I always said it would lose some of the magic when Brucie went and I think it has. Saying that, it was time for him to go as he was obviously declining. People will say it is slicker and it runs better but I feel this is different to having the 'magic'. Some of the changes like the dancing judges and silly VT's are also contributing.

I can't stand the "dancing judges" Len's makes it look like, "party night at a care home."

I watch it or rather bits of it because I like dancing but I am uninterested in celebrities and their journeys. I also dislike most pop music.

So any comments I make will given the above.

But if pushed I'll say the show is crass.

It's like Eric Morecombe said about their Christmas shows. "We must have been absolutely hilarious 10 years ago, because every year people say, "Not as good as last year." "
I often watch clips from the early shows and they were pretty clunky- by no means the fabulous show that some think existed. What it did have was novelty, so we were all charmed by it. It can never have that novelty value again, but there will always be rose-tinted glasses to convince us that the past was wonderful.

It lost its magic about 3 or 4 years ago when the exodus of some of the best pros began and the show started introducing ridiculous props and theme weeks and becoming horrifically lax on proper choreography rules and technique. In fact if I was going to be really specific I'd say it's gradually been losing its magic since the glory days of 2007 when there were no props, instead simply brilliant pros and music that actually suited each dance, the finalists had danced all the ten dances plus AT and salsa, AT was saved for the semi-final, there were only two finalists and they did five dances each (proper test) and ITT was actually informative.

Brucie leaving has nothing to do with it, in fact I think the show this year is a huge improvement with him gone. Just a pity about the 70:30 ratio of faffing around to actual dancing in a lot of the dances, the awful music, the cringeworthy VTs and all the cheap looking props and gimmicky costumes...

I'm enjoying this series more than I have the last two or three, and that's despite feeling very "meh" when I saw the line-up announced, and my usual irritation at the poor song choices / props / theming.

There are two reasons why, for me, it's got its mojo back this year:

1) The celebs as a group work really well together, there seems to be even more genuine warmth and support than normal (some of which could be down to Claudia taking over the after-dance interviews) AND the pro-celeb pairings are almost all spot on. I'm finding it harder each week to decide who to vote for because between them nearly everyone has improved, or has made me smile, or has danced beautifully, or has been really engaging.

2) I'm limiting my DS time (Shock! Horror! Sacrilege!). Show time live thread excepted, this is only my second or third visit to the forum since the series started, and it's so damn liberating. I'm not seeing constant negativity, sniping, fan warz, criticism and I'm rediscovering what it was that made me fall in love with the show in the first place..watching surprisingly likeable celebrities learning to dance, building a partnership and revealing a different side to themselves, with added glitz, glitter and godets.

I would say that is the theme this year, What with the dancing judges, the dreadful short/ tight badly put together trousers for the men, and the very silly looking zombie upstairs... to pat heads, act eccentric and say something funny if poss, I would say without doubt SCD has lost the magic this year...Imo it is embarrassing in parts....

A tad harsh I think. Claudia is a vast improvement on Tess in my opinion. Ms. Winkleman is in my view a highly intelligent woman who clearly enjoys playing the role of a scatterbrain. I do not miss Bruce at all.

PS every year either here or on the BBC message boards people write that the show isn't as good as it used to be.

I think it's more a case of people getting older and looking back at their first encounters with Strictly and fondly remembering (or not) who was dancing or presenting then. That's why it's often expressed in terms of missing particular pros or a sense that it was more of a real dance competition then than now.

If you look at old vids of dances or exchanges what strikes me is how naff much of it is. A few excellent dances apart Strictly doesn't withstand close scrutiny. For me it's an experience that is renewed each year. It's always slightly different depending on who is on the show. Now that Brucie has gone I enjoy Strictly more but can always find time to bitch about the production values, the panel, presenters, celebs and pros that don't float my boat, nans, naff VTs and silly fillers on ITT. Although I bitch about these things it's all part of my enjoyment - the sand in the oyster.

I disagree. It is nothing to do with people remembering a better show. It is a fact that changes have been made that have contributed to some of the magic being lost.

Am I the only one to have starting seeing X-Factor style sob stories in the VT's now .

Cute kiddies, family visits.

Add to that female celebs crying on cue, it all smacks of a bit "Vote for me" by stealth.

Last year's Final VT's were just vomit-inducing.

I am not interested in your "feelings" or your "Family support" or your "Journey" , just smile, shut up, and go and Dance for us.

There's a very well-known aspect of cognitive bias whereby people tend to remember events from the past with more fondness than they felt about them at the time. The reason suggested is that gripes are more readily forgotten than the enjoyable bits.

There is some truth there but I can still stick on videos/discs of series episodes from before the creeping prop invasion while washing up and enjoy them far more or indeed, enjoy and appreciate the dances far more, than I do the last few series. Kara is the honourable exception.

I don't disagree with any of what you have said here.

Week 4 and they're (well Anton anyway) still not being penalised for illegal lifts.

And I've been moaning about the "showdance" routines for ages. By the time the finalists get to do a showdance they don't look anything special. However, when I said this to a couple of friends recently, they reminded me that the show isn't meant for dancers, but as entertainment for non-dancing viewers, who would be bored with 'real' dancing without the tricks, etc. Judging by comments on DS I'm not sure that is true, and I think the "non-dancing viewers" are being somewhat underestimated.

I'd suggest that the "non dancing viewers" make up most of the audience. The show has progressively targeted that market, that's the reason for the increase in viewer numbers.

It's all about ratings, isn't it?

Zoe trying to interview Jake was a thing of joy
The Friday panel this week was a breath of fresh air with people - who obviously watch and love the show - saying just ordinary, and slightly off script things that are said on the sofa's and keyboards of the 'ordinary' viewer. Next week, can we just have Jake, Marion and the footage for the Friday ITT.

Of course that is true, I'm not disagreeing.

The show has always been targeted towards the non dancing viewer. I'm not saying that the whole of a dance should be strictly authentic - but of the 90 seconds of - say a foxtrot - 60 seconds should be proper foxtrot, leaving 30 seconds for tricks or whatever. And there's the other virtually "do-what-you-like" dances such as Charleston & salsa where the couples can "let rip".

But at the moment every ballroom dance is danced in the American Smooth style, so when a couple do get an American Smooth to dance, they simply shove in a few lifts, which is ridiculous.

It's been like that for years though.

Strictly Bingo - which charts such things as birthdays, landmark birthdays, first deployment of cute children, first deployment of fiesty nan, work commitments, training in a pumpkin field (or similar work related environment) and so on has been a staple for almost as long as the show

I agree wholeheartedly.

It is natural that the element of 'it's not like it used to be' kicks in, but this is more than that. In 2004 the BBC introduced a new idea for a show and it took off like a rocket. Then over the years the various producers have tried to make the show bigger and better. I'm definitely not against all of the changes, but in the process of change (gradual or not so gradual at times), the producers have mismanaged the heart of the show - watching a celebrity learning to dance with a pro partner. Some people will argue that basic factor has not changed, but that's not true.

The one constant has been the celeb/pro partnerships and their time together producing their performances. Part of the enjoyment of the show was watching the evolving relationship between the celeb and the pro. We followed them in the training room working together on the choreography to music chosen by the pro. This was a big factor of what we see as the end result.

Now though the producers choose or meddle with everything, even to the point of influencing choreography and probably the judges. No wonder so many of us are disenchanted.

The show is "micro managed," even down to the "applause" and "standing ovations" and dare I say of it, some of the "emotional reactions" of a few of the contestants.

That's phrase I've used a lot on here too. It certainly is now, but hand on heart I don't think it was in the early series. I think it started with Series 6.

I used to love the show but this year I find it just plain silly.

Every dog has its day and it's time to put this particular one to sleep........

You're probably right. Happens with other programmes.

There's usually a BBC "suit" behind it all trying to make "improvements" and a name for themselves.

Don't forget the Series 6 wedding! Nobody's topped that. Weren't Tom and his new wife woken up by Camilla after their wedding night? Not that that was staged or anything. *Misses rolleyes smiley*

Or the Alesha Dixon double nan (one black, one white) card. Also Alesha, apparently not having access to cute children, played the pet dog on ITT.

It is a simple fact that there are not enough of the hard core dancing enthusiasts to justify an expensive programme at peak times.

There are so many TV channels that someone would be catering for that audience if they thought they could get enough viewers.