Strictly Family - Series 17

Dates

Sept-Dec 2019 (13 weeks plus a launch show, 15 couples).

 

That time period in context

In April 2019 there was a major fire at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. In UK politics there was a seemingly interminable number of Brexit deal votes. In June Trump visited the UK (again!) and Theresa May resigned as leader of the Conservative party. In July the worst PM in British history (so far!), Boris Johnson, headed into number 10. In December there was a UK general election – the Conservatives won a majority in Westminster (because a good part of England has lost its collective heart and mind) whilst the SNP won a majority in Scotland. Australian bush fires (a megafire) raged for half the year and well into 2020. The first series of the original comedy show Ghosts was shown on BBC in April. The last episode of the Scottish comedy series Still Game was broadcast in March (and it’s as good a final episode of a series as you will ever see, really moving). The biopic of Judy Garland (Judy) starring Renée Zellweger was released in the autumn. In October Bernardine Evaristo and Margaret Atwood shared the Booker Prize for Girl, Woman, Other and The Testaments. In July the first Spell Songs album The Lost Words: Spell Songs was released (a group of fabulous musicians interpreting the 2017 book The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris).

 

Judges

Shirley Ballas (head judge), Motsi Mabuse (new judge, pic below from her first appearance in the Strictly annual), Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli.

Once again guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro stood in for Bruno for one week in October.

Presenters

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman (main and results shows).

Zoe Ball and Rylan (below) shared presenting duties for It Takes Two.

Addition to format

This time the pros without celebrity partners were Nancy Xu (new pro, pic below), Graziano Di Prima and Gorka Márquez.

Dancers 

(celebrities first, professional partners second; couples listed in order of elimination with winners last)

James Cracknell and Luba Mushtuk
Anneka Rice and Kevin Clifton
Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell
David James and Nadiya Bychkova
Catherine Tyldesley and Johannes Radebe
Will Bayley and Janette Manrara (withdrew)
Emma Weymouth and Aljaž Škorjanec
Mike Bushell and Katya Jones
Michelle Visage and Giovanni Pernice
Saffron Barker and AJ Pritchard
Alex Scott and Neil Jones (with Kevin Clifton substituting for 2 weeks)
Chris Ramsey and Karen Hauer
Emma Barton and Anton du Beke
Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden

Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse (pic at top of post)

 

Celebrities we had heard of before the series (and how we knew them)

James Cracknell (rower), Anneka Rice (TV presenter), David James (football, England goalkeeper, pic below with pro Nadiya). 

Who did we vote for?

This is probably the year we watched the show live less often so voting wasn’t such an issue. I think I voted for radio presenter Dev, for former footballer/TV presenter Alex (pic below with pro Neil), maybe Emmerdale actor Kelvin near the end (he and Oti did some great dances).

Celebrities we liked more after the series

Most of them. Comedian Chris Ramsey (pic below) gave it a really good go and was very entertaining. He was one of those people who surprised himself by how well he could actually dance, I think.

CBBC’s Karim was a brilliant dancer. Alex was great. Paralympian table tennis player Will Bayley (pic below with pro Janette) was doing really well and winning hearts but he had to withdraw due to injury.

Was it obvious who was going to win?

Kind of. Kelvin was a last-minute replacement for Jamie Laing (who is from one of those programmes with places in the name… something to do with Chelsea, not the football team) but boy, could that substitute move and it made for a great story. Jamie had got injured in the early days of training so he was in the launch show but then disappeared (until next year…). Meanwhile Oti with new partner Kelvin got the highest score in week 1 and it was pretty clear from then on that they would be getting the glitterball this time (Oti had come so close with Danny Mac a couple of series ago but this would be her turn). Karim was just as good as Kelvin (maybe better at times) but Kelvin had that certain something (he seemed kind of relaxed, made it look easy). 

Were there articles in the papers moaning about one of the celebrities being good because they’d danced before?

I don’t know. Karim maybe (pic below with pro Amy)? Like many (many!) Strictly contestants he had been to some kind of theatre/performing arts school. Without them it just wouldn’t be the same show. Those Fame kids work hard!

Did it matter?

Not sure. I see Karim has been hosting (and presumably dancing) in a pro touring show called Here Come the Boys (with Graziano, Pasha, Robin and Aljaž) so I think his skills are certainly being recognised and his Strictly time has been good for his career. As with all these shows, you don’t have to win to get the career boost (and he was amazing so all success is well deserved).

 

Was there an obvious “shouldn’t stay in long but did” contestant?

Mike Bushell (sports presenter). He got the votes but for the life of me I could not see the appeal (the Katya factor?).

 

Shock exit?

Dev and Dianne (pic below). They got four 9s in movie week and then eliminated in the next show. It was a real shame – he should have been in a lot longer.

I guess James Cracknell might have been expected to stay longer, being such a champion (Olympic goal medals, Atlantic rowing etc.). Same for star goalkeeper David James. Sports stars started well (in terms of winning Strictly series) but they have not capitalised on that early promise. The last sports winner was Louis Smith in 2012 and since then it has been showbiz winners all the way.

 

The story of the series

The Jamie Laing injury.

The Will Bayley injury.

The substitute takes the trophy (Kelvin).

The first Oti win (more to come).

And finally, the new judge – marvellous Motsi. She is stylish, she is charming, she is positive, knowledgeable, encouraging, understanding and all round a joy to have on the show. We like her (can you tell?) and our only question is “why did it take them so long to find her?”

And our family - what was going on with us at the time?

Heather was in her second year at uni doing English and film. The course was good because it meant she watched lot of things she probably never would have watched out of choice (from to 8½ to Double Indemnity, from Waiting for Godot to Young Adam, custard sex scene and all). It did mean, in her own time, the musicals, romcoms, coms and Strictly had to be upped to balance out all the noir and art, the dark and the depressing. Particularly glitzy and not-at-all-like-her course moments that year were the Janette and Aljaž movie themed live show in Perth (definitely not on the syllabus, pic of programme below) and a trip to one of the local theatres in Dundee for an all-ages Greatest Showman singalong (complete with props and group activities and a lot of joining in). The Showman singalong was so OTT it was kind of exhilarating – lots of people dressed up (many little boys in top hats), everyone singing LOUDLY, women climbing up on the chairs and belting out the big numbers (I imagine the cast and crew post-show party for Strictly Blackpool week is something pretty similar). Back at the singalong, the fire alarms went off once or twice (doors being opened where they shouldn’t be, I think) but the whole thing was so loud you couldn’t really hear the alarms and everyone just stayed put. People really love those Showman songs.

We had work, visitors, and lots and lots of evenings out to take advantage of being in a city again (good job we did, considering what’s coming in 2020). We went to cinema, festivals, music, art shows – I volunteered at the local jazz festival and I don’t even really like much jazz (it was just the novelty of having so much on offer).

As with last year we did still watch Strictly but not always live as we were more out and about than previous years. For once Heather and I didn’t watch the final together (quite unusual, like missing church at Xmas, if you’re that way inclined). She was in Leeds (for a show, obviously, The Wizard of Oz at Leeds Playhouse with friends) so she watched the Strictly final with her Grandma down there and then, quite possibly, watched it again with me when she got back home. There’s no such thing as too much Strictly for the superfans.

If you want to read any of the previous posts just click Older Post below till you get to the one you want. Or use these links: Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, Series 4, Series 5, Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, our Dancing with the Stars interlude, Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, Series 12, Series 13, Series 14, Series 15 and Series 16. Back tomorrow for Series 18 (2020) – anyone remember anything about 2020? Anything special happen?