This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
In a festive edition of Celebrity Mastermind, one of the contestants was Strictly dancer Nikita Kuzmin (specialist subject: Cristiano Ronaldo). He wasn’t the worst of the four interrogees, particularly as English is not his primary language, meaning the Ukrainian native was, as Ginger Rogers might say, answering "backwards and in heels".
It was another mark of how far Strictly has come, with the show’s dance professionals now as well known as their celeb partners – and essential members of the BBC’s talent pipeline. Some, like Oti Mabuse and Janette Manrara, are trusted with fronting other shows, while Anton du Beke didn’t even need to leave the Strictly studio, instead shuffling seamlessly into his judge’s chair. From BBC to ballroom, everyone’s a winner.
Backstage allegations, complaints and investigations have seen the BBC’s biggest entertainment totem totter on its perch in the last couple of years but, thanks to sure-footed protocols behind the scenes and inspiring figures like Chris McCausland on the dancefloor, the good ship Strictly has sailed safely on. However, a much bigger change is afoot. For ten years, it has been ably steered by two solid captains and the void left by Tess and Claudia’s emotional farewell has prompted many to start muttering about the beginning of Strictly’s end.
The RT postbag reveals how much the hosting duo will be missed, as well as offering suggestions for giving the show a much needed shot in the arm. One publicist who helped launch the show suggested recently a fallow year would allow a proper reset, for "new energy to return". Does the BBC’s biggest show really need a hiatus to survive?
After more than 20 years, it’s clearly at a crossroads and offers a glittering, high-profile metaphor for the BBC’s wider challenge: how to keep its traditional audience happy, while futureproofing for the years ahead?
If pressed, there’s only one thing about the show I would want to change immediately. For the rest, any producer tasked with bringing new energy might look to copy fresh elements from overseas versions, such as the imported “instant dance” round we saw last season – couples dashing to dress and improvise a routine on the spot.
They might conjure up dramatic ways of welcoming back past contestants, All-Stars style. And, of course, there’s the key question of choosing the next hosts. But when they start generating ideas involving personal stories, glamour, diverse line-ups with cross-generational appeal, judges’ expertise, rehearsal videos, family messages, social media engagement and so on, they’d soon realise that Strictly already does a lot of those things exceptionally well.
Perhaps it’s one of those rare shows that got it right from the start. And to put that in perspective, it launched in 2004, in an era that also heralded Pop Idol, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and The X Factor. Of all those primetime offerings, it’s the last show standing. The publicist who advocated it taking a year off could be right – not because the show is tired, but because we take it for granted after so many years of giving us exactly what we need for Saturday night TV.
In defence of the licence fee, Graham Norton once suggested turning off the BBC for a couple of months to remind people what they’d miss. The same would surely work for Strictly – making us appreciate afresh what a shining jewel it is. But to those regarding its familiarity with contempt, I ask: What would you have in its place?
And the one thing I’d change? The theme tune. There, I’ve said it. Shot in the arm. Don’t shoot me.
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