UK TV Discussion (ratings, news, TV shows)

[stevyy]

I've just finished the series finale of my #1 show, Lucifer. OMG. I was bawling my eyes out. The show saved me. It was so good. Tom Ellis (and the entire cast) saved me.

I really have to revise my alltime TV shows list now:

01. Melrose Place
02. The Good Wife
03. Six Feet Under
04. LOST
05. Handmaid's Tale
06. Dexter
07. This Is Us
08. Dawson's Creek
09. Grey's Anatomy
10. The Walking Dead
11. Brothers & Sisters
12. Suits
13. LUCIFER
14. Gilmore Girls
15. Desperate Housewives
16. Breaking Bad
17. Game of Thrones
18. Nip / Tuck
19. True Blood
20. The Good Fight
21. Sex and The City
22. Deutschland 83, 86, 89
23. Friends
24. Mad Men
25. Charmed
26. Medium
27. Grimm
28. Will & Grace
29. How to get away with Murder
30. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
31. Chicago Med
32. Sleepy Hollow
33. Revenge
34. The Leftovers
35. Stranger Things
36. New Amsterdam
37. Big Little Lies
38. The Flash
39. Orange is the New Black
40. Daredevil
41. Scandal
42. Good Girls
43. Modern Family
44. Veronica Mars
45. Futureman
46. Ozark
47. How I Met Your Mother
48. Parenthood
48. The Umbrella Academy
49. Superstore
50. YOU
51. Riverdale
52. The Man in The High Castle
53. Dead to Me
54. Grace & Frankie
55. Elite
56. Money Heist
57. The Fosters
58. Preacher
59. Bull
60. American Horror Story

+ many many many more that I am now forgetting. Shows like The Big C (which shaped me) or Devious Maids, Private Practice, House, Once Upon a Time, Supergirl, Heroes, Glee...

[Spartan]

I've just finished the series finale of my #1 show, Lucifer. OMG. I was bawling my eyes out. The show saved me. It was so good. Tom Ellis (and the entire cast) saved me.

I really have to revise my alltime TV shows list now:

01. Melrose Place
02. The Good Wife
03. Six Feet Under
04. LOST
05. Handmaid's Tale
06. Dexter
07. This Is Us
08. Dawson's Creek
09. Grey's Anatomy
10. The Walking Dead
11. Brothers & Sisters
12. Suits
13. LUCIFER
14. Gilmore Girls
15. Desperate Housewives
16. Breaking Bad
17. Game of Thrones
18. Nip / Tuck
19. True Blood
20. The Good Fight
21. Sex and The City
22. Deutschland 83, 86, 89
23. Friends
24. Mad Men
25. Charmed
26. Medium
27. Grimm
28. Will & Grace
29. How to get away with Murder
30. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
31. Chicago Med
32. Sleepy Hollow
33. Revenge
34. The Leftovers
35. Stranger Things
36. New Amsterdam
37. Big Little Lies
38. The Flash
39. Orange is the New Black
40. Daredevil
41. Scandal
42. Good Girls
43. Modern Family
44. Veronica Mars
45. Futureman
46. Ozark
47. How I Met Your Mother
48. Parenthood
48. The Umbrella Academy
49. Superstore
50. YOU
51. Riverdale
52. The Man in The High Castle
53. Dead to Me
54. Grace & Frankie
55. Elite
56. Money Heist
57. The Fosters
58. Preacher
59. Bull
60. American Horror Story

+ many many many more that I am now forgetting. Shows like The Big C (which shaped me) or Devious Maids, Private Practice, House, Once Upon a Time, Supergirl, Heroes, Glee...

I thought you said it was your #1 but you ranked it 13th. Some great shows on your list though - New Amsterdam is so underrated yet amazing.

[Thriller]

Gutted, AJ has had to withdraw from the Strictly final due to an ankle injury!

[SholasBoy]

Oh no I was so looking forward to seeing her Charleston again!

[Wayne]

What a night, absolutely perfect. I’ve had tears all night, the show has been utterly sensational.

I truly thought they were evenly matched until the final routine, and John and Johannes then just edged it for me with an outstanding routine.

[Thriller]

Definitely the most emotional final amongst those in the room, probably enhanced by the fact the two competing finalists were from minority groups and AJ couldn’t dance.

[Wayne]

The Queen reigns atop the television ratings again, as she does almost every Christmas Day.

Shocking ratings for the soaps - utterly dismal. I know television viewing habits are forever changed and that consolidated ratings will probably double these numbers but I just find the prospect of Eastenders doing less than 3m viewers on Christmas Day to be absolutely shocking.

Scheduling this year also felt worse than ever - I remarked a number of times how poor the viewing choices were but I’m not surprised…as a programme director, why would you put more than minimum effort into things to get 3-4m viewers?

Christmas Day TV: Nine million tune in for Queen's message

The Queen's Christmas message, in which she spoke movingly about her late husband and empathised with families missing loved ones, was the most-watched TV show on Christmas Day.

An audience of 8.96 million saw the festive address on BBC One, ITV and Sky News, according to overnight ratings.

The BBC's Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special and Call the Midwife were the next two most popular shows.

In the battle of the soaps, ITV's Coronation Street came out on top.

In her first annual Christmas message since the death of Prince Philip, the Queen, 95, described him as her beloved.

"Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones - this year especially I understand why," she said in the pre-recorded 10-minute address broadcast at 15:00 GMT.

Her message last year, which centred on hope amid the pandemic, also topped the ratings, but drew slightly fewer viewers, with 8.14 million tuning in.

By early evening, nearly six million were following six celebrities as they competed for the crown in Strictly's Christmas Special.

This year's champion, pop star Anne-Marie, cha cha cha-ed her way to a perfect score of 40 from the judges, beating former Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc whose dance to Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby was also a big hit.

Other BBC Christmas Day favourites followed in the ratings list, including Michael McIntyre's Christmas Wheel, Blankety Blank, Mary Poppins Returns starring Emily Blunt, and Superworm, an adaptation of Julia Donaldson's popular children's book.

Coronation Street was in eighth place - ITV's top-rated programme of the day - drawing 3.25 million viewers, followed closely by soap rivals ITV's Emmerdale (3 million) and BBC's EastEnders (2.92 million), according to ratings body Barb.

This year, ITV put its Christmas Day shows on its on-demand player in the morning. People watching in that way are not reflected in the overnight figures, but will be included in the consolidated figures, which come out in just over a week's time.

Christmas Day 2021's Top 10 TV hits

1. The Queen - 8.96m (7.4m on BBC One, 1.49m on ITV, 0.07m on Sky News)

2. Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One) - 5.78m

3. Call The Midwife (BBC One) - 4.72m

4. Michael McIntyre's Christmas Wheel (BBC One) - 4.64m

5. Blankety Blank (BBC One) - 4.24m

6. Mary Poppins Returns (BBC One) - 3.66m

7. Superworm (BBC One) - 3.34m

8. Coronation Street (ITV) - 3.25m

9. Emmerdale (ITV) - 3m

10. EastEnders (BBC One) - 2.92m

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59794242

[Spartan]

WTF was Superworm? Sounds awful.

[Thombus]

Christmas TV this year was dire.

[Graham76man]

Christmas TV this year was dire.

New year wasn't any better. Even the New Year concert was spoiled by the commentator going on about the COVID precautions! Can't understand why the audience wasn't allowed to stand during because of it? It doesn't make the slightest difference if you stand or sit to catching it!

[Thriller]

Did anyone watch the first episode of Anne? So tragic and sad all these years later.

The scene where they had to identify him off a wall of Polaroids was harrowing.

[Graham76man]

Did anyone watch the first episode of Anne? So tragic and sad all these years later.

The scene where they had to identify him off a wall of Polaroids was harrowing.

Yes I saw it. Brought tears to the old eyes
Never heard of that court before where they had the inquest - and I live in Sheffield

Anne died in 2013 of cancer, watching the actress play her you can see why, but that kind of stress would reduce the immune system down no end, so if it wasn't cancer it would have been something else. And boy did she have some stress. I thought the reporter coming in with flowers and stealing her sons picture was awful.
People go on about conspiracy theorists these days, but when you look at the 1989 disaster and that we now know that it was covered up and the police did lie and cover things up, you wonder if you can trust anyone in authority about anything. Yes there are some daft ideas like fake moon landings, but you sometimes think these were invented to hide something real.

[SholasBoy]

Did anyone watch the first episode of Anne? So tragic and sad all these years later.

The scene where they had to identify him off a wall of Polaroids was harrowing.

Yep. It seems ITV have put the full thing on ITV Player. I found it very difficult to watch, especially the scene you mentioned.

[Thriller]

Final episode was a tear-jerker, such an amazing performance by Maxine Peake.

[Thriller]

Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win… a bit drawn out at times and one too many rules to follow but I didn’t mind it, some decent tension in parts.

[Spartan]

I feel like I’m the only person in the UK who doesn’t enjoy watching Ant and Dec.

[SholasBoy]

I feel like I’m the only person in the UK who doesn’t enjoy watching Ant and Dec.

I used to really dislike them but they’ve grown on me slightly in the last couple of years.


after feeling the incompetence of the police after “Anne”, I watched all three episodes of “Four Lives” this evening and wow, absolutely infuriating, I can’t believe how the police actually got away with such poor work. The families were asking the police the questions that they hadn’t even bothered to ask themselves. Excellent drama though with a strong cast!

[Thriller]

I’ve got one episode left of Four Lives, the sheer incompetence and general “meh” attitude of the police because these were gay men was astounding! Not even that many years ago either! When the useless FLO was saying to the victim’s partner “were you in an open relationship then? You know what G is don’t you, all gays do”. Thank god for Anthony’s mum really.

I recently binged another show that was really good, Screw on Channel 4, six part series similar in tone to Shameless about prison officers.

[hun]

I’ve got one episode left of Four Lives, the sheer incompetence and general “meh” attitude of the police because these were gay men was astounding! Not even that many years ago either! When the useless FLO was saying to the victim’s partner “were you in an open relationship then? You know what G is don’t you, all gays do”. Thank god for Anthony’s mum really.

I recently binged another show that was really good, Screw on Channel 4, six part series similar in tone to Shameless about prison officers.

Yes, I've seen documentaries on this case and it's just disgraceful how the police handled this.

I'll watch the series, but I'm not a fan of Sheridan Smith at all, and it looks like she's just playing the same character from 'The Moorside'.

[Thriller]

She can be a bit one note in this sort of role.

[hun]

She was outshone by the actress who played Jack’s? (The fourth victim) sister

[Wayne]

I also watched Four Lives and it left me feeling very frustrated - the unnecessary loss of live is just shameful and tragic. The way the police handled the investigations is shocking and I'm not convinced that were the circumstances the same or similar today, that the same situation wouldn't happen.

[SholasBoy]

Anyone who says anything against Queen Sheridan should have an instant ban tbh

[hun]

Anyone who says anything against Queen Sheridan should have an instant ban tbh

There’s only one Queen Sh and it’s Queen Shama

[Thriller]

I watched The Tourist in full and thought it started great but the ending was a bit of a damp squib.