Daytime in the spotlight

Posted: 20-03-08

Paul O’Grady is back this week, Come Dine With Me is going prime-time and Richard & Judy take a break before their swan song this summer. With so much excitement, there’s never a better time to welcome a guest blog from the Head of Daytime at the Channel 4, Helen Warner.
Let her know your opinion on C4’s daytime programmes and most importantly what you’d like to see fill the massive shoes of Richard & Judy show; or join the debate in The TV Show forum.

Our Daytime department is going through a really busy time right now. We have just commissioned 72 new episodes of our hit show Come Dine With Me, the first 22 of which will play at 8.00pm on Thursday nights from 10th April.

Regular fans of the daytime dinner-party competition will absolutely love the hour-long peak-time version, which features all four dinner parties in one show. I really hope you enjoy it because I think it’s one of the best series ever! Not that I’m biased of course. But where else would you get food fights, backstabbing, sexual tension, drunkenness, great cooking, terrible cooking and even throwing up – and that’s just one episode.

This week we also welcomed Paul O’Grady back onto our screens in the tough 5 o’clock slot. I was so delighted to see him beat The Weakest Link, Goldenballs and Neighbours in the ratings – glad to see you viewers know real class when you see it! Paul and his team are a joy to work with – I don’t know how they manage to make such ambitious, entertaining shows day in, day out, but I’m constantly in awe of their sheer brilliance.

Paul is feeling relaxed after his break (in a caravan in Rhyl, so he says) – but his good mood won’t last, thank God. Paul’s legendary rants and rages against everything from parking meters to the taxman are what make him so unique. He is genuinely one of the funniest and kindest men I’ve ever met, both on and off-screen. Years ago, when I was a producer on This Morning in Liverpool, Paul’s stints as Lily Savage were so hotly fought over by us producers that (allegedly) blows were exchanged on occasion.

And talking of This Morning, which of course was then presented by Richard & Judy, this August we will sadly be waving goodbye to the king and queen of daytime, after 7 very successful years with Channel 4. They have decided that the time is right to move on to new challenges and we will certainly miss them very much.

Obviously, Richard and Judy’s departure leaves a big gap in our schedule and we’re currently thinking about how we might replace them. Who or what would you like to see in its place? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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