BBC eyes daytime slot revamps as Dom gets axe

New BBC daytime controller Dan McGolpin (pictured) has axed long-running consumer rights show Don’t Get Done, Get Dom as he settles into the new post.

The Flame Television-produced show has been axed after nine seasons to make space for new ideas, with Ricochet doc series Channel Patrol also ending.

New shows come in the shape of antiques quiz show For What It’s Worth and police documentary series Fugitives: Home and Abroad, with McGolpin aiming to find new shows for the 9.15am and 11am slots.

“We have lots of returning shows on BBC Daytime but one of my biggest challenges is to create space for new opportunities,” he said. I want bold new ideas and returnable series that do something different to the successful shows that we already have.”

McGolpin became daytime controller this summer after Damian Kavanagh moved to oversee BBC Three’s switch from a linear channel to an online-only proposition. He has been marking his stamp on the UK pubcaster’s daytime programming since that point.

“In the mornings, I want to make 9.15am more of a shop-window for us,” said McGolpin. “It’s a place where viewers can engage with the world around them, and the slot benefits from a strong audience inheritance from BBC Breakfast.

“We can broadcast event series there like Big Blue UK or Operation Meet The Street, it’s a place where we can be ambitious and timely. I’m also looking for distinctive and engaging new formats or documentary series that can play at 9.15am or 11am.”

New quiz For What It’s Worth comes from Karen Smith’s indie Tuesday’s Child and is a 25x45mins afternoon entertainment show. Fern Britton will present, and the format is described as “strategic quiz with simple gameplay plus the tantalising play-a-long of guessing the value of really interesting antiques”.

BBC Features and Daytime’s team in Wales is behind Fugitives: Home and Abroad, which is a 15x45mins series that has access to police units seeking out the most dangerous of the estimated 18,000 criminals thought to be hiding in Britain.

“Fugitives: Home And Abroad will push the boundaries of what is possible in a daytime programme, we’ll be on the ground-level as highly dangerous criminals are tracked down and caught by the police, in Britain and elsewhere,” said McGolpin. I have full confidence that the BBC Features and Daytime team can pull-off this ambitious crime series.”