Since when did ITV stand for Inventive TV?

Now I am not defending past indiscretions – the thought of Love Island causes bile to pulse through otherwise clear arteries – but for some reason ITV has begun taking risks with their programming and it is oddly refreshing. ITV has now got Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach and Thank God You’re Here propping up what was a flagging timetable that comprised of:

19:00 – 20:00 Corrie
In tonight’s episode, somebody's stolen a cake from the corner shop and Rita's gone fucking mental. Elsewhere the shadow of working-class Manchester is forgotten for a trivial pursuit involving a greyhound. Is someone pregnant? Is someone else not? Kevin Webster turns green and eviscerates the café with his mighty fists.

20:00 – 20:30 Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Celebrity Chefs vs. Richard and Judy Edition IX (Repeat)
Chris Tarrant oversees Gordon Ramsey try to cook all his answers, while Richard and Judy’s phone-a-friend comprises of the last contestant on ‘You Say, We Pay’, before the phone crises hit. They incorrectly answer the £100 and are publicly flogged.

20:30 – 21:00 Corrie
Exciting conclusion of the previous hour. Nobody’s pregnant. The cake was in fact a conman who stole himself for the insurance money.

And then News.

But now, they have actually backed themselves and even with the skyward groans that met the unveiling of Echo Beach – like Home & Away set in Margate or Jason Donovan maudling through obscurity with stilted interest – but the accompanying Moving Wallpaper is mildly titillating. If only for it’s premise.

Ben Miller, who also starred in Thank God You're Here , plays a self-involved Brent-esque producer charged with making Echo Beach. It’s, like, well clever. He has to keep the show interesting, while fighting his own ego and the sanity of those around him. Despite obvious allusions to Extras without Gervais' gurning stylings, it’s carried strongly by Miller's pompous lead and a host of recognisables furraging in the background.

The awkward comedy of Moving Wallpaper even makes the tail-gating Echo Beach bearable if only to spot the various pointers from the show that proceeded it. Not sure how long the second half of the duo will continue to make the somewhat post-modern premise bearable but for the moment it is worth a glimmer of hope.

Coupled with the brilliantly improvised Thank God You’re Here maybe ITV can claw back some viewers from the gaping void that will last the two months until X-Factor 12. I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the viewing public met these additions to the schedule with the same exclamation I did - thank God they're finally here.