Strictly Come Dancing

There was some particularly clunky and obvious editing in tonight's SCD Results show (which is recorded late-evening on Saturday, a wee while after the live main show ends), after the 1st couple to be in the dance-off was announced.

The brief wideshot of the couple walking over to Tess after their names were announced felt like it was recorded at a totally different time to the immediately preceding and following shots, and clumsily edited in. Odd.

When Tess threw to Bruno to give the couple some advice, the audience was silent under Tess speaking. But when we then cut the camera shot of Bruno at the desk, we heard the last couple of claps from the end of some applause that we hadn't otherwise seen or heard (just as Bruno began speaking). We could even see at least one audience member finishing clapping in the edge of shot, over Bruno's shoulder.

There were also strangely stilted moments in Tess' ensuing final chat with the at-risk couple. Was there something distracting going on in her earpiece? I can't really explain it. Hopefully you'll see what I mean if you care to catch it on iPlayer.

It's always a bit obvious that the Results show is recorded in a different order to what is ultimately screened. I think that a fair amount of it (certainly the opening group dance routine, and probably the guest singer plugging their latest single/album too) is possibly recorded on Saturday daytime before the main show even happens?

The editing never totally convincingly disguises the not-really-live truth, but the aforementioned couple of minutes' of business this week were the most painfully obvious I've seen for ages (or possibly ever).

We went to see the Graham Norton/Lloyd Webber show a few years ago. Same format as SCD, the Sunday results show was recorded after the live main event, but as you describe a musical act was pre recorded before the live show, and lots of the Sunday show items were recorded as isolated events. It made for a long evening. Started at 17:30, we didn’t get out until gone 22:00 hrs.

As ever, and as you describe the quality of the post production makes or breaks it.

I caught ( for my sins, I was testing out a telly) Vine’s C5 programme last week. The last 45 minutes is a prerecord conducted before the live show, ( so he can rush off to Radio 2) I didn’t realise the studio guests are also present for that segment. I wonder what the contingency plan is should one of the guests fall ill, storm off etc during the live segment?

A quick continuity announcement into the relevant part would surely cover it if they felt the circumstances required an explanation - "Today's newspaper review was recorded earlier this morning."

As with Strictly, I'm sure they're not that bothered about shattering the illusion of it being live if the situation demands it.

There's often chat in one of the other threads about what happens if there's breaking news during / immediately prior to the segment, and I'm sure the same applies - break away to news coverage it if it's huge, don't mention it if it's tiny, and consider a quick continuity explanation if it's somewhere in the middle (as e.g. Question Time has done for decades).

The more glaring error was during the live show on Saturday, where the sound from the waiting area was cut off rather than faded out, which must usually work when they're silent, but was abrupt when they were still being noisy.

With all the money the BBC has, surely they could be arsed to make the results show live, which X Factor does. A £5 billion a year budget, and they can't afford the results show to air properly live.

The illusion is broke, as 99% know it is pre-recorded the night before, and many people can access the results from 11.00pm on the Strictly Spolier blog website.

I remember in 2008, after the first year of doing a pre-recorded results show they moved the results show back into Saturday night as one continued live show lasting nearly three hours. Now that is overkill, but the Saturday night result show should return in 2019.

Not sure it's a matter of being arsed, isn't it down to the logistics of at least one of the judges also appearing on the American version and needing to fly out there?

It’s not broke so why fix it?

The result never seems to leak out in the press and unless you really go digging on social media or wherever you won’t find out the result ahead of broadcast.

They don’t need to maintain an illusion because it doesn’t seem to matter much.

A £5 billion a year budget that has to fund a huge range of programmes and services, which is - in effect - being cut by several hundred million pounds before long. Its not about 'can't afford' its about how you decide to spend the budget available, there is no commercial incentive to fund a second live show. Spend the money saved on funding something different you can offer to viewers. If there isn't something that urgently needs fixing why near on double the cost of the programme.


Of course I'm wrong and you're right, its just because everyone wants an extra day off. Everybody working in / for the BBC does the bare minimum necessary to keep moving pictures / sound / text being offered to the public. Must remember that.

Well, I have certainly been scolded. Naughty.

A recorded results show also allows proceedings to be condensed through editing, rather than padded out for all it's worth over on The X Factor.

And I quite like the results show being on a Sunday. With Doctor Who on before it makes for a decent evening of telly.

There's not much in it. Minus the ads it's as padded as XF.

The result is dragged out, recap, guest act, chat with the contestants, chat with the judges etc.

It could easily run at 30 minutes and XF could easily run at 45 minutes (if they got rid of one of the guest performers).

Remember the days when such shows were 15 minutes.

Strictly is a well structured results show. The X Factor filled the hour nicely when it was popular and did attract big guest acts, but feels dragged out now, especially after last years all in one shows.