Is prime-time ITV drama "crap"? Jimmy McGovern says it is and he should know: he is writing one at the moment (a return of the fabulous Cracker which has helped ITV brush aside his comments as a bit of publicity-seeking for his new BBC1 drama The Street), writes Ben Dowell. So was he just playing to the galleries or does he have a point about ITV's current output?
What about Heartbeat, or the nation's favourite cop show The Bill , or the hugely successful drama about Wild at Heart in which Stephen Tompkinson and Amanda Holden prove to be quite an engaging pairing as they right veterinary wrongs in Africa?
Do you like Miss Marple, which has the cozzies, some pretty slick dialogue and a cast to die for (and stil gets about 8 million viewers)? Or is it still crap despite all this?
And what about those which haven't performed well such as the Patrick Stewart scientific thriller Eleventh Hour which recently finished its run with a woeful 4 million viewers between 9pm and 10.30pm? By all accounts, ITV executives were pretty confident that they had a ratings winner in the bag with this one, cynically hoping to attract Stewart's big-name status as well as the Biactol-fuelled ardour of his legions of Star Trek fans. Anything wrong with that drama or any other examples you care to mention?
The BBC was very happy with McGovern's comments. But can a broadcaster which this Sunday will broadcast Mayo at 8pm (Alistair McGowan playing yet another detective) really have the right to laugh along with McGovern and crow about it's own output? Rome? Bleak House? Hotel Babylon? Holby City? Crap?
