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The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Lorraine is talk of the Steamie so I spent a week watching daytime TV
A presenter bagging another gig is nothing new, but the queen of daytime leaving ITV? This was ravens exiting the tower stuff. It could only have caused more of a stir had Lorraine agreed to a direct swap with Channel 4 News' Krishnan Guru-Murthy (well, he did do Strictly …). Lorraine made no comment, ditto Channel 4. I suspect it won't be the last time she is matched to a new job between now and ITV shedding 220 staff - half its morning workforce. Under the new set-up, announced this month, Lorraine and Loose Women will run 30 weeks a year instead of 52, with Good Morning Britain, to be produced by ITN, extending to fill the gaps. Speaking on The Rest is Entertainment podcast Richard Osman called the changes a watershed moment for British television. The producer, author and presenter said it was 'another symbol of what's happening to our television and the terrestrial broadcasters having to cut their cloth according to the advertising revenues they're getting. We are at the stage now where we are cutting off healthy limbs in British television, which is a terrifying place to be.' Ross Kemp presents the quiz Bridge of Lies (Image: BBC) Daytime is no stranger to upheaval, with the first 'big bang' the shift of children's programmes from radio to television. It has been evolution with occasional revolution ever since. Now, after decades of having the field to themselves, the big four, BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4, are competing for viewers with hundreds of new channels and streaming services. And they are doing so with less ad revenue or licence fee cash. As the schedules have changed, so has the audience. Besides the over 55s, who still make up the majority of viewers, there are shift workers and people working from home, students, parents with young children, or anyone out and about with time to fill. Where there's a screen there's a potential daytime viewer. And if that viewer wants to watch daytime shows at nighttime instead, catch-up services will oblige. The audience numbers might be down for daytime but they remain impressive. 'Very little on British TV these days gets a million, even in the evening,' said Osman. 'BBC Breakfast gets over a million, we then dip under a million for Homes Under the Hammer, then rise to over a million for Bargain Hunt. The news gets one million then you dip down again till Pointless starts then you're back over a million. On BBC2/Channel 4 nothing's getting a million.' ITV, meanwhile, can pull in 600,000-700,000 viewers consistently up to the lunchtime news. Daytime television still matters - not least to its loyal audiences - but there are questions to be asked. Are viewers happy with a diet of repeats, reheats, endless quizzes and manufactured outrage? What does daytime television say about us as a country? And for the love of God, will anyone ever buy a place in the sun, or are they just time-wasters? To find out more I spent a week watching daytime television, something I haven't done since bouts of childhood tonsillitis. A lot had changed. For a start, no one brought me ice cream and jelly on demand. But I stuck with the mission to see what was out there, what works, what doesn't, and offer recommendations to readers of The Herald along the way. Hold my housecoat, I'm going in. Location, chateau, auction Daytime's obsession with property starts with buying wrecks at auction and ends with second homes in the sun. BBC1's Homes Under the Hammer was the gold standard but it now has competition from Channel 4's Bafta-winning The Great House Giveaway. Simon O'Brien (our Damon from Brookside) matches two strangers struggling to get on the property ladder and gives them a house he's bought at auction. They have six months to do the place up, keeping the profits. Maggie Hambling interviewed on Sky Arts (Image: Sky) The Never-ending Antiques Roadshow And what do we do with all those houses we acquire in reality or our imagination? We fill them with treasures/tat from the likes of Bargain Hunt. BH has been going for 25 years and notched up 71 series, making it a daytime legend that shows no signs of flagging. It's the chorus line kick at the end that makes all the difference. They don't do that on snooty old Antiques Roadshow. Who Doesn't Want to be a Millionaire? If Rachel Reeves wants to know why the UK economy is in the doldrums, she need only look at the number of people taking part in daytime quiz shows. Where do they all come from, these Countdowners, Lingo players, Impossible and Unbeatable contestants, and crossers of the Bridge of Lies? They can't all be shift workers and students. Quizzes are the sliced white bread of daytime, a staple that's cheap to make in batches and will keep for a long time. What separates the best from the rest is the host, with Anne Robinson's disastrous stint on Countdown the best example of what happens when you get the pick wrong. Mind How You Go The world is full of wrong 'uns keen to part us from our hard earned, or it is if you watch daytime. BBC1 has the market cornered with the 1-2-3 of Rip Off Britain, Fraud Squad and Crimewatch Caught. If those don't alarm you enough, stick around till evening to catch ex-daytime hit turned primetime hit Scam Interceptors, made at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. Lorraine She's been around a long time, and has a Bafta lifetime achievement award to show for it, but still no one can match her ability to blend serious with fluffy. When accepting her Bafta award from Brian Cox, Kelly made a point of saying there should be more working-class people in television. It can't hurt. Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders (Image: BBC) Politics Live Daytime television has played a big hand in making politics exciting again (that, and the general chaos of the past few years). The visits to the Commons for Prime Minister's Questions, plus extras such as First Minister's Questions at Holyrood and the party conferences, offer lively, informed coverage. MPs and MSPs like the programmes because it gets them on the telly, plus it gives the media at Millbank something to do. Public service broadcasting at its best (and cheap too). The Way we Were You can watch an old favourite online at any time, but nothing beats seeing it on television again. Talking Pictures TV should be your first call for classic films and dramas such as Bonanza and The Beverly Hillbillies, while for more recent fare have a wander through the various U& channels - U&Drama/ U&Dave/ U&Yesterday. Sky Arts Sky Arts starts at 6am and offers first rate programmes through to the next day. Best of all, it's free to view. This week, for example, you can see films about the Guggenheim in Bilbao, The Yardbirds, performances from the Grand Ole Opry, plus historian Kate Bryan playing tour guide at Tate Brtain. All that and a daily double bill of Tales of the Unexpected. Cue the music … DIY Not the hammer and nails stuff, but putting together your own daytime schedule. Maybe you can't bear another Loose Women or afternoon of quizzes. Why not choose a box set and watch an episode a day instead? On BBC iPlayer it's easiest to see what's there if you search under categories, eg drama and soaps. There are two series of the brilliant Northern Ireland police procedural Northern Lights, plus City drama Industry, Life on Mars, and Peaky Blinders - and all free (with a licence fee). On STV Player you can watch the first run of Karen Pirie and catch the new series. Also showing are the dramas Unforgotten and Joan, plus comedies including Parks and Recreation. Channel 4's streaming service is free and includes The West Wing, The Americans, and Hill Street Blues. The White Lotus, a travel show like no other (Image: Sky/Now) The Creme de la Creme The best of the streaming services. Subscriptions are expensive but look out for special offer trial periods, or 'with ads' options. Now is good value for all things Sky, including The White Lotus and The Wire. I'm currently flipping between Veep and Succession. Apple TV+ has Dennis Lehane's Smoke plus Emmy nominees Severance, The Studio and Slow Horses. On Disney+ I can highly recommend the end of the world as we know it drama Paradise. On Netflix, the word is spreading about Pernille, a Norwegian family drama about a single mother and social worker trying to keep all life's plates spinning (sounds awful but it's lovely), and Prime Video has the peerless Bosch. Losing friends and influencing family in Succession (Image: Sky/Now) If you have television recommendations to share, please email me at or leave a comment.
The Herald Scotland
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Quiz king Ken Bruce v upstart Jeremy Vine? There's no contest
*** What is going on in TV quiz land? Tradition had it that celebrities only popped up to do a turn at Christmas. Now they are everywhere, all the time, elbowing the civilians out. At the weekend, we had 'Eurovision icon' and former Bucks Fizzer Cheryl Baker coming a cropper on Bridge of Lies, while on The Chase, John Conteh gave Noel Edmonds a run for his money in the 'I can't believe he's seventy-something' stakes. At least Conteh and Baker could console themselves that they were putting themselves through the general knowledge mill for charidee. Richard Osman's House of Games gives its celebrity winners a trophy and a choice of ironic prizes, including a wheelie case and a fondue set. Now another disruptor, 5's Celebrity Puzzling, is doing away with prizes altogether. There is presumably a fee in it for those taking part, but otherwise, what do they gain? A place to rest their weary bones as they go up, or come down, the snakes and ladders of celebrity, perhaps. Jeremy Vine, the host of Celebrity Puzzling, knows that game well, having once presented Eggheads. There was more quiz royalty with Carol Vorderman as a team leader. She was up against writer/producer/actor and 5 regular, Sally Lindsay. Read more It will be Vorderman and Lindsay's job to lead different 'celebrities' into battle each day, and yes, I'm afraid the quote marks are necessary in some cases. On Monday, TV presenter Ore Oduba and choir master Gareth Malone reported for duty. The rota for the rest of the week includes an ex-Goggleboxer, a couple of comedians I'd never heard of, and an Olympic gold medallist. All those election nights hopping around a brightly coloured set paid off for Vine as he threw himself into hosting what he called 'the most relentless puzzling ever televised' - whatever that meant. That was like saying Strictly had the most relentless dancing ever televised, or Bake Off the most relentless icing. Another boast was that no two contests were ever the same, except the last round, Memory Bank, which is the same every day. The games were a couple of notches up from Bridge of Lies, but nowhere near as ridiculously complex as David Tennant's Genius Game. Vine took no one to task for getting an answer wrong because it's not that sort of show, and he's not that kind of host. That style went out the window after the disastrous (and short-lived) reign of Anne Robinson on Countdown. Just as crime turned cosy, so quiz shows became nicer, sillier, and just for fun. Vine made sure the audience at home felt included by setting easy-peasy questions during the frequent ad breaks. The schedulers did their job by not putting Celebrity Puzzling head to head with the daddy of genial quiz shows, PopMaster TV with Ken Bruce. It started on More4 at 8pm, right after Celebrity Puzzling ended. What a pity The Bruce and Vine can't hand over the controls, one to the other, the way they used to in their Radio 2 days …
Scottish Sun
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Paddy McGuinness reveals his ‘crush' on married TV star just hours after ex Christine's bond with Dan Osborne emerged
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) PADDY McGuinness admitted he's got a secret telly crush during an appearance on Celebrity Gogglebox. The former Take Me Out star paired up with Vernon Kay for the popular TV series, which kicked off with them watching Ross Kemp game show, Bridge of Lies. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 6 Paddy and Vernon spent a night watching the telly for Celebrity Gogglebox Credit: Rachel Joseph/Channel 4 6 Paddy split from wife Christine in 2022 Credit: Getty 6 The star admitted he had a crush on Rachel Riley 6 Paddy changed his mind when he realised Rachel was a Man U fan Tackling the celebrity version of the quick-thinking game was Countdown star Rachel Riley, which Paddy admitted was a favourite of his. 'There's something about Rachel Riley,' he told Vernon. 'I don't know what it is. 'You know when you have, like, a celebrity crush that you're not supposed to have?' However, Vernon was on hand to bring him back down to Earth, telling Paddy that Rachel was a 'United fan'. A horrified Paddy then changed his mind and declared: 'Oh I've gone right off her!' Unfortunately for Paddy, who is currently single after splitting from wife Christine McGuinness in 2022, Rachel is a taken woman, marrying Strictly Come Dancing pro Pasha Kovalev in 2019. The pair have been together since 2014, shortly after meeting on the BBC dancing show and Rachel split from her husband. His confession came just hours after The Sun exclusively reported that Christine sought solace from Jacqueline Jossa's partner, Dan Osborne, following their split. The pair comforted each other with their respective marriage woes and sent flirty texts. Model Christine said Dan had joined her for raucous nights out that helped lift her spirits after her split from radio and TV host husband Paddy. How Christine McGuinness & Dan Osborne 'comforted each other' amid marriage breakdowns, had hotel meet & flirty nickname A pal told The Sun: 'Dan and Christine have known each other for years. 'Their friendship goes as far back as 2019, when Jac was heading Down Under to the I'm A Celeb jungle, when they had a brilliant night out at a fund-raising gala in London. 'They stayed in touch sporadically and would bump into each other at events and their messages got pretty flirty. 'Some were seen by mutual friends. 'She would call him 'D' in texts and it became an open secret among their circles. 'There is no suggestion anything sexual happened, but it's fair to say there was a spark between them.' Former Towie star Da is adamant nothing happened romantically between the pair, even suggesting that the text messages between them were 'deep fakes or AI' when asked A pal said: 'Dan is devoted to Jacqueline and would hate for any suggestion of impropriety. 'Of course, it's possible for a man and woman to be mates.'Despite this, Dan has reportedly sent grovelling messages to Jacqueline – with whom he's trying to repair his marriage to – after the news broke. 6 Dan, who is married to Jacqueline Jossa, has denied anything happened between him and Christine Credit: Getty
The Irish Sun
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Paddy McGuinness reveals his ‘crush' on married TV star just hours after ex Christine's bond with Dan Osborne emerged
PADDY McGuinness admitted he's got a secret telly crush during an appearance on Celebrity Gogglebox. The former Take Me Out star paired up with Vernon Kay for the popular TV series, which kicked off with them watching Ross Kemp game show, Bridge of Lies. Advertisement 6 Paddy and Vernon spent a night watching the telly for Celebrity Gogglebox Credit: Rachel Joseph/Channel 4 6 Paddy split from wife Christine in 2022 Credit: Getty 6 The star admitted he had a crush on Rachel Riley 6 Paddy changed his mind when he realised Rachel was a Man U fan Tackling the celebrity version of the quick-thinking game was Countdown star Rachel Riley, which Paddy admitted was a favourite of his. 'There's something about Rachel Riley,' he told Vernon. 'I don't know what it is. 'You know when you have, like, a celebrity crush that you're not supposed to have?' However, Vernon was on hand to bring him back down to Earth, telling Paddy that Rachel was a 'United fan'. Advertisement READ MORE PADDY MCGUINNESS A horrified Paddy then changed his mind and declared: 'Oh I've gone right off her!' Unfortunately for Paddy, who is currently single after splitting from wife The pair have been together since 2014, shortly after meeting on the BBC dancing show and Rachel split from her husband. His confession came just hours after The Sun exclusively reported that Advertisement Most read in TV The pair comforted each other with their respective marriage woes and sent flirty texts. Model Christine said How Christine McGuinness & Dan Osborne 'comforted each other' amid marriage breakdowns, had hotel meet & flirty nickname A pal told The Sun: 'Dan and Christine have known each other for years. 'Their friendship goes as far back as 2019, when Jac was heading Down Under to the I'm A Celeb jungle, when they had a brilliant night out at a fund-raising gala in London. Advertisement 'They stayed in touch sporadically and would bump into each other at events and their messages got pretty flirty. 'Some were seen by mutual friends. 'She would call him 'D' in texts and it became an open secret among their circles. 'There is no suggestion anything sexual happened, but it's fair to say there was a spark between them.' Advertisement Former Towie star Da is adamant nothing happened romantically between the pair, even suggesting that the text messages between them were 'deep fakes or AI' when asked A pal said: 'Dan is devoted to Jacqueline and would hate for any suggestion of impropriety. 'Of course, it's possible for a man and woman to be mates.'Despite this, Dan has reportedly sent 6 Dan, who is married to Jacqueline Jossa, has denied anything happened between him and Christine Credit: Getty Advertisement 6 Paddy and Christine co-parent their three children, and still live together Credit: Getty
The Courier
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Fife neighbours scoop cash jackpot on BBC quiz show Bridge of Lies
A team of neighbours from a Fife town has won the cash jackpot on the hit BBC quiz show Bridge of Lies. The team of four from Coaltown of Wemyss, scooped the £4,575 prize money in a nail-biting finale on Wednesday. The contestants included former Courier reporter Craig Smith and his wife, Lyndsey, along with neighbours, Nicola Forrest and Kenny Rodger. Contestants compete against the clock using their general knowledge, strategic skills, and often luck, to spot correct answers as well as lies in order to cross the bridge. The prize money mounts up depending on the number of players who successfully make it across. The contestants then team up to take on the 'final crossing' challenge. If they successfully make it across by answering a series of questions correctly, they win the prize money accumulated during the show. The quiz is hosted by actor Ross Kemp, famous for his role as Grant Mitchell in Eastenders. Tackling questions on subjects including holidays, theatre, names and the Stephen Spielberg films, all four made it across the bridge. This allowed them to go for the £4,575 prize pot working as a team to navigate across the bridge. With two of the team already out before completing the task, it was Lyndsey's turn to face the final question. And it was an agonising few seconds before host, Kemp, revealed that she was correct and they had scooped the prize money. The four hugged and cheered as they were congratulated by Kemp before revealing they would use the money on a group holiday ot Turkey. Speaking after the show was broadcast, Craig said he'd always wanted to be a contestant on a TV quiz show. He said: 'I applied initially one night, probably after a bottle of wine, thinking it wouldn't go anywhere but they gave us a call back and it went from there really. 'I've always liked the show as it's usually on around teatime in the background, and you end up just shouting at the screen. 'So I thought 'why not give it a go?' The 43-year-old former Courier reporter said he couldn't believe it when he found out his application had been successful. He added: 'It was filmed last September, so it's been around nine months to wait for it to come on. 'We had a brilliant time at the studios in Glasgow, and Ross Kemp is a really nice guy as well. 'We were last on the day to film, so it went on until about 8pm. 'None of us could watch it go out live, so we all gathered together to watch it on iPlayer with a wee glass of fizz to celebrate.' Craig said that the money had been put towards a holiday in Turkey in July for the team as well as several other Coaltown of Wemyss neighbours. The episode of Brdge of Lies is available to watch now on BBC iplayer.
