TV show out of this Planet
There weren't many watercoolers around in the early 1980s. But if there had been, there would have been no shortage of "watercooler moments", those must-see bits of television that would have everybody talking at work the next day.
Who shot JR? Will Deirdre leave Ken for Mike? Did Meg Mortimer really die in that fire?
In today's multi-channel world, TV programmes have perhaps lost some of their power to grip the nation in the way that Dallas, Coronation Street or Crossroads did in their heyday.
But the latest official viewing figures show that there are still some programmes that have the power to bring the nation together. Well a couple, at least.
With just over a week to go, the latest ratings from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board show that just all of the top 10 places were shared by just two programmes – both of them on BBC1.
This year's viewing figures have so far been totally dominated by David Attenborough's acclaimed nature series Blue Planet II, and Strictly Come Dancing.
While it is not quite the whitewash it was last year, when all but one of the top 10 was taken by the Great British Bake Off, the BBC will no doubt be delighted to have maintained its stranglehold when it comes to gripping our attention.
But while David Attenborough's stunning documentary series about life in our ocean's has been the undisputed TV hit of 2017, it's peak audience would not have have even made the top 100 a couple of decades ago. Admittedly, this figure was skewed by the fact that back in the 1990s the top places were dominated by soap operas which were shown several times a week. But even so, it does mark a continuation of the downward trend in headline viewing figures for our most popular programmes.
Back in 1990, the Australian soap Neighbours managed to attract 21.16 million viewers, and for the three years that followed Coronation Street had no problem breaking the 20 million barrier.
In 1996, the Only Fools and Horses Christmas Special, where wideboy Derek Trotter and his younger brother Rodney finally achieved their dream of becoming millionaires, pulled in 24.35 million viewers. This figure was eclipsed in 2012 by the closing ceremony for the London Olympics, which was watched by 24.46 million, but that was the only time in the past decade when a programme has breached the 20 million mark.
The Great British Bake Off topped the ratings for the past two years, peaking at 16.03 million last year, so 2017's top-rated programme marks a notable year-on-year decline.
How one view's Bake Off's performance depends on whether one sees their measuring jug as half-full or half -empty. While a peak viewing figure of 9.54 million represents a marked fall from last year, it comes on the back of a controversial switch from BBC to Channel 4, and the loss of three of its four main stars. Channel 4 will probably be reasonably pleased with its performance, achieving the station's best ratings since the 2012 paralympics, and not far off the figures for Big Brother during its heyday.
Far less happy will be bosses at ITV, which failed to get anywhere near the figures for either Blue Planet II or Strictly Come Dancing. Its biggest success was I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, which peaked at 8.85 million, followed by Britain's Got Talent at 8.66 million and crime drama Broadchurch on 8.44 million.
Coronation Street, once a surefire ratings topper for ITV, has hovered around 6-7 million viewers throughout the year, down from nearly 20 million in 2003. While Britain's Got Talent has continued to perform well, the public seems to be falling out of love with Simon Cowell's other Saturday night show, X Factor, which has haemorrhaged viewers since it topped the charts with 16.55 million in 2010. The long-running singing contest posted a respectable 5.66 million viewers in September, but the numbers dwindled to an average of 4.3 million, sparking questions about its future.
To put this into context, the BBC executives knew the writing was on the wall for Eldorado – the infamous 1992 soap opera derided as one of the greatest flops of all time – when viewing figures fell to 4.4 million. Mr Cowell will know his show will need to do better to survive.
