Strictly Family - Series 8

Dates

Oct-Dec 2010 (12 weeks plus launch show, 14 couples).

 

That time period in context

In April there had been a volcanic eruption under Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. The ash it produced caused extreme disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe (which could be interpreted as the planet at least trying to fight back). In the UK in May, a coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats took control of Westminster (and what a disaster that was). Conservative David Cameron became Prime Minister (don’t mention the farmyard or the fact that he got the Brexit ball rolling). In August the Chilean mining accident began with a cave-in near Copiapó (33 men were rescued after 69 days). The men’s football (soccer) World Cup took place in South Africa. Derek Walcott won the TS Eliot Poetry Prize for White Egrets. Andrea Levy won the Orange Prize for Fiction for Small Island. Kesha’s Tik Tok was the best-selling single worldwide in 2010 (and I don’t know about you but that one was played a lot on our Wii as part of Just Dance 2).

 

Judges

Len Goodman (head judge), Alesha Dixon, Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli.

 

Presenters

Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly (main show), Tess and Claudia Winkleman (results show). 

Claudia (It Takes Two).

 

Addition to format

A bit of revamping went on this year (and audiences grew so I guess it worked). All the following changes: 

2 fewer couples, 

a big new launch show a few weeks before the competition began where the celebrities met their partners, 

the backstage room where scores were given was replaced by a tower above the dancefloor so the couples could watch their teammates perform,

a Swing-a-thon in week 11 (another of the group competitive dances – always a messy business),

the dance off disappeared again (it started in Series 5, disappeared for 8 and 9, then came back for Series 10),

and no one was eliminated in the first week (though two couples went out in the semi-final).

Also this was the start of two of the big theme weeks – Movie Week and Halloween (though at this point Movie Week was later in the series).

 

Dancers 

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

Goldie and Kristina Rihanoff

Paul Daniels and Ola Jordan

Peter Shilton and Erin Boag

Tina O’Brien and Jared Murillo (new pro)

Jimi Mistry and Flavia Cacace

Michelle Williams and Brendan Cole

Felicity Kendal and Vincent Simone

Patsy Kensit and Robin Windsor (new pro)

Ann Widdecombe and Anton du Beke

Gavin Henson and Katya Virshilas

Scott Maslen and Natalie Lowe

Pamela Stephenson and James Jordan

Matt Baker and Aliona Vilani

Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev (new pro)

 

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

Goldie (music), Paul Daniels (magician, much on TV in the 1980s, Strictly fans will know that his wife Debbie McGee took part in a much later series), Peter Shilton (football, former England goalkeeper), Jimi Mistry (actor), Michelle Williams (actual Destiny’s Child!), Felicity Kendall (actor, my Mum loved The Good Life), Patsy Kensit (music/acting/just generally famous), Ann Widdecombe (Conservative politician, deeply unpleasant views), Gavin Henson (rugby), Pamela Stephenson (star of comedy show Not The Nine O’Clock News 1979-82, actor, later a clinical psychologist, also wrote a biography of her husband Billy Connolly), Matt Baker (TV presenter, though we only knew him because Countryfile was on just before the Strictly Results Show on Sundays).

Who did we vote for?

I can’t really remember. I probably did vote for Goldie (pic above, as an ex-raver he would have been my first choice) but he went out in week 1. It was really a bit of a weird series for us as this had been my Mum’s favourite show (see Series 1) and she had died just a few months earlier in May. She would have voted for Pamela and James, I think (pic below). She loved comedy women – particularly those not averse to looking really daft for their art (this was something to do with feeling she had to be such a good girl herself for much of her life). She enjoyed Pamela in Not The Nine O’Clock News (no wig too outrageous, no false teeth too big) and so I’m pretty sure that Pamela would have got Mum’s vote on Strictly too. I don’t think James Jordan (Pamela’s pro partner) was the most popular dancer on the show but he has gone on to much success since (the ice skating show, the eating bugs show, his own Twitter commentary on subsequent series of Strictly, talking about Strictly in Hello and elsewhere). Politically he’s not for me (FACT) as he’s the kind of person who moans about “political correctness” (why yes, James, let’s stay stuck in the 19^th century, things were so much better then). I’m hoping for some kind of Damascan conversion for James where he goes vegan and denounces all his former positions. You’ve got to dream.

Celebrities we liked more after the series

Really everyone but Ann Widdecombe. I’m not going to forget someone’s politics because they seem a “good sport” on TV and there will be no photo of her in this post (you have to draw the line somewhere). A Conservative politician for the period 1987-2010 (so she served in Thatcher’s government), she opposed abortion, LGBT legal rights, supported re-introduction of the death penalty, is a climate change sceptic. She’s also been in the Brexit party and an episode of Sooty. Poor Sooty.

 

Was it obvious who was going to win?

Not to me. A former gymnast, Matt was brilliant. Also Pamela was a joy to behold (particularly the week she nearly fell flat on her face but styled it out – I still call nearly falling flat on your face ‘doing a Pamela’). And then there was the actual winner (actor Kara) – a lovely dancer, she seemed a sweet person and she and her pro partner were involved in a much talked-about are-they-aren’t-they romance storyline. I’ve been trying to keep away from this kind of content but it was actually mentioned on the show, not just in the tabloids, so it’s allowed this time. In the end, their romance (and some great routines) won the day, I think I even voted for Kara and Artem in the final (their pic at top of post). Most of us are suckers for love really, even if it’s fake, even if it doesn’t last, even if the Tories, in or out of coalitions, want to do away with it. My diary of the time says “not a great final, no amazing dances really.” Harsh! Sometimes by the final the contestants are all just very tired and it fizzles out a bit. Don’t let all those beads and feathers fool you – it is a beast of a show physically and mentally and it can turn even the toughest sports competitors into sobbing shells of their former selves. 

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

Maybe Matt (because he was a gymnast so great at tricks) but mainly I think they were taken up with the Ann Widdecombe (horror) story and the Kara/Artem romance.

 

Did it matter?

No. Romance conquered all.

 

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

Ann Widdecombe (she made it to 5 Dec – week 10!). Only in the strange world of Saturday night TV can this woman stay in a dancing competition longer than an actual Destiny’s Child (Michelle’s pic is below). I’m glad my mother didn’t live to see it (though to be honest she probably would have found it hilarious – like a lot of the senior viewers she wasn’t averse to a bit of Anton).

Shock exit?

Goldie (too soon!). Plus anyone else who went out before Ann Widdecombe. She was a terrible dancer and I make no apologies for disliking Tories and their whole “Reward Wealth! Starve the Poor!” approach.

 

The story of the series

Ann Widdecombe. She sent a message to all politicians that “reality” TV was a way to change your image and soften those corners. And look where that’s got us in 2022. 

Also the Kara/Artem romance (though actually a quieter romance between Jimi and Flavia lasted much longer, those two are still together, unlike the series’ winners). Here are Flavia and Jimi from the annual.

Artem, by the way, is the only pro to win both UK Strictly and the US Dancing with the Stars (the latter in 2020). To be honest we probably preferred another new pro that year, the divine Robin Windsor (pic below with his Series 8 partner Patsy).

Another story was Pamela Stephenson being fabulous (at dancing and everything) and being the oldest contestant to make it to the final. In the final she danced to “(I’ve had) The Time of My Life” and that seemed appropriate. There was a lot of joy in her performances, what a gal.

 

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

As already mentioned, my Mum died, aged 86, in May of that year (my brother in New Zealand couldn’t even consider coming to the funeral because of the volcano/ash situation). Mum had a really very short illness but it was still a lot to deal with. Strictly had been her show, she was the reason we had started watching it in 2004, so would we carry on watching it without her? I think I hoped we wouldn’t (time for a change?) but Heather (aged 10) was a devoted Strictly fan by this point. Here she is reading the annual that Xmas (a serious business).

My diary of the time noted her “full on Strictly fever” when it started in 2011 so stopping watching it wasn’t really an option for me (watching it on her own wouldn’t have been the same, though sometimes other friends and family did come to watch too). We had long lost Mark as a fellow viewer by this point (and if we hadn’t Ann Widdecombe’s involvement would definitely have been the kiss of death for him, as it were).

I also see from my diary that at one point I started teaching Heather a little Russian (I had studied it a little, years back). This must have been Strictly related too – there were quite a few Russian pros in the show around that time. There’s another diary entry about tears with maths homework (hers) and doing a Strictly quiz to cheer her up. Strictly has always been a great distraction in this family. By now an ardent comedy fan, Heather also loved Harry Hill’s TV Burp thing and Miranda around this time whilst Mark and I, for contrast, were catching up with the TV show Six Feet Under on borrowed dvds (maybe an odd choice the year your beloved mother passes over to the other side, maybe not). With our family responsibilities now changed, we were also planning a 6-month trip away (for the 3 of us). More on that next time. 

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 and Series 7.