BBC1 hit dramas 'should stick to Sunday'

- Jason Deans
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday March 14 2001 15.20 GMT

ITV controller of drama Nick Elliott reckons the BBC should have the "courage of their convictions" and schedule proven BBC1 drama hits on Sunday nights.

Mr Elliott was speaking as it emerged today that Clocking Off is to be moved to a midweek slot.

This follows the ratings failure of recent BBC1 9pm Sunday night dramas Take a Girl Like You, Rebel Heart, Love in a Cold Climate and Best of Both Worlds.

BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey has also axed the low rating Ballykissangel, even though the current series is not yet half-way through its Sunday night run.

"What they ought to do is have the courage of their convictions and go ahead with good Sunday night stuff like Clocking Off," said Mr Elliott.

"The pieces they've had at 9pm on Sunday night recently have been very skewed away from the mainstream audience.

"Love in a Cold Climate was so upper class and Take a Girl Like You was not very mainstream. But they seem to have panicked."

Mr Elliott added that another option for Sunday night was to schedule the fourth episode of EastEnders on that evening. "That would give them a better chance on Sundays."

But he said BBC director general Greg Dyke's strategy seemed to be focused on "building weekdays" following the move of the BBC1 late evening bulletin to 10pm.

ITV insiders believe the most likely time for the fourth edition of EastEnders is 8pm on Wednesday night, which is currently BBC1's weakest in ratings terms along with Sunday.

Some at ITV reckon the fourth weekly episode of the flagship BBC1 soap could be introduced as soon as the first week after Easter in mid-April.

BBC1's Sunday night woes can be laid at the door of the formidable ITV duo of Coronation Street and Heartbeat, which go out between 7.30pm and 9pm and regularly pull in audiences of 12-13m and above.

Not only do BBC1 shows such as Ballykissangel struggle against these two shows, but the viewing inheritance they hand over to other ITV shows at 9pm means it is very difficult for later BBC1 programmes to build a big audience.

"ITV's got Coronation Street, a huge rock that pulls audience in early evening," said Carlton controller of drama Jonathan Powell.

"Then ITV builds on it with very good Sunday night family drama. There's nothing wrong with the stuff BBC1 puts out at 9pm, but it's very difficult for them to break in."

Mr Elliott also identified another problem with attempts to improve the ratings for BBC1 drama.

"We're both more and more going for the same female-skewed, mid-market audience at 9pm. We could end up both getting disappointing audience figures," he said.