Scheduling for Life on Mars

Importance of crime dramas to channel/ ratings- this is important For life on Mars to be scheduled at a time that they are allowed to show accurate representations of crime in the 1970s because if they show it at an earlier time then they can’t show the accurate representations, which may affect the ratings for the program as being able to show the accurate representations may engage the target audience to the program as they will get an accurate representation on how crime was perceived back in the 1970s and compare it to the way that crime is perceived today.

8 X 1hr episodes on Monday nights at 9pm. Peak viewing time. Post- watershed. After EastEnders and Outtake TV, but before the BBC News at 10pm- This is important to the scheduling for Life on Mars as at peak viewing time is when most people view shows so they may view this, it’s after EastEnders son it may catch the eye of the audience and may make them stay tuned to watch the program. It is also before the news so that the audience may be able to see a difference in the police force from the way that they are represented in the show in the 70s, and the police force from today in real life situations. Finally, it is post- watershed which means that they can include graphic details within the show and swearing

Zoning of crime genre at this time is standard. Sometimes stripped over a number of evenings- this is important to the scheduling of Life on Mars as it is scheduled at the same time as many other TV crime dramas have, meaning that the viewing figures could be high as it is the peak viewing time. Also this show is scheduled weekly rather than over the course of a number of evenings as each episode doesn’t follow on from the previous episode so it would lose the audience if this scheduling was used.

Repeated April 2006 Sundays 10pm- This is important to the scheduling of Life on Mars as it allows the target audience to freshen up on what had taken place in the previous episode before the new episode airs on the Monday night.

BBC pure drama video

The video suggests that the BBC are showing through the dramas that they produce all aspects of life, from being born in Call the Midwife, to falling in love with Pride and Prejudice, and to changing throughout life with Doctor Who. They also portray historical factors in their dramas and to allow the audience to see how we have got to where we are today in the most accurate representation that they can portray. The BBC needs crime drama to engage a whole host of generations from the new generation, and watching how crime happened back in the time that maybe their parents and grandparents were born and how it has changed throughout the years and the older generations that may look back on how the world was back then and how the world is today.