in those days even though the programme was based in Elstree they'd film bits in Bristol to keep the continuity across all shows.

Although I'd be wrong to do it now and I'm all for a daily show set in Birmingham. It seemed like a miss opportunity for Doctors to not be part of the 'Holby World'.

Holby and Casualty have shared an Executive Producer for years prior to Simon Harper - Oliver Kent. It's not a new thing. And Kent only ever linked the two shows sporadically. I imagine the will to bring the two shows more closely together just isn't there at the BBC - otherwise they would have moved Holby to Cardiff when Casualty completed its move there from Bristol several years ago. The fact they were also willing to give Holby to an independent production team also suggests that there's a real disconnect between the two.

It's two different shows, but there should be a link at the top level to insure crossover between the shows and a major story line in one can't be ignored in the other. The next time a department burns down in one it shouldn't be ignored in the other.

One being made in-house and one being made by an independent should have no real impact on joint storylines. I would imagine that kind of thing bounces up to commissioner level on occasion.

The fact that Holby was offered to the independent sector was down to the fact that all BBC in house shows are going to be offered to the independent sector as part of their new charter and BBC could in theory then make shows for other broadcasters. The first 3 shows offered was A Question of Sport, Songs of Praise and Holby and Songs of Praise is going to be made by an independent in the future and the BBC retained the rights to make the other 2.

As for the disconnect it is 2 different shows and logistically the fact they are filmed in separate cities make crossovers less likely but they do crossover when required such as for the anniversary when the helicopter crashed in Casualty it continued in Holby and when Lee Mead character returned in Holby they mentioned his time in Casualty and they also had a crossover for that.