I wandered out to the kitchen a few times.

I stopped paying any attention to them about two thirds away through, when I realised they weren't going to bother having even rudimentary punchlines. Colin could have stripped naked in his and I wouldn't have noticed.

I do wish there was a programme that would 'dumb up' instead of 'dumb down'. None of the pro dancers are gifted actors, therefore their contributions are totally cringeworthy, and its making old fashioned ghastly music hall out of what used to be quite a sophisticated family show.

Time for a complete overhaul perhaps?

Ahhh! You missed that then!

When? When did that happen? Is it on iplayer?

More importatly, is Brendan planning to do the same?

I hate the VTs, but would make an exception for that

No completely imo. Last night was ridiculous-10 or 12 poorly produced pointless clips all about the same thing. They should be doing two or three off dance clips each week with selected celebs-the rest should be mostly about the dance build up. That way there is just enough variety added in the that area of the show.
In the end last night the clips got really irritating although I would admit younger children may have enjoyed them.

They annoy me too - so stupid and irrelevant. If you want to see training footage you need to watch ITT... though I wouldn't want to watch it there and then see the same footage on a Saturday night...

I loathe them and it puts me off watching the programme. I haven't watched the X-Factor at all this year for the same reason!

I ended up watching last nights show later last night so I could fast forward some of the VTs because they were awful. I'd much rather see what they have actually been up to in the week's training than some false event the producers have made them do as the believe it might look funny/good on tv. It is very staged and this was proven even more by ITT the other night when they showed Vincent repeatedly getting his lines wrong. There should't be any lines to get wrong, it should be the reality of what training is like for them!!

As you know, I completely agree, and I'm a SCD addict. If we addicts are getting fed up, something is wrong. Surely the Beeb will have to take notice of the huge number of posts, on many threads, about the VTs. Almost every one of them is negative.The show appeals to children of course, and it should do, as it's great Saturday night viewing for the family. But it always has done, long before the ghastly VTs. So as almost everyone is complaining about the VTs and about themed nights, I'm just hoping someone takes notice. We're not moaning, we don' t want to switch off, we just want an end to the nonsense and dumbing down that's crept in.

In answer to the OP, I'd say - The lowest common denominator. The one that has a combined IQ that is lower than that of the props. Or infants. Or both.

Thank you for this thread. I thought it was just me who found these VTs so awful. I used to start watching the show 15 minutes after the start so I could fast forward through Bruce's links, now I've readjusted to a 30 minute delay.

You know, you may have the basis of a good idea here.

Take the present show structure, cut out all but a bare minimum of Bruce's comments, cut out all of Tess's pointless commentary, cut out the duplication of her saying that the 'Joodge's scores are in' followed by a further, male, voice telling us the the 'Judge's scores are in', cut out all of the VT rubbish.


Concentrate on the dancers and the Judges comments.


Result, a shorter, sharper show, doing exactly what it says on the tin - showcase the dancers.

As for the Result show, there is too much nonsense there, the quality of much of which barely rises above the aforementioned VT rubbish. There could be 15 minutes off that without losing anything connected with the real show.

I complained last year about the VTs, and the email I got back was along the lines of "we have to target all our demographic"

Which part of your demographic wrote back saying "30 seconds of training per couple is too much, and too unnecessary, what I really want to see is some badly acted, unfunny sketches or I will watch the X-Factor instead!" ?!?

Maybe someone could send them a link to this thread to show our overwhelming disapproval

I dont think the VTs even appeal to the kids watching to be honest .They are too amatuer and cheesy even for kids .

And speaking as someone with extensive experience in what entertains kids I absolutely agree.

I'm wondering if the pro's don't like much training footage to be shown because it sometimes shows them or their celebs in a bad light. James Jordan for one hardly ever comes across well.
They may feel it gives some an advantage .. Chris & Ola for instance .. their training footage was key to their win.
Fern said she and Artem had a 'few moments' this week .. if they had showed that, that could have an affect on voting. Sid's attitude would have been even more noticeable .. though he couldn't hide it anyway so that's probably done or will shortly do for him.
I'm just wondering if they think it levels it out more .. between more gregarious or difficult celeb/pro's and the quieter or nicer ones.

It's terrible though .. they're awful and cringey and I'd rather see Edwina Currie do a salsa than watch them

Agreed. They were totally risible last night, a complete embarrassment.

I was with you all the way until you mentioned Edwina Currie. I know the VTs are absolutely dreadful but you've left sanity behind by suggesting that you'd rather watch her mangle the samba!!

As we are all united on this thread, and want the BBC to know exactly how we feel, does anyone know how to get the whole thread sent to the BBC? And we're not alone. There are other threads running, complaining about the way the show is heading, the way it is dumbing down (due seemingly to the Beeb wanting it to pinch viewers from the X factor), the way judges not allowed enough ttime to speak, the way the programme is neglecting its core fans from all the previous series, the way we're seeing fewer and fewer proper dances to appropriate, traditional music. We've all loved the show for years, and are loyal viewers, but we're all feeling unhappy about aslects of the show. HOW do we get that message to the BBC ???

Another vote for no 'Comedy' VTs. They are dreadful. Who do the BBC think enjoy them? It is especially irritating when they use up valuable time then Bruce is rushing through other parts of the show to compensate.

Yes, that's exactly what we're all saying. But how do we get that message to the BBC ? How do we get them to read this thread ??

Agree entirely with you Yorkshirelass but don't have the answer to your question I'm afraid.

Email a link to the production team/producer/somebody?

Yes, do we have a computer whizz person around, who knows how to do that ?? We ancients only know how to do the very basics !!