Hi everyone, newbie here.

As a statistics nut and a huge Strictly fan (i've watched right from series 1) i just thought for a bit of fun it would be interesting to track this year's couples progress by comparing them to previous series. I decided to start from series 10 as that was when the format changed and the dance-off was re-introduced.

SERIES 10
WEEK 1

Leaderboard
Rank Couple Score
1 Lisa & Robin 30
2 Kimberley & Pasha 28
3 Louis & Flavia 27
4 Sid & Ola 26
5 Denise & James 25
6 Colin & Kristina 23
7 Richard & Erin 22
8 Dani & Vincent 21
9 Michael & Natalie 20
10 Fern & Artem 19
11 Jerry & Anton 18
=12 Nicky & Karen 17
=12 Johnny & Iveta 17
14 Victoria & Brendan 16

Total Points: 309
Average: 22.07

Highest Scorers: Lisa & Robin 30
Next Highest: Kimberley & Pasha 28
Lowest Scorers: Victoria & Brendan 16
Number of 10s: 0

Bottom Two: N/A
Eliminated: N/A

SERIES 11
WEEK 1

Leaderboard
Rank Couple Score
1 Abbey & Aljaž 32
2 Natalie & Artem 31
=3 Susanna & Kevin 28
=3 Sophie & Brendan 28
=3 Patrick & Anya 28
6 Rachel & Pasha 27
7 Ashley & Ola 25
=8 Mark & Iveta 24
=8 Fiona & Anton 24
=8 Deborah & Robin 24
11 Julien & Janette 20
=12 Ben & Kristina 19
=12 Vanessa & James 19
=14 Tony & Aliona 16
=14 Dave & Karen 16

Total Points: 361
Average: 24.07

Highest Scorers: Abbey & Aljaz 32
Next Highest: Natalie & Artem 31
Lowest Scorers: Tony & Aliona 16
Dave & Karen 16
Number of 10s: 0

Bottom Two: N/A
Eliminated: N/A

SERIES 12
WEEK 1

Leaderboard
Rank Couple Score
1 Frankie & Kevin 30
2 Jake & Janette 28
=3 Caroline & Pasha 27
=3 Pixie & Trent 27
=3 Simon & Kristina 27
=6 Alison & Aljaž 26
=6 Steve & Ola 26
=8 Mark & Karen 24
=8 Sunetra & Brendan 24
10 Thom & Iveta 23
=11 Tim & Natalie 18
=11 Judy & Anton 18
=11 Jennifer & Tristan 18
=11 Gregg & Aliona 18
15 Scott & Joanne 16

Total Points: 350
Average: 23.33

Highest Scorers: Frankie & Kevin 30
Next Highest: Jake & Janette 28
Lowest Scorers: Scott & Joanne 16
Number of 10s: 0

Bottom Two: N/A
Eliminated: N/A

Of the three previous champions, only Abbey and Aljaz were top of the leaderboard in Week 1. Louis and Flavia and Caroline and Pasha finished 3rd on their respective Week 1 leaderboards.

Natalie and Artem scored 31 with their Week 1 dance and this remained their lowest score throughout Series 11.

So it's not a good sign you'll make the final if you finish 9th and below - even if you're 8th, you're likely to finish 4th (Dani Harmer, Mark Wright).

Series 11 was eerily prescient in it's week 1 rankings - I wouldn't be surprised if the top 5 in order were the top 5 in order.

Yeah, i agree. It's also interesting to note that in Series 10, Louis was the only decent male dancer, Series 11 only really had Patrick and Ashley, and Series 12 only Simon and Jake, with Mark as a relatively decent dancer.

Interesting stats op. Thanks for sharing

Thank you Slayer.

Adding this week's first set of scores for comparison:

SERIES 13
WEEK 1

Leaderboard
Rank Couple Score
1 Peter & Janette 30
2 Helen & Aljaž 29
=3 Kellie & Kevin 27
=3 Anita & Gleb 27
=3 Jay & Aliona 27
=3 Georgia & Giovanni 27
7 Katie & Anton 26
8 Daniel & Kristina 24
=9 Anthony & Oti 21
=9 Jamelia & Tristan 21
=11 Kirsty & Brendan 20
=11 Ainsley & Natalie 20
13 Jeremy & Karen 19
14 Iwan & Ola 17
15 Carol & Pasha 16

Total Points: 351
Average: 23.40

Highest Scorers: Peter & Janette 30
Next Highest: Helen & Aljaz 29
Lowest Scorers: Carol & Pasha 16
Number of 10s: 0

Bottom Two: N/A
Eliminated: N/A

Peter and Janette topped the leaderboard with 30 pts, the same score as Frankie and Kevin top in Series 12 and Lisa and Robin in Series 10, neither of whom won the Glitterball and only Frankie and Kevin were finalists.

Abbey and Aljaz topped the table in Series 11, but they scored higher with 32 pts.