Special Reports: Saturday Family Drama in Crisis?

With the demise of both Primeval and Robin Hood we ask whether the bubble has burst for family drama on a Saturday evening. After the demise of Primeval and Robin Hood, and with Demons failing to capture the market, only Doctor Who and Merlin are left flying the flag for Family drama on a Saturday – but will they last?

Family Drama was dealt a huge blow when ITV decided to cancel Primeval after three years and the BBC followed suit with Robin Hood. Two dramas that went up against each other this year and both lost out in the end. Interestingly both shows are produced by Tiger Aspect Productions who would have felt the cancellation of both shows. Their cancellation leaves open the question of whether or not the Family Drama bubble has now burst.

The reasons for Robin Hood’s demise are simply enough – low ratings. The series might have triumphed against Primeval when they returned earlier this year but soon the situation was reversed and Primeval had the upper hand. It was only the Easter Special of Doctor Who which managed, temporarily, to boost Robin Hood’s ratings and see Primeval tumble down to its lowest rating ever. However, this boost to Hood’s ratings wasn’t too last and soon enough Primeval was once again in the lead. In fact Robin Hood continued to tumble down so much that it ended its run shunted on BBC Two to make way for the tennis and with barely two million viewers.

When news of the axe came it was hardly surprising and yet given the demise of its ITV rival, Primeval, fans couldn’t be blamed for hoping that perhaps the BBC would spare it. After all with no big rival airing against it a fourth season could have seen ratings improve and the show would have had to be revamped anyway given the departure of several major characters in the series three finale. There was talk of moving production to Scotland to save on costs and introducing a darker feel to the series – but alas it was all just talk as the BBC decided to cancel the series.

ITV’s decision to axe Primeval was more cost related than ratings. While Primeval may have been beaten by Robin Hood when they both returned very quickly it was the ITV drama that had the upper-hand and won most of their clashes. This success was coupled with news that a film version was in the works and a spin-off set in America. So why as Primeval’s star is rising would ITV axe it? Well for a start they are extremely short sighted and are only concerned with the immediate future and not the long-term. After all any movie of Primeval would surely boost the television series’ ratings and lead to even more merchandise opportunities and an American spin-off would also raise the profile of the show abroad.

Then another reason for ITV’s axing Primeval, bar cost issues, was the simple fact its abandoning pre-watershed drama. The struggling broadcaster has not had much success with drama lately with most of its output flopping leading to much embarrassment for the broadcaster. After several years of trying to launch new dramas with little success the broadcaster is switching its focus to cheaper television, such as reality programmes like The X-Factor. This switch in focus, and a bid to cut down costs, has already resulted in the axings of Heartbeat and The Royal while The Bill will no longer air in a pre-watershed slot – firmly confirming ITV’s abandonment of family friendly drama’s. Any drama on ITV will now air after the 9pm slot in which they have had a little more success with brands such as Doc Martin and Above Suspicion proving to be more popular with audiences than ITV’s 8pm offerings. So with ITV firmly turning away from family friendly drama it’s no surprise they cut loose Primeval ahead of its switch in focus even if Primeval actually rated well for the channel and seemingly has a bright future.

ITV had less success earlier this year trying to launch another family drama – Demons. The vampire drama was from the producers of Merlin and so ITV had high hopes for it. While Demons launched strongly it quickly went the way of many an ITV drama – freefalling ratings. Ultimately the series won’t return despite ITV insisting they haven’t decided the show’s future as yet. The failure of Demons to capture the same success as Primeval probably helped secure ITV’s decision to abandon Saturday drama to the BBC.

As for the BBC themselves they still have Merlin, which returns for a second season later this year, and Doctor Who. Also in development is a Pirates based drama that would cash in on the mania surrounding Pirates of the Caribbean – rather conveniently at a time when another movie in the franchise is in development. The pirate drama has been in development for sometime but then so was Merlin before it was finally given the green light – and look at how successful Merlin was when it launched. Along with the Pirate drama is the news, in the past few days, that the BBC are planning another adaptation of Just William which will also likely air in a family friendly slot.

The daddy of all family dramas though has to be Doctor Who which will return later this year for several more specials before David Tennant hands over to Matt Smith. Robin Hood, Merlin, Demons and Primeval were all launched on the back of Doctor Who’s massive success which proved that there was still demand for a family drama series. For ITV’s part Primeval and Demons were launched to cash in on that market in a cynical attempt to give the audience a thinly veiled version of something they’ve seen many times before. The BBC meanwhile opted for familiar myths given modern makeovers but this has proved, at least until now, somewhat successful. Robin Hood and Merlin might have its critics but at least they made it past six episodes – Demons couldn’t manage that.

Is family drama dead? On ITV undoubtedly but then drama itself on ITV faces an uncertain future. ITV is slashing budgets across its output in a desperate bid to slow down its losses and is banking of the ratings success of The X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent to secure its long-term future. In the short-term that may work but in the long-term ITV will need to come up with other successful formats to survive on as the public’s love of these shows will be stretched the more they exploit the contestants in their care.

As for family drama on the BBC it looks somewhat secure in the near future. Merlin returns later this year for a second season and Doctor Who is also secured until the end of next year. The BBC also has a better track record with drama and looks set to continue to produce drama despite the recession and doesn’t seem so keen to completely abandon it in favour of cheaper formats unlike ITV.