Father Brown

Like a patient receiving life-changing news when they only went in for a routine check-up, last ­October’s BBC announcement that the long-running daytime drama Doctors was to be axed was a shock. 

For more than two decades, Doctors has been part of the TV audience’s daytime routine across the nation. The final episode will be shown in December 2024, when the surgery closes its doors for ever. It promises to go out with a bang. 

Father Brown: The Star of Jacob

BBC One, 1.45pm

An outbreak of laryngitis in the church choir, a missing donkey and a kidnapped baby are all threatening to spoil Kembleford's Christmas festivities this year.

Miracles do happen at Christmas, so expect the unexpected! There will be more episodes in the New Year when Father Brown returns to our screens.

It is the question that British writers and commissioners perennially ask: which system works best – the UK’s single voice or the US’s showrunner model?

Former head of BBC Worldwide Productions turned independent producer Jane Tranter tried to answer this key question with a panel of writers, who outlined their experiences to see how they compared.

She pointed out that, during her seven years in the US, it was not a subject the industry there generally debated openly.