Byker grove to return next year

[80sChav]

Ant and Dec are going to return it to Telly after an 18 year gap next year - what is it with all these TV Comebacks!!?

Not as i don't approve I do but how on earth an it be on the BBC when Grange Hill etc does not fit their age-range - unless it's like Waterloo Rd - at night-time slots. Either way fair play to Ant and Dec - I don't always like them as such, but this is a move of "sheer genius" and is got route to removing the awful reality rubbish etc on TV along with Waterloo Rd returning and a Grange Hill Movie!

What Progs to return I wonder .... The Bill, Shameless, a new version of Last Of The Summer wine (with new cast), Brookside, Band Of Gold, Bad Girls .... all these would be great additions imho

[beccabear67]

All Creatures is another in the same line and seems very successful. I liked Brookside but don't think I'd watch a new version, I eventually dropped Emmerdale and it was my favorite soap for ages. Coronation Street I still at least try to keep up with as they've kept more long-running characters than the other, plus sometimes the humour still works (Emmerdale was lacking too often on that score).

I think it's because creators/writers are not valued or encouraged that you get revisits plus all the 'reality' cheap to make things. There are still excellent actors around I have to say but the material is not usually as well written I find.

I'd prefer a new spin-off from an older still popular program... how Endeavor was from Inspector Morse or The Royal from Heartbeat, that sort of a set up. I'd watch something based on those Corrie books set well before the first 1960 episode. They had a young Albert Tatlock circa WWI and then a young Elsie Tanner set during WWII.

[George 1978]

It felt like a Geordie Grange Hill - Donna Air (of Challenge TV circa 2000), as well as being a former partner of James "brother of Catherine, Princess of Wales" Middleton, was also one of the cast members. It would be a good showcase for young people wanting to enter acting. Incidentally, I had a family member who appeared in a drama series in that neck of the woods some 20 years ago.

Band of Gold - I don't think that will return as I don't think that you would get an actress who would want to play a part in it, in order to avoid their reputation! Besides, as I mentioned a few years ago on here, watching Band of Gold was almost like watching a Carry On film.

That mid 1990s CBBC series The Biz would be a good choice for revival - it was set in a stage school and had all the vibes of Glee and High School Musical. And Keeley "I thought she was related to Brucie" Forsyth.

[beccabear67]

I'm not against a new series like, or in the tradition of, Byker Grove or Grange Hill. I just think the current generation, if it is aimed at kids as viewers at all, deserve something of their own. Maybe I'm wrong and a reunion of characters/past cast would be a big draw and last? But often these have been more an exercise in nostalgia that really doesn't stand up beside the originals, and not intended to continue long either. I hope the shows fans enjoy it though, I'd probably be curious if there were a Follyfoot reunion show.

[Victoria O'Keefe]

I wish Tyne Tees Television still existed. The old ITV names could come back but the various studios are gone and so is the old ITV culture.

The saddest words heard that NYE in 1992 inside the TX Gallery at Thames Euston Road studios was Thames's Director of Presentation ending his call to ITN at Gray's Inn Rd checking their transmission times with: "We leave you at midnight".

[rosi9x]

As for your suggestions for other comebacks, I couldn't agree more! Many of these shows hold a special place in viewers' hearts, and reimagining them for a modern audience could be a recipe for success.
fnaf

[George 1978]

I wish Tyne Tees Television still existed. The old ITV names could come back but the various studios are gone and so is the old ITV culture.

I suppose it still does in name for the benefit of regional news and the like, but these days, it's just a way of referring to that region. It's lot better than still being called Channel 3 North East.