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Come Dancing BBC4

316 replies

Parts · 08/01/2023 19:30

Oh, the absolute joy of it. Terry Wogan, dancers who look 34 but are actually 19 yr old secretaries and mechanics, awkward descriptions of the enormous sequinned dresses (created by Carol's mother, Sheila), the proper dance band, cutaways to the dinner-dance audience smoking grumpily through the 'now traditional Come Dancing disco section!', brutal marking...

Can't believe my childhood now looks as ancient as a Pathe newsreel.

OP posts:
Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 19:21

Please let BBC4 show all the old Come Dancing episodes. Particularly those in the 1980s when the resurrected off-beat section was at its zenith. Wales always entered the same off beat act, which was based around magic and involved a young lady in a glittery outfit going into a curtained-off cubicle on wheels and disappearing on the dance floor. The accompanying music had lyrics featuring, “every day is a great day for Mardi Gras!”

GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat · 15/01/2023 19:25

That sounds delightfully bonkers wombat!

I only started watching last week and missed the disco dancing, it's hilarious!

CheeseDreamsTonight · 15/01/2023 19:29

This is pure joy! I love how young they all are but look 50!

EsmaCannonball · 15/01/2023 19:34

I need to know more about Bill's accident. Did it involve Ethel's wig and a bucket of peroxide?

EsmaCannonball · 15/01/2023 19:40

Can't believe those uptight Strictly producers don't let the audience chain smoke, knock back the whisky and get up on the dance floor for a bit of a twirl at the end. Spoilsports.

GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat · 15/01/2023 19:40

I love the gloves and arm hankies on the women's frocks too 😁

EsmaCannonball · 15/01/2023 19:43

It's a draw!

EsmaCannonball · 15/01/2023 19:48

I love every single person on this show. The dancers, the audience, the judges. They are all magnificent.

RuthW · 15/01/2023 19:52

OublietteBravo · 09/01/2023 11:05

I’d love to see them introduce sequence dancing to Strictly. That way the celebs could start doing 2 dances per week at an earlier point in time (i.e. their ‘normal’ dance for the week, plus a sequence dance - with all couples doing the same sequence dance so you can compare properly). Blackpool week is crying out for the addition of a sequence dance with all the couples on the floor at the same time.

I think Come Dancing was on BBC2 at the same time as the news (9 o’clock?) during the 1990s.

That would be fantastic as you can learn a sequence dance in an hour.

We love them and go most Saturdays night with a mixture of ballroom, latin and sequence.

Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 20:05

GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat · 15/01/2023 19:25

That sounds delightfully bonkers wombat!

I only started watching last week and missed the disco dancing, it's hilarious!

IPlayer is your friend!

SpikyHatePotato · 15/01/2023 20:21

I'm watching ep 1 on iPlayer.

"<contestant> owns his own hairdressing salon". I bet he does.

To lower the tone, the mn must have had some heavy-duty dance belts under those lycra trousers. And the cameraman seems quite keen on soft-focus shots of the women's arses.

Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 20:25

"owns his own hairdressing salon". I bet he does.

He also did Anita’s (19 year old partner. I was paying attention) hair for the competition and it was very impressive. Loopy (as in contained loops of hair) ponytail that did not shift a centimetre during energetic jive!

EsmaCannonball · 15/01/2023 20:33

A lot of them attempt that George Chakiris look. My favourite tonight was the guy with the blond George Chakiris hair and the burgundy catsuit. Aljaz, Giovanni, et al, would struggle to pull off that look, but he just went for it.

I always wonder what happened to these people when they went back to work on Monday. Imagine being denied a loan by Stephen the bank worker after you'd seen him disco dance like an electrocuted ferret. (That's no insult, Stephen. If I had to choose between watching you and watching Happy Valley, you and your moves would win every time.).

DuncanBiscuits · 15/01/2023 20:54

EsmaCannonball · 15/01/2023 20:33

A lot of them attempt that George Chakiris look. My favourite tonight was the guy with the blond George Chakiris hair and the burgundy catsuit. Aljaz, Giovanni, et al, would struggle to pull off that look, but he just went for it.

I always wonder what happened to these people when they went back to work on Monday. Imagine being denied a loan by Stephen the bank worker after you'd seen him disco dance like an electrocuted ferret. (That's no insult, Stephen. If I had to choose between watching you and watching Happy Valley, you and your moves would win every time.).

😂

DorotheaDiamond · 15/01/2023 21:06

I did offbeat at uni - was so much fun!

toomuchfaster · 15/01/2023 21:23

The brother and sister couple discoing in episode 2 looked a bit uncomfortable!

1stWorldProblems · 15/01/2023 21:39

I love the audience on the reruns of Top of the Pops for the same reason - they are there to enjoy themselves & see the same. No one is conscious of how they look on TV / their public image, which we are all thinking about now...

Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 21:41

DorotheaDiamond · 15/01/2023 21:06

I did offbeat at uni - was so much fun!

Tell me that you were on Come Dancing? Even if not, we need to know more!

Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 21:46

And yes, the North East formation team were indeed robbed. What a swiz. I liked that they danced to ‘Ilkley Moor Bah Tat’. Not quite as good as the jazzed up version of ‘Michael Row the Boat Ashore’ that featured in episode 1 but great nevertheless!

DorotheaDiamond · 15/01/2023 21:52

Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 21:41

Tell me that you were on Come Dancing? Even if not, we need to know more!

Show quote history

No but one of my friends was!!

Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 21:57

DorotheaDiamond · 15/01/2023 21:52

No but one of my friends was!!

Show quote history

Oooh what region did she represent? Wales is surely too much to hope for, was she in the North West dance themed around football?

Iamthewombat · 15/01/2023 23:33

Spent a happy half hour watching this. I remember it from first time around. British open professional Latin championships, 1988. Shirley Ballas’s first ex-husband, Sammy Stopford, came second to Donnie Burns’n’Gaynor Fairweather despite Sammy’s bold phantom of the opera theme!

It’s a great watch. They are all such good dancers.

TitsInAbsentia · 16/01/2023 11:12

OublietteBravo · 09/01/2023 11:05

I’d love to see them introduce sequence dancing to Strictly. That way the celebs could start doing 2 dances per week at an earlier point in time (i.e. their ‘normal’ dance for the week, plus a sequence dance - with all couples doing the same sequence dance so you can compare properly). Blackpool week is crying out for the addition of a sequence dance with all the couples on the floor at the same time.

I think Come Dancing was on BBC2 at the same time as the news (9 o’clock?) during the 1990s.

Oh yes please to sequence, it's the only way we could really truly compare dancers for sure. These days we're lucky if we get the pros doing anything remotely like sequence :(

Beeswood · 16/01/2023 21:08

I'm so glad I saw this thread and was able to watch this series!
My Gran loved it, I only vaguely remember the formation dances, which are my favourite in the programme.
I agree the Northern Formation team were robbed.
Great seeing Terry Wogan again.

DorotheaDiamond · 17/01/2023 19:50

TitsInAbsentia · 16/01/2023 11:12

Oh yes please to sequence, it's the only way we could really truly compare dancers for sure. These days we're lucky if we get the pros doing anything remotely like sequence :(

Show quote history

These days I think we are lucky to see anything with recognisable steps!!! It’s mostly vaguely themed show dance as far as I can tell!!!