Looking ahead to 2010: The Potential Axe List

Our look ahead to what 2010 will bring us, in terms of television, concludes with our predictions for shows what which be axed next year. Our predictions for 2009 were spookily right but how will we fair with our 2010 predictions? Well this time next year we’ll know! 

The Bill 

When it was announced earlier this year that The Bill would be revamped and moved to a later slot with cast members galore axed and the theme tune ditched we quietly thought ‘final nail in the coffin’ for the struggling drama. Then in November The Bill disappeared from screens all together to make way for more programming and to be honest did anyone notice it was gone? Was there mass protest at its absence? No. It may have been on-air for more than 25 years but if it makes it to the end of next year we’ll be surprised. The police drama is up for renewal very shortly and the fact the 9pm slot hasn’t delivered in terms of ratings [not so surprising really] we think means the series will be axed by ITV. If this is case there is a chance it could switch channels to Five as it’s made by FrantleMedia whose parent company RTL owns Five. 

We predicted the demise of Heroes last year but NBC surprised many when it gave the show another chance and a fourth season. Despite a lot of hype surrounding the launch of the fourth season and claims producers have listened to fans ratings continue to be dangerously low for Heroes. The fact it now only pulls in around 5 million viewers per episode when it used to attract 12 million can’t work in its favour in terms of survival. It does however, sell well abroad which is where a lot of money comes from but NBC won’t put up with the show for too much longer without ratings on the home turf improving. Therefore we think that the fourth season of Heroes will be its last.

ABC’s “reimaging” of the classic 1980s franchise which spawned two mini-seasons and a weekly series. The road to broadcast for V was fraught with problems with creative changes behind-the-scenes being just one of the bumps along the way. ABC then announced it would only show four episodes in 2009 with the rest to air in 2010. While V premiered to nice strong figures across the remaining episodes in 2009 the figures did drop and if this continues when V returns next year we can’t see ABC keeping the show for long. To us it looks like ABC lost faith in V’s existence shortly after commissioning it. 

Struggling ABC soap which has faced rumours of cancellation for some time now but as of writing the axe hasn’t fallen – yet. However, CBS axed two of its struggling soaps in 2009; Guiding Light and As The World Turns so ABC may decide to follow suit and clear out the ‘deadwood’. The soap is due to move to larger studios, formerly occupied by fellow soap All My Children, but the planned upgrade to HD filming has once again been put on hold – sparking rumours ABC will axe the soap shortly. 2010 will be make or break time for the daytime soap and it really does face a bleak future unless there is a turnaround in its fortunes. Fans of soaps in America will be dismayed if the soap does fall especially given the demise of GL and ATWT but that’s the nature of the beast.  

Taggart

The longest running detective series in the world could be in very real danger of being murdered itself next year. The series has become stuck in the middle of the bitter feud between STV and ITV and could very well become a casualty of the war between the two broadcasters. ITV has yet to commission more episodes of the Scottish series and several executives linked to it have been made redundant but STV has warned it will take the series elsewhere if ITV do decide to pull the plug. Over the festive period the 100^th episode of Taggart aired but dwindling ratings and erratic scheduling from ITV means the future of the series is anything but secure. 

A prequel to the hugely successful BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses which will air on BBC One sometime next year. The prequel has been a possibility for some time now with writer John Sullivan suggesting it several years ago but the BBC opted instead for spin-off series The Green Green Grass. However, the corporation pulled the plug on the spin-off earlier this year due to low ratings and announced this prequel instead. The biggest hurdle it will have to deal with though is the fact that the public’s love affair with the ‘franchise’ is over and that the world of Only Fools and Horses has had its day. The Green Green Grass never captured the audience that Only Fools did during its heyday and much of it seemed rehashed and unoriginal. So Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Chips is on our list before we’ve even seen a bit of it – unfair perhaps but we’re only going on the evidence so far.  

The new ABC series that media experts tipped as being the new Lost and for a while it seemed as though ABC really did have a new smash hit on its hands. FlashForward premiered well and for the first few episodes it continued to pull in the ratings and on this side of the pond the series also did extremely well for Channel Five with over three million viewers tuning in. However, FlashForward then faced tough competition in the form of sport and soon those good ratings turned sour. ABC then shut down production on it for a week – always a bad sign – before announcing it would go off-air until March, another bad sign. There is of course hope for it yet with a turnaround in ratings not out of the question but if it returns to more declining ratings we can’t see ABC putting up with it for long. 

ITV’s adaptations of the Agatha Christie series of Miss Marple books which don’t always stay true to the plots or characters of Christie’s novels – much to the annoyance of some of the novel’s fans. Some of Christie’s other novels have been adapted for Marple even though the character does not feature in them and lesbian subplots feature in at least two of the television episodes even though they are not present in Christie’s original novels. In 2009 actress Geraldine McEwan stepped down from the role and was replaced by Julia McKenzie and several more McKenzie fronted episodes have been ordered by ITV but we’ve put Marple on the danger list because it doesn’t exactly rate well. Perhaps audiences are not so keen on episodes that bear little resemblance to the novels they are based on and are full of lesbian subplots or maybe it’s just that no matter how good McEwan and McKenzie are in the role for many the definitive Miss Marple was Joan Hickson.