Guest Author - Pam Lawrence

When Garth Ancier, formerly of WB, took over as president of BBC America, he felt that the channel needed a new strategy. He had the material. All he needed was to improve the packaging. Gone, for instance, are those incessant Benny Hill reruns and other well worn comedies like 'Allo 'Allo. The reason ? To keep the channel contemporary and cutting edge. There will still be a comedy block on Saturday nights, but new shows like Jennifer Saunder's latest comedy The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle and stand-up specials will be the mainstay.

Hollyoaks, the popular youth soap, is on every night at 10pm, to grab that all important demographic and get them watching the channel. Primetime now begins in earnest at 8pm, and viewers will now be able to catch the best news broadcasts in the world with the evening news firmly planted at 7pm, and a three hour news block each morning. It's a signature of the BBC, and Ancier obviously wanted it to feature prominently.

One of the main changes viewers will have noticed since the June shake up is the advent of the theme night, to enable the public to better plan their viewing. Ancier had been hearing positive feedback about BBC America, but the biggest complaint was when to find favourite shows. Theme nights were the solution.

So where to find your shows ? Well, primetime looks something like this: Monday nights from 8-10pm are Murder Mondays. Here you will find some of the best drama from the UK, including the new series of Wire in the Blood, with the luscious Robson Green, and Murphy's Law with the fab James Nesbitt.

Testosterone rules on Tuesday Nitro, with shows like MI-5 (aka Spooks) which was yanked by A&E, and Ultimate Force, which follows an army unit on very dangerous missions. Watch this space for the best of Brit reality telly too.

Wicked Wednesdays will follow the BBC Canada mould of Frisky Fridays, with sexy drama for the girls. Watch out here for the next season of Footballers Wive$ (featuring the brassiest babe Joan Collins !?) and the torrid Hotel Babylon. Also coming up in this midweek slot is the BBC America co production Goldplated, about a family living in the lap of luxury- on credit.

Big Thursday features all the enormous egos on British TV, from potty mouthed chef Ramsay, to chat host Graham Norton. It's all about celebrity driven series.

Crime Scene Fridays are forensic, criminal and gritty. Find the excellent Waking the Dead, Silent Witness here, as well as a couple of BBC America co productions, Whistleblower and The Innocence Project.

Supernatural Saturdays are sure to be huge, as some of the most anticipated shows will finally find their way to the channel. Watch out for series three of Doctor Who, with the best Doctor ever, David Tennant, and Torchwood, the Dr Who spin off which will be arriving on screen later in the fall. Check out more Hex and....series two of, at last, Life on Mars

Rounding off the week on Sunday nights is the Brit Movie, preceded by Adventure Sunday. Here's where you'll find great family viewing, including more of the very contemporary Robin Hood.