Got tickets for the first show. Whey hey !!!!!!

Has anyone who has been before got any tips apart from get there early?

Thanks x

Soooooo jealous!

Well done!

Have fun, and be sure to come back and tell us all about it.

booooo - kudos for you, but nix for me (again)

Well done! Am new to this so how does it work, are they all allocated before the series starts or do you just find out a couple of weeks in advance. Am trying to plan ahead, just in case

Unfortunately it's too late as applications closed 16 Sep. you can register for news on tickets on the BBQ website. I just applied for every session and hope I got lucky. Finally did after trying for years.

Thanks for replying, I have applied for every session - just wondering if everyone hears at once or if it's staggered as the series goes on.

I'm not sure but I think they do it a couple of weeks before, so you may still be lucky, I'm still cha cha charing around the house darling!!

Am sure you'll have a ball (and am so jealous!) I need to get some holidays booked but knowing my luck if I do manage to get some whenever I book to be away would be the weekend I end up with tickets! At least I have tickets to some of the tours next year to console myself with.

i have applied year in year out and never lucky

take it i won't be lucky this year

ditto!

Is it for the Friday 5th october show you have tickets??? (or Saturday 6th)

If so, you need to queue as early as possible. If things follow as per last year with the seating and VIPs etc the same, and you want the best seats in the house (the first 14 posssibly 16) at the front on the dance floor, then you need to queue early as possible. After that its pretty random for the next 100. Some are good seats, some are bad.

If its for the Friday show, you could turn up at lunchtime ish and still probably get a decent ish seat although much later than that and you might still get in but there's no knowing if you get a decent seat or be behind one of the pillars/staircases or upstairs where the view other than the front row upstairs is a bit restricted etc.

What timings does it say on the e ticket??
Whatever it says for access to BBC site - you will need to plan to be there 2-3 hrs before that.

You hear about 2 weeks before the show date. Sometimes less than that.

Hi Sarah

Thanks for the advice. It is the Friday I have tickets for and they say admission from 16.45. So you think its best to get there before lunchtime and queue to be sure of getting a half decent seat?

Definitely.

I went last year on the Friday and I bumped into a friend (who I didnt know would be there) and she had got there about 10 and managed to get one of the key places at the front (13 and 14). I got there about 2.30 ish after working half a day and the person who was queuing with me had got there about 1.30 and we ended up being about 200 back in the queue. We managed to get a seat downstairs but the view was slightly restricted by a pillar and a TV camera fixing point. It was ok, but if Id known then that being there early could get you a front row place, Id have certainly taken the whole day off work.

The issue with the Friday recording is that they can usually have up to 4 or 5 shows recording on any given weekday evening, (many not even BBC ones), so the audience waiting area can get very very full. (Saturday is usually a bit different because its usually only Strictly - and maybe one other show) There are only approximately 100 places to sit inside the waiting area (which can hold up to 1000 standing if they have 4+ shows recording) and, as Strictly might be the last to start recording (does it say if the show is live at 8pm or 9pm?), the Strictly audience often get in first and have to wait until last of those shows being recorded to leave the audience waiting area (bbc canteen). As it takes about 1.5 hrs to seat the Strictly audience, whatever else is happening, it can be a very very long wait as they call people through in 20s/30s. Its worth taking a picnic chair or rug to sit on outside whilst waiting in the street, and getting there early enough in the queue can mean you get a chair to sit on inside whilst you wait to go through to the studio.

Last year on the Friday, the audience started to go into the BBC about 4.30 (so a bit earlier than the ticket says) but we had to wait for about 2.5 hours (maybe more) inside (standing up). The waiting area is, in effect, the lunch canteen for BBC TVC so there is a bar where you can get snacks, teas, coffees and wine etc, although don't count on there being much there if you are far back in the queue.

Whatever you take with you, you should bear in mind that there is a facility to change (if you wish, [the toilets]), as well as a cloakroom/desk where you can hand in big bags, rugs, coats, chairs etc (free). You are only really allowed to take a small handbag through to the studio, together with a bottle of water (no glass) and no food at all (although I have been known to take some chewing gum/mints etc).

Also bear in mind unless you are in the first 16 for front row seats or unless you are lucky enough to be seated directly behind the judges or by one of a couple cameras (approx 20), you are extremely unlikely to be seen on the TV except for a head/shoulders shot - so if you dress glamorously with killer (uncomfortable) heels etc, its likely to be a waste of time. I always say, glittery top, black trousers/skirt and extremely comfortable shoes are the necessity for Strictly. A chair for queuing and an umbrella and coat are more important than the glitz....! The warm up guys says in his speel that its important for everyone to be looking their best and smiling and clapping all the time, but in effect this is a waste of time as there's pretty much no chance of you being seen.

Also if you are in the early part of the queue, particularly at the start of the season, its more likely that the tv cameras (eg ITT team) and even some of the celebs and pros (particularly the boys who dont need to be in make up early) come down the queue to speak to the fans.

Not sure where you are coming from but you can park in Westfield anytime after 10 am (I think) for about £5 for the whole day which is only 5 mins walk away from the queue.

Hope all this helps (and for anyone else who has tickets for the early shows).

What's the filming schedule like for normal Saturday evenings if they want folks there before 5pm? I assume they film some of the clips for the results show early. What time do they normally finish on the Saturday.

How many seats are available generally? Presume over 200 from earlier messages.

Sounds like it's a long wait if you want decent seats. Are there facilities near where people queue in case want food, drinks, toilets etc.?

The BBC would have made it easier for everyone if they had allocated seats in advance when they draw the tickets. That way people don't have to queue as long in the cold and rain.

Thanks for any info.

As Sara said in her excellent and helpful post, it takes an hour and a half to get the audience seated - a bit of a logistical nightmare - hence the need to get there early.

It's near Westfield shopping centre and other people have said before that, having got chatting to other people in the queue, they'll hold your place while you nip off for refreshment, and you do the same for them.

The BBC can't allocate seats in advance. These are free tickets and therefore a lot of people don't turn up, even when they've been lucky enough to get them. Therefore the BBC massively over-allocates. If you don't get there early, you don't get in. In these circumstances, they can hardly allocate seats, can they?

And in further answers:

* they usually record the music act (+ pro dance support) before the filming of the live show .... so the act can "shove" off when they are done. I dont think they usually cater for these to be in the audience, except perhaps Barrowman(!). The rest of the results show is usually shot after the live show. Most of the filming is done in the order its knitted together, although any more pro dances/demos etc are done first to allow the pro dancers to get back into their costume/hair styling for the elimination MOT process.

* Filming usually finishes for the results show filming by about 10 pm (although there have been exceptions of overrunning). Then audience people have to get out of the studio (and these takes a while) and then have to queue to get phones back and any coats/bags etc. If there are 2 of you, always a good idea for one person to be in the phones queue and the other in the coats queue. Usually people are out of the gates by 10.30 (ish).

* I think there are approximately 450/500 seats for the GBP (excluding VIPs, families etc).

* Usually there is a couple of hour wait somewhere along the line, either waiting in the studio once seated (if you are early in the queue) or in the waiting area (if you are late in the queue).

* There is a car park in Westfield for anyone coming by car.

* There is a small coffee shop just inside the entrance for Wood Lane station (just across the road from TVC Audience queuing point) as well as several coffee/burger (Costa/Burger King) type places just inside Westfield - the corner nearest TVC.

* For early queuers, the audience team often will come out and scan and sticker your tickets early (approximately 1 pm) to allow you to go off, eat, change etc in Westfield. Then you can go away from the queue, and return to the same place for entry at 4.00pm or whatever time it says on the ticket (for Access to Site).

As Peeve has said they massively oversubscribe tickets (as they are free). With probably around 1200 tickets issued, and only approximately 500 seats in the studio (depending on how many VIPs etc), perhaps you can see why its necessary to arrive early.

After trying every year for 9 years I have tickets for October 13th!
Not sure if I have to work that weekend though and won't find out until wednesday! Keeping everything crossed!

Here we go. Just about to get in car and head off from Brighton. Weather not looking great for queuing up though. Sure it will be worth it!

Can I just say I hope everyone with tickets for tonight and tomorrow has a fantastic time! Please come back on here and tell us all about it.

got here about 10.45. About 30 in queue in front. Hoping the rain stays away till we're under cover. About 100 here now.

Yes, I've just walked past the queue outside television centre. It stretches from the Audience Entrance, past the main TVC reception, and to almost level with White City Tube Station. That's one very long queue for this time of the day, considering there's a good few hours yet until the doors open!