From 7th March, 7pm is soap hour, as EastEnders gets a new regular slot from Monday to Thursday. Meanwhile Midlands-based daytime soap Doctors makes its primetime debut.
Doctors will get a new primetime repeat at 7pm Monday to Thursday on BBC Two. The BBC says the move will open the long-running soap to “a whole new audience”. Doctors first launched 22 years ago and has since become a staple of the daytime schedule.
At 7:30pm, the soap hour switches to BBC One, with EastEnders securing a four day a week slot, going against Emmerdale‘s new timeslot over on ITV. BBC Three continues to show EastEnders repeats at the weekend.
Upheaval for BBC England
The schedule changes mean more upheaval for the BBC’s fledging regional magazine show ‘We Are England‘ on BBC One in the English regions. The replacement for Inside Out is already struggling to maintain a regular slot. Originally launched in the Wednesday 7:30pm slot, it’s already starting to be moved around BBC One’s schedule.
On Wednesday 23rd February, the show moves to 8pm on Wednesday, before taking a break as the FA Cup takes over schedules next week.
The programme attracted controversy when two regional editions were pulled due to potential serious journalistic oversights. Within the industry, there are concerns that a lack of experience among remaining BBC regional staff is resulting in poor quality reporting. BBC England lost many of its long-serving journalists in recent redundancy rounds, prompted by cuts to the BBC budgets.
Speaking of the soap changes, Kate Oates, Head of Continuing Drama, BBC Studios said:
“We’re delighted that, from 7th March, there will be new regular time slots for EastEnders on BBC One, and Doctors on BBC Two. Both shows have a loyal following; and this new simplified schedule means it’s even easier for viewers to get their fix, as well as being able to watch whenever and wherever they choose on iPlayer.
The schedule changes follow ITV’s decision to extend its evening news bulletin, pushing its soaps later in to the evening.