I think some people are taking this to extremes.
The BBC every year, always have one or two competitors who have potential.
They like them to do well as there's a knock-on benefit to any show in which these people are appearing.
They will try to present these people to their best advantage, hopefully them making the final.
But it hardly matters if they win, as once the series is over the interest wanes. So any PR advantage is no longer there.

They avoid the 'major channels' so much that programmes there regularly get audiences up towards 10 million and are the most popular channels even in households with Sky. If you look at the figures on the BARB site it is rare for any channel apart from BBC1, BBC2, ITV and CH4 to get more than a million viewers and even CH4 has a handful of two million. The whole of Sky only gets three programmes in the Top 30 for 'Others' and only one of those gets just over one million.

Too English with all those Irish, Scottish and Welsh presenters on a whole range of programmes?

Sorry, but this really isn't going to prove anything.Take this season - highest average score would be Natalie, but the judges are still clearly favouring Patrick (and disfavouring Sophie) and the producers Susanna. It's not who gets the highest average score, it's whether those scores fairly reflect the quality of the dance. And you won't see that by just looking at the scores.

As a sports fan I can ASSURE you there is only 1 country being reported on in the news and that begins with an E!

Not prepared to engage in further discussion about this as this has been going on for many many years!

Agree, ridiculous that some people think this. Just utter rubbish :sleep:

Agree why the BBC are allowed to refer to the England Cricket team as "We" is beyond me.

People complain every year that people are favoured because they work(ed) for the BBC.
Every year I ask what earthly good would it do the Beeb.
I've never understood an answer to my question, so I just assume I'm right in refusing to see conspiracies under every bush.

Its just a way for people to attack the other celebrities on the show to argue why their favourite should have a better chance of winning as they don't work for BBC :sleep:

Here we go again, it isn't about a "conspiracy" it's about an "advantage," see the title of this thread.
It's no surprise that the BBC select a few of "their own" each year, who they see with a bit of potential, after all as I said before, "it's their ball" so I don't blame them.
It is then possible to "navigate" the viewers to an extent with selected training clips, to present them in the best possible light.
The further they go, like Susanna and Patrick who are both currently in BBC programmes, the more positive spin they can get for the BBC and the individual programmes.

I don't understand this way of thinking. I have never watched most of the people in their day jobs although I had heard of most of their names. Don't know who works for bbc, itv or other tho. All the vts are nice that I've seen tho I tend to ff these as I find them boring. I just like who I like for whatever reason at the time as I think most people do. Nobody is 'manipulating' me

I don't think there is a BBC bias but I do think the producers have an idea of what kind of journey they want the series to take, who will generate headlines and how they want to shape the final. I also suspect that who is doing the tour influences who makes the final (the BBC don't produce the tour but they do generate income from it and, obviously, the success of the tour and the success of the television show are intertwined) and I suspect that some celebs have crafty agents who put a clause in the contract ensuring the producers do all they can to get their client to the final, which would explain things like last year's decision to have a four person final all of a sudden.

Thats personal opinion and speculation though. The closest we can get to proper evaluation is to look at who the judges favoured over the past years. And even if you dont just look at the top average score, people who viewers screamed were overmarked in past years:

Lisa snowdon-not bbc
Pam stephenson-not bbc
Lisa riley-not bbc
Jason donovon-not bbc

Perhaps it is just coincidence that someone you and many others think is being overmarked this year is a Beeb employee

Series One Natasha was pretty much the best dancer full stop.


Would completely agree with you Monkseal, Alex didn't really have much competition to be overmarked against.

I agree with this!

I find it rather insulting to think that I am so weak minded I can be swayed by the way a celeb is marketed.

From my own observations and mine alone!

Patrick - I am indifferent to him in all ways, not a bad dancer but isn't my favourite! I don't watch Casualty or Holby City (whichever one he is in)

Susanna - I love her! I love the fact she is not a dancer, has said she doesn't think she is 10 material, is a mother of 3 (I think) enjoys the dancing very much and has great chemistry with Kevin, all very very entertaining! I'm usually not up in time to watch the morning news!

Sophie - seems a proficient dancer but doesn't seem to have the chemistry with Brendon even though they both insist there is it doesn't obvious (to me)! I find her cold when dancing and lacking in personality! I didn't like her hit record either.

Mark - fun and doing his best but time he left and he should have gone before Ben IMHO! Loved him in Christmas Lights with Robson Green.

Natalie - didn't like the fact she had a background in dance but tried to see past it until she had her 'episode' and cited exhaustion as the cause, that gave her a free pass to Blackpool. I wonder how she would cope if she had a real job or children to see to at the same time. Complete Diva!

Ashley - like him but nothing special, I think he is struggling to juggle his work on TV soap and practice. - I have never seen Hollyoaks!

Abbey - like her, didn't think I would and is turning into a good dancer. She too is enjoying it, although again not my favourite! I didn't know who she was before this although the name 'rung a bell'!

I have not been swayed by the BBC in any way and as I said find it a tad insulting to allude to the fact that I have been or could be.

I thought actors, presenters etc who worked for the BBC were actually self-employed taking contracts as they are offered, rather than employees per se? No?

No one is saying you were.

But the fact that advertising and PR are such multi-billion pound business, must suggest that many people's perceptions can be influenced.

You left out Chris Hollins OP . I don't go with the favouritism to BBC employees lark .

The less sport the better as far as I concerned.

Most of them are but it does not stop people calling them BBC staff, even the ones who do work for other broadcasters.

I don't understand why there is so much vitriol over Craig saying that Patrick was the best male dancer of the series. Patrick is the best, who do people think it is otherwise...Ashley?

I don't think there is necessarily a bbc bias, but this year in particular I think certain couples have had the benefit in terms of show position and song selection/staging and Susanna (& Patrick to a certain extent) is benefitting from it.

I think the most glaring example was the paso - Kevin and Susanna got a traditional paso song/staging whereas Ashley & Ola the same show had to fight with a western theme. It's little things like that which make people raise their eyebrow. In fairness, idk if it has anything to do with the BBC but this year, I do think there is a certain element of assistance going on.

I'm a fan of Derren Brown and it is very interesting how susceptible we are to persuasion and manipulation. I remember one show of his where he manipulated a man in advertising into coming up with an ad campaign purely by exposing him to various small sightings during a taxi ride. The man thought he came to his decisions independently but Derren had subtly put all the ideas into his head. A few weeks ago I was voting for Mark after the Saturday show and there was a big picture of Ben on the main SCD page. The photo reminded me how much I had liked Ben and his performance that week and so I voted for him as well.

Obviously producers manipulate the viewers (or they would be rather redundant in their jobs). I'm not a fan of shows like The X-Factor, Big Brother or I'm A Celebrity but people seem ready to accept that there is a lot of behind-the-scenes orchestration on those shows and yet are completely in denial about Strictly. Of course the producers have a agenda - it's their job.

I think vitriol is a little strong for what I've said which was annoyed!

The reason I was annoyed was that I think it deflates the enthusiasm of the other male dancers. Now some may say it would give them a kick up the backside but I just thought it would dishearten some of the other dancers who were giving their all.

So I was annoyed at this comment especially as it was some weeks ago when there were a few more males still left in.

I'm not sure you read what my original post through - I was talking about couples with highest average score from the judges NOT the public's winner (which the judges have no control over).