Comment Re:The decline of Tomorrow's World (Score 1) 230
I also spent the 1990s watching the steady decline of a show that I had for many years loved, and made sure I watched every week.
I'm not sure what it was that caused the viewing figure slump. I doubt it's because of the growth of satellite/cable TV, as channels like Discovery fail to capture me in the way that Tomorrow's World did.
I never understood why they changed the format of the show in the first place. The live show, with it's demonstrations in the studio - many of which would go wrong "It worked fine in rehearsals!" - explained things in detail, never talked down to the viewer - the likes of Judith Hann, Peter McCann, and Howard Stapleford always kept my interest, even when discussing subjects that didn't particularly interest me.
I did note a few years ago, whilst browsing the web site belonging to the commercial arm of the BBC, that reports from the show we available for purchase "for use in your own production". Could it actually be this that is the cause of the downfall of our beloved programme? I think maybe it could be.
I think the BBC saw an opportunity to 'cash-in' on the shows' success, changing the format to increase the shows international saleablility. And in doing this the reports came more generic and more like every other TV science/magazine show in existence.
And with that, the uniqueness and charm of the show was lost forever.
I'm not sure what it was that caused the viewing figure slump. I doubt it's because of the growth of satellite/cable TV, as channels like Discovery fail to capture me in the way that Tomorrow's World did.
I never understood why they changed the format of the show in the first place. The live show, with it's demonstrations in the studio - many of which would go wrong "It worked fine in rehearsals!" - explained things in detail, never talked down to the viewer - the likes of Judith Hann, Peter McCann, and Howard Stapleford always kept my interest, even when discussing subjects that didn't particularly interest me.
I did note a few years ago, whilst browsing the web site belonging to the commercial arm of the BBC, that reports from the show we available for purchase "for use in your own production". Could it actually be this that is the cause of the downfall of our beloved programme? I think maybe it could be.
I think the BBC saw an opportunity to 'cash-in' on the shows' success, changing the format to increase the shows international saleablility. And in doing this the reports came more generic and more like every other TV science/magazine show in existence.
And with that, the uniqueness and charm of the show was lost forever.
