I am just wondering if DOI should be cancelled now rather than later, before it gets remembered as 'that boring old show that faded into darkness.' It's defininitely past its sell by date, I dont know why, but the shows seems to be quite unrefreshable as we've seen in the past few series. Strictly is quite a refreshable show, don't now how, it's been going on two series longer than DOI and still hasn't gone over that 'past its sell by date' hill.

What does everyone else think?

I think they could save the show by having fewer ad breaks and the show is far too long. Nearly two hours for six contestants on Sunday was too long.

They need new blood. SCD gets new pro dancers and they refresh the show, whilst they keep the old ones as well, or some of them. We need a rival team of choreographers whilst keeping T & D.

3 years ago the year chris hollins won strictly, it was in the pits and it felt much like DOI does now, but they turned it around, so its possible doi could do the same, but its unlikely in my opinion

SCD and DOI though have gone in different directions. SCD has now dumbed down - relatively little dancing technique, more gimmicks, a built in joke candidate year on year.. Its been successful but it makes less sense and that may kill it because there's a mismatch between a dancing show with qualified judges trying to mark dancing, when they are watching people being fired out of cannon, and doing anything to get votes that avoids dancing. Its got a problem - because you just set the requirements higher for next year's panto - or it looks familiar and dull.. DOI has gone the other way. Its made its judging panel more skating focused, lost its performance judges in favour of one who judges dance moves, and has Robin going on about technique issues that are irrelevant to 95% of the people watching.The panto aspect of the judging has gone, wheras on SCD the judges have been turned on each other to avoid any celeb victim getting too many votes. Doi has also not put in, or found, a real joke candidate this year. Its doing the same thing as it usually does, actually pretty well this year , but spreading it over longer and longer. Problem is DOI can't find more than one or two celebs a year, who could really go for more exciting routines, and its joke acts can't do much at all if they can't skate or act. Its easier to do different things or panto on SCD.

Changing professionals doesn't help - the people with most success who produce the biggest routines on DOI have often been there longest, and its very dubious if SCD has gained lately from changing its pros. The answer is probably fewer teams , some more spectacular pro displays, shorter shows, a shorter series, some point to the judges (they might as well just have Robin now) and, above all, some more good routines with celebs who can do them.

SCD was one of my fave shows of all time until Sargent-gate in 2008 ruined and dumb-downed the standard of dancing that was to follow to the later Series...what happened during the 2010 series was the last straw for me...

DOI I think is now beginning to fall away from it's peak (which was in 2008 funnily enough), so yes, I can see this show going the same way X Factor is already heading.

No, not time to go! And I don't watch SCD.

If SCD deserves to stay, then so does DOI!

I for one have enjoyed the recent 'refresh'
The judging panel had to be changed, Jason was evil, Bunton was useless and irritating.
I had never been a fan of Louie, regarding him as another reality show desperado but I think he has been great and I love Katerina.
Its fantastic that Holly has gone, she was just a pair of tits in a dress.
The recent vilifying of Miss Bleakley was uncalled for and I'm glad she appears to have ridden the storm as well as she rides Frank Lampard.
At least we arent saddled with that leek chomping personality and humour free bint Alex 'we'll keep a welcome in the hillsides' Jones.

I think it's getting a bit stale and "samey". I can't see it lasting much longer.

If they could recruit better known celebs it would help - I hardly knew any this year

Cut down ad breaks and make the McClean ads less irritating - last year didn't we have the 'girl with the smile' (who would she choose?) and the year before the 'tasty teeth'

Come back 'have a softer landing with DFS'

yes it needs a complete revamp jayne and chris need to stop having favourites and dont get me started about robin and chemmy

Major revamp and overhaul - Yes

Axed - No, or at least not yet

Some of the changes and twists they have tried this year haven't really worked out and do need looking at when this year's run is over

Completely agree and it has gotten more noticeable the last couple of years.

The constant referencing to Jorgie and how wonderful she is etc etc I don't think she is that good I think we have had better female performers in the past and she is good but not to the degree that they go on about her and it also happens with Matthew to a point although he doesn't seem to be in as much in favour at the moment. Same happened with Sam and with Hayley the year before too. I feel sorry for the others taking part because its almost like they are surplus to requirements that Jayne and Chris don't really think they are worth that much

It is clear Robin favours Chemmy and I think its bad that the judges have favourites because I think it impairs the judgement especially for the skate off. The night of the skills test I think Robin would have saved Chemmy regardless because he kept saying she shouldn't have been in the skate off etc so I think even if Seb hadn't messed up he may still have gone over Chemmy.

I find it off putting when certain ones are constantly being touted as the favourite and the one that is always being told they are wonderful. I prefer seeing the progression and the ones who improve and I think DOI has gone too much for having a couple of perfect performers and that spoils the competition aspect for me because there is no element of suspense.

Well said, and I agree! I did like Louie before though.

Well the good news is that Sunday's show is one hour and 15 minutes. I think more people would watch if the show is shorter. Two hours last week was ridiculous

Its not favouritism. In most cases its that some people are just better than others. Jorgie is far better than the other females - she's well up there as a cross between Bonnie and Suzanne and Clare - and Mathew is a better actor and skater than Chico. Good skaters and actors get good routines and comments for the same reason that the class dunce doesn't get the main role in the school play and the slow runners don't win races at sportsday. It is a good year in terms of numbers of good people, and you would expect them to hype it as the best - even if Mathew isn't Ray or Chris, and Suzanne might still win over Jorgie. Robin likes Chemmy because her muscles and technique look most like his - because of her skiing - bizarrely he's stressing that in his marking - but he's doing that consistently. Louie's marking is just all over the place, and if there is a pattern its that he may just have a male bias in his marks and not appreciate acting enough. Katerina seems to mark all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons - but thats because she has different criteria that a more generalist judge should be allowing for.

It is favouritism when it is particulary prominent towards one particular person and they are barely bothering with anyone else. While yes I expect there to be more made of the ones who are doing better its the fact that a lot of the others have barely had any acknowledgement. I find the preview VTs that you get on the website are very heavily skewed towards certain skaters whereas others barely get 5 seconds in the clips and you have Jayne and Chris constantly repeating the so and so is wonderful etc and its not just with Jorgie as I said it was the same with Sam and Hayley as well and especially with Ray I think that was the year that really started it off I think.

I feel sorry for the others because IMO it seems that they are basically being treated as almost second class not as essential as whoever because they aren't as good as them. If I was a celeb I would wonder what the point of my being there was if Jayne and Chris were always focusing on one particular person. It may inspire some to strive to beat them yes but it must wear down the confidence as well. I even wonder if it does influence the choreography a bit, yes they are given what they can do based on abilty but if they are especially focusing their time and energy on one or two people then the others routines may not get as much thought or energy put into them.

Despite the negative headlines, and ratings being down on last year, it was still the biggest rated show on Sunday evening, and ITV know they will struggle to find a replacement that could begin to do as well.

The show needs some work, but it's mainly the length and excessive adverts, including the toothpaste sponsors and tedious adverts that are dragging it down. ITV can give the show an instant shot in the arm next year if it is less greedy.

I also believe that less celebrities is important, but they need to find a way to let us get to know them before one leaves. My suggestion is that they all skate twice before anyone goes home. They will all skate one normal routine one week, and skate a short technical routine the other week, with votes and scored being carried over. Half doing a full routine, and the other half doing the technical routine for each of the first two weeks.

That would help to break the monotony when the shows are long, but it would also encourage all of the skaters to learn some proper technical skills early in the competition, instead of waiting until half-way through. I'm certain if Jen had been forced to learn some solo skating and required elements earlier in the competition, she'd have done it, and be a much better skater now.

Actually, just do judges marks for the ones doing a technical routine to save time, and faffing with phone numbers and they can just have a basic introduction, with no big "getting to know me" VT.

No-one wants to go out on week one, so I think they'll get a better choice of celebs if they guarantee everyone two weeks. They also need to ditch the presumption that they'll have a conetestant from Eastenders, Corrie, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks. It's too boring. Despite it being ITV, they should probably go year about with Corrie and Emmerdale. Eastenders is filmed near DOI, so they've got a good chance of getting a decent EE actor if they play it right, and Hollyoaks has a young cast and appeals to the youth market, so that's nicely covered.

Also, no more than a couple of kids tv presenters in any year.

But they are second class relatively, and in this environment you can't give them the same work to do, or claim they are doing it as brilliantly asit can't be faked. Its not like a modern exam where everyone gets praise and a pass , or the sportsday where the races are made so that the slowest don't feel they are slow. Its true, the people behind the top 2 are better than many years, but there's still a big gap to the top. You can't give Chico a routine that needs dancing precision, or acting, or Chemmy one that has a whole range of moves, or Jennifer one that requires really big moves - and Andy couldn't do much at all. If anything, they are spending a lot of time, and more than usual, finding positives for everyone by praising their energy and enthusiasm , skating technique and power, or dance technique and acting skill.

I agree some routines are better than others and there's not many good ones - but you can't write a great routine for someone who can't perform it. To be fair to them, Jorgie and Mathew have had dull routines too, and Jennifer and Chico have been recently getting good routines, tailored to their strengths, with good music recently. Chemmy's had a few good routines too , but, with her, they seem undecided between concentrating on what she can do well and returning to trying things she and Sean are not really the right height and build for. That may be more lack of imgination and decisiveness , plus possibly Chemmy's determination to do the things again, than not bothering with her.

I don't think its time for the show to go, I just feel it needs freshening up. I find the set up the same every single season.

They need to cut out the amount of ad breaks, i appreciate why they are putting these breaks in, but why can't they let a few acts perform and then go to the ads? Rather than it being Chico for example and then a 5 minute ad break.



The producers bringing in the new judging panel, was the start of what i hope will be many changes over the coming years.

Just can't get excited about it any more. I would like to make excuses for it, because I have looked forward toward it during the past few years, but I don’t think there is much anyone can do to make the show any more appealing, at least not to this viewer, It’s had its time. (It has never been as good a programme concept as Strictly anyway). Programmes sometime have a sell by date ; the XFiles and Noels’ House Party being two that were clearly losing their appeal towards the end.

We have see the same old routines time and time again and Bolero has got boring, although it always was in my opinion. The skating is quite good this year and the personalities interesting. The judging panel are also good but even that all those things can’t make it worth watching. Also, even if it was still exciting viewers the proliferation of adverts would kill it anyway.

Get this series over and done with and then bin it. (And the XFactor, also past its sell by date)

It's the new blood at the business end that keeps these shows really fresh. The new dancers on SCD - when they're good - allow us to get the kind of routines we've never seen before, and keep things interesting in the context of the show.

By contrast, I think it's very evident that Torvill and Dean's stock of ideas is starting to run low, and the fact that all of the routines come out of the same brain just becomes more evident the more series they are responsible for choreographing.

The problem we have, of course, is that you simply couldn't sell DOI without Torvill and Dean's involvement. If I were the producers I'd be working with Chris Dean to find a way in which they could remain involved at the choreography end, but without responsibility for creating every routine.

My starter for ten: bring back required elements, hire a couple of proper ice dance choreographers to work with celebs, and make T&D responsible for group 'masterclasses' in which they demonstrate required elements, give assistance in the areas celebs need to work on to improve e.g. speed, dance style, characterisation, partner working etc. The longer you survived the competition, the more time T&D could devote to you, with the payoff being a routine choreographed by them when you get down to the final five, say.

You could choreograph Sunday, practise Monday/Tuesday, travel to a central location for your 'masterclass' Wednesday, then practise Thursday before dress rehearsal etc. on Friday.

Ooh, I like that. I should work for ITV

Having been an avid fan at the start, I'm bored of it now - the last two years I've not watched every show and this year I think I've watched one results show. I dislike Louie Spence, having not really come across him before, although I like Katarina Witt, but I wouldn't blame the judges panel.

Lorelei has some good points.. but the show is too long and the the skaters starting from too advanced a point to be entertaining for me.

That makes a change. I don't know why last week's was so long. Anyway I think it either needs to be axed completely or it needs a major overhaul:

* Less ad breaks and filler to make the show shorter
* A complete new judging panel consisting of only pro skaters (maybe keep Katarina and Robin but get another professional to replace Louie/Jason)
* Get rid of Philip Schofield and Christine Bleakley and find a new presenting duo (don't know who yet though)
* Have the main show on Saturday and the results show on Sunday
* New team of pro skaters to partner the celebs

It died early on in the series and is just waiting for burial. I would put money on it not coming back next year.