British broadcasters are reviewing their TV schedules daily in the lead up to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II next Monday, striking a balance between tribute programing and some shows that were previously due to air.
Queen Elizabeth II died Thursday aged 96 and the country is in mourning, with tributes pouring in from across the globe and multiple events canceled.
All broadcasters told Deadline that they are taking a day-to-day approach to their scheduling and are issuing updates every 24 hours. Schedules are expected to return almost completely to normal following the funeral, which will likely be one of the most-watched TV broadcasts of all time.
BBC One’s daily offering today (September 12) still leans towards tribute while BBC Two is almost back to normal.
The new King Charles III has just entered Westminster Hall and BBC One is showing Westminster Tributes to his mother from politicians. The afternoon will be dominated by a Service for HM the Queen taking place in Scotland, the nation in which the Queen’s coffin is currently situated, in Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral, before heading to London tomorrow.
The evening will see Our Queen Remembered in a special episode of daily magazine format The One Show, but dramas EastEnders and The Capture will subsequently air as planned.
The latter goes up against ITV’s The Suspect in the battle of the big-budget BBC and ITV thrillers at 9pm.
ITV is similarly showing Queen Elizabeth II: Lying At Rest coverage through the afternoon today and is currently airing The King’s Tour – Westminster.
An extended ITV News at Ten special is taking place from 10pm followed by Mary Nightingale doc Queen Elizabeth II.
Channel 4, which was the first channel to start returning to normal scheduling by airing the likes of Gogglebox on Friday and keeping The Great British Bake Off in line for tomorrow, is also reviewing on a daily basis and will show a fast-turnaround Andrew Neil doc tonight called Britain After the Queen.
Some major TV events have been pushed back, such as Sky’s highly-anticipated Kenneth Branagh-starring Boris Johnson drama This England, which details the early days of the Covid pandemic under Johnson’s rule and has been delayed by one week to respect the period of mourning. No edits will be made to the drama in light of the Queen’s passing.
ITV’s annual National Television Awards has meanwhile been pushed back by a month to Thursday October 13.
This week’s press screenings of both This England and Channel 4 format Make Me Prime Minister have also been cancelled out of respect.
