[James2001]

That's incredibly annoying (using the Virgin Media STV Player app), as soon as the credits start rolling, a 10 second countdown appears to the next episode, and there doesn't seem to be any way for me to be able to stop it to watch the credits. Can't find any option to turn off autoplay in the menus, anyone more familiar with the STV player know if there's a way to stop it? Literally pressed every button to try and make it go away and nothing happens. Pausing, rewinding, fast forwarding, pressing the back button, nothing seems to be able to get rid of the countdown, or even pause it, it's incredibly frustrating. Every other streaming service I've used either lets you turn off next episode autoplay or override it to watch the credits.

Edit: it does look like watching on a web browser and in full screen stops the autoplay kicking in and the credits run in full, but that doesn't help when watching through the TV.

[TheRealWB]

If anyone's not already aware, STV Player content is available via Sky Q, albeit a little hidden away under the 'On Demand' and then 'Channels' sections.

I watched the first four episodes today, aside from a few odd timings with the actual ads playing it all seems largely as the originals were. As a local it's quite cool to see some of the outside locations and trying to guess where it was. In the first few episodes you can still see the surrounding estate still being constructed over the fence (what is now Rowan Avenue).

Also I was a tad shocked at the language used given this would've been going out at 8pm!

[James2001]

Also I was a tad shocked at the language used given this would've been going out at 8pm!

Though pretty much the exact same language has been going out on Drama's lunchtime repeats of The Bill! Also originally went out at 8PM... and now at 12! And also features Barry Grant, with a lot less hair.

And an episode I've watched this morning just put out a McCain advert in the middle with Ricky Tomlinson doing the voiceover, do they do this deliberately?

I'm actually going to be in Glasgow over the weekend, wonder if I should pop into Pacific Quay to give some compliments and feedback?

[Brekkie]

They got away with far more in the 80s pre-watershed than they would nowadays. I don't think the actual rules have changed but the complaining culture has, and of course far easier to email a complaint or kick off a Twitterstorm nowadays than back then when you were having to find a phone number or address in the back of the TV Times.

[James2001]

When I was watching the old episodes of The Bill when they were on UKTV Play, I was definitely shocked what they were able to get away with in the late 80s/early 90s, stuff you'd never get away with now. Even all the "piss", "crap" and "bastards" which I'm suprised regularly get left in the Drama repeats are mild compared to some of it. A lot of the episodes were 15 rated and pin protected.

There's some similar language (especially coming from Nick Cotton's mouth) in the early EastEnders (which Drama cut most of), but nothing like The Bill or Brookside was doing.

I have a feeling the sort of language Drama leaves in the lunchtime Bill repeats probably wouldn't be able to be got away with on a daytime BBC1 or ITV drama though (I'm not sure even Corrie and EastEnders in the evenings would get away with it appearing more than occasionally). There will be a difference with 20 year old repeats watched by a much smaller audience.

I guess they can just do what Brookside did and release f-bomb fuelled 18 rated video releases, which just takes things too far in the other direction from overly sanitised pre-watershed drama.

[nwtv2003]

Lest we forget Brookside taking advantage of its post watershed slot when it stopped being shown on Saturdays. Even at the start of the last episode an F bomb drops on the opening recap.

Not that it mattered by this time anyway, but it took a bit of getting used to, especially in a soap.

[James2001]

Probably just served to alienate the viewers ever further on top of all the other changes (and being thrown around the schedule) in the last couple of years.

I'm in Scotland right now (in fact, a stone's throw from STV's headquarters...) and just seen a trailer on STV and noticed the clips in it are 50i- a shame we aren't able to actually see it that way though the streaming.

A good couple of examples of the "fake" music the show used in these early episodes, at least they're actual songs rather than iffy musak, so far anyway. I admit I never noticed the non-use of licenced music at the time I was watching in the mid-late 90s, but it will probably stick out now I know about it, especially after watching 80s/90s repeats of other soaps which made heavy use of it.

[TheRealWB]

At least twice I've seen the Grant's saying something about going to Tesco and I think on one occasion Sheila was carrying a Tesco carrier bag into the house, interesting they didn't go with a fake brand like Coronation Street did with 'Freshco'. I wonder if the fact that there actually was a real Tesco (and still is) just a few minutes from the Close had anything to do with that.

[Flux]

Probably just served to alienate the viewers ever further on top of all the other changes (and being thrown around the schedule) in the last couple of years.

I'm in Scotland right now (in fact, a stone's throw from STV's headquarters...) and just seen a trailer on STV and noticed the clips in it are 50i- a shame we aren't able to actually see it that way though the streaming.

A good couple of examples of the "fake" music the show used in these early episodes, at least they're actual songs rather than iffy musak, so far anyway. I admit I never noticed the non-use of licenced music at the time I was watching in the mid-late 90s, but it will probably stick out now I know about it, especially after watching 80s/90s repeats of other soaps which made heavy use of it.

Are we sure these are the original tracks we're hearing? Is it possible it was originally commercial music which has since been replaced with library tracks because of cost/copyright? I'm surprised if Channel 4 didn't have a commercial music agreement in place, so wonder if these are just re-dubbed versions?

It's a practice that still happens every now and then when a show is made available to alternative networks or platforms - Gavin & Stacey's DVD release, for example, replaces a handful of commercial tracks because they couldn't afford to clear them (whereas the BBC's blanket agreement still covers them for any repeats on BBC platforms), and the DVD release of the first (BBC) season of Birds of a Feather has a few scenes dubbed terribly with loud library music in an attempt to drown out the commercial tracks underneath from the original broadcast. Presumably the "clean" versions of those scenes weren't available.

Just a thought.

[James2001]

No, Brookside genuinely didn't use commercial music until 1999, it was all stuff done in house at Mersey.