UK Edition
Feeds
Paul: "With Ant and Dec's Gameshow Marathon just coming to a close, and I'm A Celebrity coming up very soon, when will there be a new series of Saturday Night Takeaway?"
Neil: There will, early next year.
Michael: "I've heard good reviews on Prison Break. Any news on what channel and when/if it will be shown in the UK?"
Neil: Five from January and UKTV later in 2006 (I wouldn?t be surprised if it lands on UKTV Gold as they seem to put anything on there now). I did crown it the best new show of this season a few weeks ago but I think I?m going to retract that and usurp it with Supernatural, which is really churning out some cracking episodes (but alas, not the ratings to match). A clever buy by ITV.
Claire: "Do you know when the second series of Veronica Mars will be aired on Living TV?"
Neil: Aha, a stopover from last week. Next autumn, in all likelihood. And yes, it sucks.
Frances, Birmingham: "Heya I was just wondering if you could tell me if there will be a Celebrity and Big Brother 7 next year. I think its GREAT!"
Neil: Yes (January) and yes (May). Go on, feign shock.
Robert: "Has The Closer been taken off Channel 4? It does appear to be on the schedules for the next two weeks. Do you know what's up?"
Neil: A number of you appeared puzzled by Channel 4's premature ejection of this show so I donned my cape, renamed myself Veronica and went to investigate. The network apparently felt that that the series was "better suited to a More4 audience", so that's where it will air from early next year.
Anne: "Do you know if the Apprentice-Martha Stewart will be shown in the UK?"
Neil: Probably not. It's bombing in the US - mostly NBC's fault: airing both that and the Trump version simultaneously is very confusing. A shame really, as it's not too bad - instead of telling them "you're fired", she informs them that they "just don't fit in" and instead of ordering them out of the building, she writes them a nice letter wishing them all the best.
Matthew F: "Please help me by telling me what BBC Three was called before it changed names.. it's driving me crazy!"
Neil: Shame on you, Matthew - BBC Choice, it was. Now here's another test of your knowledge: what was BBC Four originally known as?
Lee Beasmore: "Any news on Living to show season 3 of Everwood, I am going mad here!"
Neil: Believe me, I'm going more mad reading all the emails about people going mad. I have a slight update: Living apparently haven't bought the rights yet, so it's not immiment. But I think they will - and when they do, I won't waste any time in sharing the good news.
David O'Hara: "Why is ITV1 billing "Everwood" as "Our New Life In Everwood"?! OK, so you could argue that might work for a pilot's introduction, but not for each individual episode! Shame the UK is so far behind at this stage, though. I'd prefer for heightened international interest to keep the pressure on the WB not to ditch the show, but that won't happen when so many countries are so far behind (though Ireland is almost finished s3)."
Neil: I'm told that the new title "explained the premise of the series more clearly", and I agree. As for ratings, it's averaged about 800,000 viewers this week - just a little bit lower than the slot had the week before. It peaked on Tuesday with 958,000.
Kate: "I was just wondering whether there would be a sequel or one-off episode to Friends. They make me laugh everytime I watch them, I was very upset to see them go!"
Neil: It's going to happen. Probably not any time soon (despite what NBC may want), but it will happen at some point.
Luke: "Is it true that the X factor finale will be on Christmas Eve?"
Neil: A week earlier than that - December 17 - is the gameplan right now.
Elaine: "Will there be a second series for The Friday Night Project?"
Neil: Yes - in January with a new set of presenters including Justin Lee Collins and Alan Carr.
Sarah Cross: "Are the newspaper reports true? Is the Trisha Goddard show being axed??? Pleeease say no!"
Neil: No! I marched straight up to Five (still under the guise of Veronica) and demanded an explanation. "There is absolutely no truth in reports that the Trisha Goddard show on Five is to be axed. She is signed up for an exclusive minimum deal of 2 years. We are fully committed to the Trisha Goddard daytime show as well as Trisha's production company, Town House TV." Meanwhile, Trish makes a leap into primetime with a new 8-part series called Britain's Psychic Challenge from December 4.
More next week - I beg of you, go easy on the Everwood mails...
