SW
Yes, the plan always was that they were going to sell CDUK to Channel Five, hence as you say in the last episode they made great play of saying "the last CDUK for a while", but then the sponsor pulled out, C5 couldn't find a new one and without one it wasn't viable, so it never happened. That was the same reason there wasn't a similar replacement on ITV, which I know was initially the plan, but they couldn't afford to do it without a sponsor.
As you say, the last year of CDUK wasn't very good. Lauren Laverne is a great presenter (reminds me of when she did Planet Pop on T4 which was axed and replaced by Popworld, much to my dismay as you went from her being all arch to two nobodies on a Simon Fuller-backed show, only for me to completely forget about Planet Pop five minutes later) but she didn't seem to work with Myleene Klass and Johnny Pitts (who is now a very successful director, of course) and there was probably too much talking. I know there were three hosts before, but with Ant and Dec it really was two for the price of one.
You can argue that the made-up chart they used for the last year was a sensible decision because it meant they could play what the audience wanted to hear without having to cover the other stuff in the chart the kids weren't interested in, and as long as they were playing their favourites the kids couldn't care less how the chart was compiled. But the fact they didn't have the "real" chart meant it seemed a bit less essential.
Yeah, I didn't especially want them to cover the post-Ant and Dec era, it wasn't very good at all and would have been a right buzzkill. It was like when It Started With Swap Shop ended in the mid-nineties, which meant they didn't have to cover the years when the Beeb were being thrashed by SMTV.
I really enjoy Ant and Dec in these programmes, I love it when they get the chance to chat and tell stories, they're so funny. It's a bit of a shame that they do such big shows these days with limited opportunities to go off-script and just kick back and ad-lib.
Yep, even at the end of the final edition they were talking as if they'd be back soon.
Getting Dave Berry as presenter makes me think they were going to go disregard the 2005 revamp as well, as he was the most common guest host during 2004 and pre-revamp 2005. It's hard to think of much positive to say about the 2005 revamp, really.
Getting Dave Berry as presenter makes me think they were going to go disregard the 2005 revamp as well, as he was the most common guest host during 2004 and pre-revamp 2005. It's hard to think of much positive to say about the 2005 revamp, really.
Yes, the plan always was that they were going to sell CDUK to Channel Five, hence as you say in the last episode they made great play of saying "the last CDUK for a while", but then the sponsor pulled out, C5 couldn't find a new one and without one it wasn't viable, so it never happened. That was the same reason there wasn't a similar replacement on ITV, which I know was initially the plan, but they couldn't afford to do it without a sponsor.
As you say, the last year of CDUK wasn't very good. Lauren Laverne is a great presenter (reminds me of when she did Planet Pop on T4 which was axed and replaced by Popworld, much to my dismay as you went from her being all arch to two nobodies on a Simon Fuller-backed show, only for me to completely forget about Planet Pop five minutes later) but she didn't seem to work with Myleene Klass and Johnny Pitts (who is now a very successful director, of course) and there was probably too much talking. I know there were three hosts before, but with Ant and Dec it really was two for the price of one.
You can argue that the made-up chart they used for the last year was a sensible decision because it meant they could play what the audience wanted to hear without having to cover the other stuff in the chart the kids weren't interested in, and as long as they were playing their favourites the kids couldn't care less how the chart was compiled. But the fact they didn't have the "real" chart meant it seemed a bit less essential.
No surprise they skipped the final years of the show and probably the right call, though a bit more input from Cat on her input would have been nice.
Yeah, I didn't especially want them to cover the post-Ant and Dec era, it wasn't very good at all and would have been a right buzzkill. It was like when It Started With Swap Shop ended in the mid-nineties, which meant they didn't have to cover the years when the Beeb were being thrashed by SMTV.
I really enjoy Ant and Dec in these programmes, I love it when they get the chance to chat and tell stories, they're so funny. It's a bit of a shame that they do such big shows these days with limited opportunities to go off-script and just kick back and ad-lib.