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Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, shown on BBC One based on ballroom dancing. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with allusions to the film Strictly Ballroom.
The format has been exported to other countries (see Dancing with the Stars). The finals of the third series in December 2005 attracted an audience of over 10 million viewers.
Format
The show pairs a number of celebrities with professional ballroom dancers who each week compete against each other in a competition to impress a panel of judges and the viewing public in order to survive potential elimination. Through a telephone poll, viewers vote who should stay and who should go, the results of the poll being combined with the ranking of the panel of judges. (The profits from the telephone lines were donated to Sports Relief in series 1, and to Children in Need in series 2 and 3, and will be the charity for series 4).
The show is broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday evenings, presented by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly. (For some of the second series, Natasha Kaplinsky stood in temporarily for Tess Daly while the latter took maternity leave). The judging panel consists of Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and Craig Revel Horwood. The judges mark each performance out of a total of forty. Only on two occasions has a perfect forty out of forty been awarded:
- Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett; Jive; 11/12/2004 (Series 2 Final)
- Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova; Quickstep; 24/12/2005 (Second Christmas Special)
The first series began on May 15 2004, and was won by newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky and her partner Brendan Cole. The second series started in October 2004 and was won by Jill Halfpenny and her partner Darren Bennett. The third series started on 15 October 2005, and saw the first male celebrity winner, Darren Gough and his partner Lilia Kopylova. The final edition of series 3 was broadcast live on 17 December, 2005 and a fourth series will run from October 7, 2006. This makes an end date on December 23, 2006.
A companion fanzine programme (running each weekday, with updates on the dancers) accompanies the main show. During the first series, Strictly Come Dancing on Three ran on BBC3, hosted by Justin Lee Collins. During the second and third series Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two ran on BBC2, hosted by Claudia Winkleman.
A Christmas special, the "Christmas Champion of Champions", was broadcast on 22 December 2004, featuring top couples from both of the first two series (with the exception Christopher Parker and Julian Clary, who were not able to appear). The show was won by Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett. A further Christmas special, Strictly Ice Dancing, was broadcast on 26 December 2004; with Carol Smillie, Jessica Taylor, Scarlett Johnson, Marcus Patric, David Seaman, and Rowland Rivron paired with professional skaters. This was won by David Seaman (who was a late replacement for Paul Gascoigne) and his partner Zoia Birmingham. A further one-off special, Strictly African Dancing, was broadcast on BBC1 on 9 July 2005 as part of the BBC's Africa Lives season. It featured six celebrities of African descent performing traditional African dances with a professional troupe. The contestants were Tunde Baiyewu, Tupele Dorgu, Robbie Earle, Antonia Okonma, Louis Emerick, and Tessa Sanderson. The programme was presented by Natasha Kaplinsky and Martin Offiah, and the winner was Robbie Earle.
Dances
The following dances are performed in Strictly Come Dancing:
Ballroom
- Waltz
- Quickstep
- Ballroom Tango
- Foxtrot
- Viennese Waltz
Latin American
There have been a number of new dances added in series three, some as group dances. These are Argentine Tango, Cuban Salsa and the American Smooth.
Series 1
May - July 2004, in order of elimination
Series 2
October - December 2004, in order of elimination
Series 3
October - December 2005 in order of elimination
Special Shows
"Christmas Champion of Champions"
22nd December 2004, in order of judges' placing| Celebrity | Professional |
| Martin Offiah | Erin Boag |
| Aled Jones | Lilia Kopylova |
| Lesley Garrett | Anton du Beke |
| Natasha Kaplinsky | Brendan Cole |
| Denise Lewis | Ian Waite |
| Jill Halfpenny | Darren Bennett |
"Strictly Ice Dancing"
26th December 2004, in order of elimination| Celebrity | Professional |
| Rowland Rivron | Charlotte Clements |
| Marcus Patric | Leigh Mack |
| Carol Smillie | Oula Jaaskelainen |
| Scarlett Johnson | Daniel Whiston |
| Jessica Taylor | Robert Burgerman |
| David Seaman | Zoia Birmingham |
Strictly African Dancing
9 July, 2005, in order of elimination:
2005 Christmas Special
The Christmas special in 2005 featured the top four couples (Gough/Kopylova, Jackson/Boag, Ball/Waite, Martin/Dallerup) from the 2005 series competing against two competitors from the US version, Dancing with the Stars, who danced with two professionals from the British series. The two competitors from the US series were Rachel Hunter, who was teamed with Brendan Cole, and Evander Holyfield, who danced with Karen Hardy. Season 2 winner Jill Halfpenny was scheduled to appear with her partner Darren Bennett, but pulled out due to a break down in fee negotiations.24 December 2005, in order of elimination
| Celebrity | Professional |
| Evander Holyfield | Karen Hardy |
| Rachel Hunter | Brendan Cole |
| Colin Jackson | Erin Boag |
| James Martin | Camilla Dallerup |
| Zoe Ball | Ian Waite |
| Darren Gough | Lilia Kopylova |
As well as winning the 2005 series, Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova won this Christmas Special, after receiving the full 40 marks from the judges.
Salaries
In April 2006, the salaries of the presenters and judges were leaked to the press. Bruce Forsyth was paid £415,000 for each series, Tess Daly received £100,000 and each of the judges £13,750*.
The BBC later revealed that they had been leaked by temporary agency worker, Sam Walton, working as an assistant in their business affairs team*.
See also
- Strictly Dance Fever
- Dancing on Ice - a similar show on ITV, swapping dancing with skating.
- Just the Two of Us - the same format, with singing instead of dancing.
External links
- BBC Official Site: Strictly Come Dancing
- UK Gameshows Page: Strictly Come Dancing
- Strictly Come Dancing Online: a very comprehensive fansite
- Unreality TV - News and gossip on the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing
- Digital Spy Forum- forum discussing the show
- - Strictly Pole Dancing, Pole Dance School and Performers
Note
Bale, Joanna, 'Come Dancing one step ahead of X Factor as 20 million watch finals', The Times, December 19 2005.
BBC television programmes | Dance television shows | Reality television series | Ballroom dancers
Vild med dans | Strictly Come Dancing | Ballando con le stelle | Taniec z gwiazdami | Let's Dance | Dancing Stars
"Strictly Come Dancing"