By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
12 months on
the box have seen the evolution of what we watch continue to change. More HD
services arrived, it was the end for some groundbreaking British dramas of the
last decade and new reality show winners were crowned. So it was another
classic year in television.
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| BBC Television Centre closed its doors for the final time in March |
More
movements were being made to the ever expanding MediaCityUK in Salford.
Coronation Street moved its studios into the department at the end of November
and long-running Channel 4 daytime quiz show Countdown switched from the
Granada Studios at the start of the year. Meanwhile, BBC
Television Centre (pictured) officially closed its doors for the last time as its final programmes moved out. The BBC News was broadcast for the first
time at its new home of Broadcasting House in March. Three months later, the
Queen officially opened the building and appeared behind the screen as a
bulletin was being read out on BBC News 24. Not such a good year for Simon McCoy
though. The newsreader stated the obvious outside the hospital when the Duchess
of Cambridge went into labour: “I’m outside the hospital where there is no
news!” McCoy went on to beat this later in the year when he opened a
bulletin carrying a packet of A4 plain paper (video below), mistaking that for a tablet!
At the
National Television Awards, Corrie beat EastEnders to Best British Soap, whilst
This Morning won Best Daytime Programme and there was a Lifetime Achievement Accolade for Joanna Lumley.
There was a historic first in August for the Channel 4 daytime programme Deal
or No Deal. 18-year-old Paddy Roberts (video below) became the first male winner of the main £250,000
jackpot eight years after the programme first went onto the air.
There was a
new challenger in the sports market as BT Sport burst onto our screens at the
start of August. Ex-BBC Formula One anchor Jake Humphrey was signed up to lead
the coverage and plans for an explosive entrance began with the purchase of
ESPN’s channels in Britain and Ireland in February. BT had already bought the
rights to some first pick live matches from the Barclays Premier League, along
with exclusive rights to the Aviva Premiership, the WTA tennis tour and next
year’s MotoGP from the BBC.
ITV had
another testing year. In January, the corporation rebranded itself from ITV1 to
ITV after 12 years. New idents arrived along with an update of the online
services offered and a change in logo too. The new changes received a mixed
response from viewers but everyone quickly moved on. Their football department though was in deep trouble. By the end of the year, live FA Cup
football had been lost to the BBC for 2014-15 and their live 20-year
association of the UEFA Champions League was coming to an end too, as newcomers
BT paid out for a record deal to snatch the UEFA live rights away from
ITV and BSkyB.
It was a year
where broadcasters and actors had the ordeal of police allegations following the
Jimmy Saville scandal last year. Stuart Hall was jailed after an investigation
into historic allegations. Coronation Street stalwarts Michael Le Vell and
William Roache were subject to police cases amidst allegations of child sex and indecent assault offences. Le Vell was cleared of his case in September, while Roache faces
trial next year. Both of their on-screen characters disappeared when the news
broke but ITV has remained in full support of both actors. Rolf Harris is
another high-profile name who faces trial next year. With the
economic recession starting to ease, money for telethons continued to rise. A
record £75m was made for charity in March for Comic Relief. ITV’s Text Santa
night for six fundraising causes made over £4m and there was another record
total for Children in Need with £31m raised on their special night in November.
In the soaps,
Coronation Street’s iconic Rovers Return pub burned down for only the second
time in its history, killing two characters. Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) returned to EastEnders, while her
on-screen sister Roxy (Rita Simons) was dumped on her wedding day by Alfie Moon
(Shane Ritchie). Alfie and Kat (Jessie Wallace) were therefore reunited. In
Emmerdale, a storm, a pub siege and electrocution in the pub cellar finally brought
an end to serial killer Cameron Murray (Dominic Power).
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| It was another unlucky day for Toadie as his wedding exploded in Neighbours |
One of Hollyoaks’ most evil characters in the show’s history, Claire Cunningham (Gemma Bissix) also
didn’t see out the year as she was run over by dodgy Doctor Browning. That wasn’t
before a homemade bomb which exploded in council houses, killing three other
characters. Bryan Kirkwood's return to the show revived the fortunes of Hollyoaks after a difficult two years for the Chester soap. Lastly the unluckiest groom in soap had another nightmare day. After marrying
Sonya (Eva Morey), Toadfish ‘Jarrod’ Rebecchi (Ryan Maloney) could only watch
on in horror as a gas explosion (pictured) at the reception ruined his big day again in Neighbours.
Doctor Rhys Lawson (Ben Barber) and school principal Priya Kapoor (Menik
Gooneratne) lost their lives in the aftermath which saw the Ramsey Street show
go into a primetime evening slot for the first time.
As ever,
reality TV had its highs and lows. Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle won a
forgettable series of Dancing on Ice. The skating programme will
return for one final series in the New Year featuring stars from the past as
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean decided to retire from the rink once the
2014 edition ends. The X-Factor endured its lowest average ratings for nine years as Sam
Bailey from Leicestershire scooped the top prize and is likely to win the
coveted Christmas number one prize with it. Attraction were the winners of
Britain’s Got Talent. The Hungarian group won a final where the main headline
saw Simon Cowell being egged live on the final show by a member of a backing
group from one of the final acts. Andrea Begley was crowned winner of The Voice
UK as series two went the same way as series one – starting strongly and then
fading once the Blind Auditions were concluded. Westlife singer Kian Egan won a
stormy edition of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, dominated by allegations
of cheating and bending the rules against the model Amy Willerton. Lastly, model and TV personality Abby
Clancy was crowned the winner of the hugely successful series 11 of Strictly
Come Dancing. Averaging 12m viewers per week, she beat BBC Breakfast presenter
Susanna Reid and former Coronation Street actress Natalie Gumede to the
Glitterball trophy.
Kids’
television choices continued to move to digital outputs. CBeebies quickly moved
away from BBC Two in the New Year and would only continue to be shown on their
dedicated station. Meanwhile CITV reached 30. On their anniversary weekend,
classic archive programmes like Fun House and Art Attack were back on their own
channel. The move away from mainstream to digital programming was criticised by
the creator of Teletubbies Anne Wood, who accused the BBC of ‘ghettoising
children’s television.’ In March, BBC Two launched in HD for the first time, as
did More4. BBC also announced plans to launch BBC One+1 at some point next
year.
Channel 4 and
E4 made some changes with the departure of some classic British programming,
all having reached a natural conclusion. At the end of May, Shameless ended
after 11 hilarious series over nine years. Created and produced by Paul Abbott,
the show set on the Chatsworth council estate had won critical acclaim
throughout the years from many sources and won major awards at both the BAFTAs
and British Comedy Awards.
In August after six years, it was the end of the
road for Skins. Replacing the primary cast every two years, the show set in
Bristol continued to remain fresh with new talent coming through with every
generation. It bowed out (three main characters pictured above) with a seventh series in the summer which saw Effy
(Kaya Scodelario), Naomi (Lily Loveless), Emily (Kathryn Prescott), Cassie (Hannah Murray) and Cook (Jack
O’Connell) return as the show took a more adult approach to life after college.
There was financial mismanagement, weird stalkers, a tragic cancer storyline
that left fans of the popular ‘Naomily’ couple heartbroken and the consequences
of drug dealing amidst the final storylines. Both shows
are missed but came to an end at just the right time. Comedy series the IT
Crowd featuring the humorous Richard Ayoade also bowed out in 2013.
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| Emily, Effy and Naomi returned as Skins bowed out in the summer |
It wasn’t
just these shows that drew to a conclusion. In 1998, it started as a new quiz phenomenon
and offered the first £1m prize on British television. After 15 years though,
Chris Tarrant decided to call time on hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The show never fully recovered from the Major Charles Ingram scandal in 2002,
when he cheated his way to the jackpot prize. The show’s last live show
recently went out on the air, with two more pre-recorded shows being shown
early next year. It was the end for detective drama series Lewis. Following
seven successful series, both Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox decided to move
onto other projects, although it might return next year for a one-off special.
Luther, Whitechapel, Misfits, Cash in the Attic and Agatha Christie’s Poirot
were other shows to bow out this year as David Suchet played the Belgian
detective Poirot for the last time.
There will be
a new doctor next year for Doctor Who. Northamptonshire born actor Matt Smith
announced his departure in the spring and he will be replaced by Peter Capaldi,
who becomes the 12th timelord. Doctor Who celebrated its 50th
anniversary in 2013 – with David Tennant and Billie Piper among those former
stars who appeared in the celebration programme in November. 10.2m watched it. Another show celebrating an anniversary this year was This Morning.
Original hosts Judy Finnigan and Richard Madeley returned to the Albert Dock in
Liverpool where the show was first aired to host the 25th
anniversary programme alongside current hosts Holly Willoughby, Phillip
Schofield, Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes. The most watched programme of the
year was a sporting event on July 8. 17.3m viewers tuned in to the end of the
Wimbledon Men’s Singles final which saw Andy Murray defeat Novak Djokovic and
become the first Brit to win the men’s championship at SW19 in 77 years. Murray later went on to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Other shows
that did make a return this year included the ever popular Ant and Dec’s
Saturday Night Takeaway. Last shown four years ago, the Newcastle duo returned
for a successful series which even saw them go to number one in the charts and
announcement that they will take the show live on tour next summer. Catchphrase
returned with Mr Chips but no Roy Walker as Stephen Mulhearn took over as host
and 15-to-1’s successful celebrity special in September to celebrate a 80s
special night on Channel 4 has led to a full series being commissioned next
year. The wild Keith Lemon brought Through the Keyhole back and Paul O'Grady
returned with his teatime show to ITV after a four-year absence.
It is fair to
say that the evolution of television does not stop. New programming will always
arrive and classics must end at some point. The acting pool of talent is in a
healthy and strong place and while it will always have its critics and
loathers, TV will continue to have an impact on many of our lives. More of the
same in 2014 please!
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