Saturday nights go retro

11 April 2012

BBC1 is going back to the future this summer, spending more than £3million on big Saturday night variety shows.

In a line-up that is more 1974 than 2004, Bruce Forsyth is fronting the return of Come Dancing, re-named Strictly Come Dancing.

It will air live on Saturday nights from BBC TV Centre in London this summer but in an attempt to update it viewers will be able to vote for their favourite teams.

Also in the offing is a revamped Generation Game, hosted by Lily Savage creator Paul O'Grady. It will be more hi- tech than the

original show, although favourites such as the cuddly toy on the conveyor belt will remain.

Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen are being reunited for the first time since they co-hosted Channel 4's The Big Breakfast in a Noel's House Party- style series called Saturday Night With Johnny and Denise.

Two other Saturday night variety shows - yet to be revealed - are also in production, said controller Lorraine Heggessey.

The move is part of an attempt to improve Saturday nights after criticism from former directorgeneral Greg Dyke and to compete with ITV1's successful Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

Completing the feeling that the Corporation is stuck in a timewarp, Dr Who is destined to return on Saturdays later this year, while Cilla Black is piloting a panel show.

Miss Heggessey defended the use of tried and trusted names and programmes, saying: 'There's never anything that's completely new.

'ITV's Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway is a derivative of Noel's House Party. We are trying to grow the next generation of shows but it is really difficult to get entertainment right.'

She admitted she was ' experimenting' by spending around £2million of her budget trying out Saturday night variety shows but added: 'The only way we are going to do that is through a process of trial and error.

' We would love to guarantee that every one will be a hit but sometimes it takes two or three times to get it right.

' We are trying to ring the changes and we want to bring freshness into the early evening.' Miss Heggessey said that while a celebrity version of Fame Academy will take place next year as part of Comic Relief, plus a programme following the progress of the students who took part in the first two series, there will be no Fame Academy this year.

It is understood that the BBC thinks the show is too expensive, although it was cited in last year's annual report as one of the channel's successes.

There have also been difficulties getting planning permission for Fame Academy to return to the North London mansion where it is filmed.

MORE ABOUT

Bruce Forsyth

Dancing With The Stars

Denise Van Outen

Johnny Vaughan

Strictly Come Dancing 2018

Saturday nights go retro

Read More