Denise has taken a brief look at the television ratings in Britain and muses:

“Okay, I admit that I don’t understand how they collect ratings for TV programmes. I don’t watch soaps. I often ignore the ITV dramas which GMTV informs me are gripping the nation. But I was meant to be researching something – and not getting far, mind you – when I took a minor diversion and discovered the following. All taken from the Guardian website but rearranged slightly.

The audience for Johnny Vaughan Tonight appears to be levelling out at just under 2 million viewers, with 1.7m viewers, a 17% share, tuning in between 11.05pm and 11.35pm to watch him exchange banter with Richard E Grant and darts player Phil Taylor.

Last night’s opener (The Kumars) featured guest appearances by Michael Parkinson and Richard E Grant, and boosted ratings by 700,000 on last week when BBC2 screened Never Mind the Buzzcocks in the same slot.

The Kumars started with 3.3m viewers and this week had 2m, according to unofficial overnights. Ms Root has ordered a longer second series of the show.

The Ten O’Clock News was also not helped by a poor inheritance from drama Scarlet Pimpernel, which disappointed again on its second outing. The Richard E Grant swashbuckler managed only 5.7m – and a 25% share – against the start of Corrie and a one-sided Champions League football game on ITV.

For outsiders “Corrie” refers to a very popular soap opera set in the North of England called Coronation Street. It normally appears in the TV top ten weekly ratings list. Its transmission time is 7.30, but football coverage has moved it to a later slot. It attracts a very devoted following.

So one show is re-commissioned with ratings of around 2 million. And another condemned for getting nearly 6 million viewers! Given the circumstances 25% sounds okay to me.

Also how do VCRs affect the ratings? Is the fact a programme is taped for watching later taken into consideration?

Well no one I know has ever been asked to contribute to ratings figures. And with satellite offering us alternative viewing future ratings will be markedly lower than the “good old days” when everyone tuned to “Upstairs and Downstairs” or “The Forsyth Saga.” Are we to be condemned to a diet of quiz shows, soap operas and reality TV shows, because they are relatively cheap TV with “popular” appeal?”

Good question, Denise!

Jolie and Emma have informed me that there’s a picture of Richard in the February 27th 2002 issue of NOW Magazine which has just hit the newsstands in the UK. Richard is in the Films Preview section on page 71. There is a small pic of him with some information about the BAFTA’s and at the top of the page a little bit about Gosford Park.

And in this month’s Total Film Magazine there’s a section on various Withnail And I trivia. Most of it you probably know but here it is anyway!

0 – Times Paul McGann’s “I” is referred to by his real name during the film (it’s Peter Marwood, incidentally).

0 – Films Richard E. Grant had auditioned for prior to reading for Withnail.

1 – Times Richard E Grant has been drunk (teetotaller Grant got sloshed once on the orders of director Bruce Robinson, who believed he needed a “chemical memory” of being hammered to play Withnail.

1 – Times Paul McGann was sacked during shooting (unhappy with his performance, Robinson fired him. He was then allowed to re-audition and was promptly rehired.)

2 – Jimi Hendrix songs that appear on the soundtrack. (“All Along The Watchtower” and “Voodoo Child”).

3 – Pubs we see Withnail drinking in (surprisingly few for a film associated with alcohol).

3 – Actors also in the running for the role of Withnail (Kenneth Branagh wanted the part but Robinson thought he would make a better “I”. Daniel Day Lewis and Michael Maloney were both offered the role but turned it down).

12 – At the very least, the number of skins to roll a Camberwell Carrot.

14 – Pounds Richard E Grant was asked to lose to recreate the appearance of an alcoholic.

18 – Pounds Grant gained in the 18 months previous to Withnail and I, convinced his puny physique was losing him roles.

So there ya have it!