personally i dislike them especially Halloween hate it

Halloween has tended to be the best one.

I'm not in favour of them because so far they have tended more to the 'Penguins doing the Cha Cha Cha to a Disco track', than the 'blow people away' Jive.

It also tends to be an excuse to almost ignore the type of dance you are supposed to be doing.

No, I'd rather they just danced

I don't mind a theme, as long as it is consistent with every one. Trying to shoehorn extra elements in to make it fit the brief is fine, as long as every dancer is treated the same.
How could you compare Kirsty, all makeup and feather tail, to Katie in a red dress to represent a movie.
Georgia just danced a Rhumba to a bond theme which was only established at the beginning by Giovanni in a James Bond Pose (sans sweat).
Some "stars" are hampered by theme weeks, while others get away scot free.

We would not get that Pulp Fiction jive, but then we would not get penguins doing cha cha cha either I think it's like with everything it can be excellent or not. It depends if it is used as a starting point, a context, or as an escape from doing a proper dance.

Generally yay but the last week's was a nay - largely because there were too many naff dances at the beginning.

It could be done without it being a Movie Week, but I agree that it would be less likely in that everything else has to come together, and they seem to put extra budget into themed weeks.

I love Halloween week!

I also dont mind movie week if I am honest

but that is enough for me!

I love Halloween week and I like movie week. i just wish theme weeks (other than Halloween) was more about the songs (& songs that fit the dance!) than the costumes. An Aladdin rumba, a penguin Cha Cha...I think they could do better.

No problem with them in principle.

I'm not mad keen on too many silly costumes and props though.

I can cope with the costume but find the swirly lit up themed floor very hard on the eyes . I would love just plain wooden floor so we can see whats going on

The smoke machine is the worst! For those that like to concentrate on the footwork, it totally spoils it.

I generally dislike the theme weeks. Mainly because they keep repeating the same themes! It would be nice to have something a bit different. Maybe an 80's music theme. I know that's usually a regular week for Brendan! It could be fun though.

As for Halloween week, I detest it. Really wish they'd stop doing it.

They can do theme weeks and keep it classy (which I have no problem with then) but when someone at the top finds it funny to make fun of the couples wherever possible it annoys me then. You can put humour in the show without taking the p*ss out of people (Scott as a crab, etc). Kirsty tried her best to convince us that she didn't mind being a dog, but I didn't buy it, and if she had left the show as a dog I think that would have felt like a double disappointment.

I actually thought she looked oddly beautiful as a dog

I think movie-week has potential to be great, if they just stop shoehorning in Disney And musicals because that is the cheese factor

If done right they can be great but it depends on the music etc.

I mean as poor as Jake's AT was the music choice did him no favours.

Liked the decades idea that they had for Blackpool week (I think!) in 2012 for example.

Themes and props can aid the dancers lower down the scoreboard.
The new to dancing celebs without themes and props will just dance some bad dance with no resemblance to anything and leave the audience uninterested. Coming out week after week down trodden with the realisation they are just being crossed off one after the other.

With themes and props they are able to tell a story and at least attract votes and shorten the gap between themselves and the celebs with previous experience . It allows them to have fun and enjoy the experience of putting on a show performance of some sort despite not mastering all the steps.

I wouldn't enjoy the show as much with a group of previous experience celebs taking over the contest.

Loathe Halloween. Feels very stale now. Just cobwebs everywhere and someone as Dracula and someone else as Sexy Morticia.

Same old same old every year.

Hate them.

Although, without them, would never have seen Aljaz dressed as Tony Curtis. Which is a sight that has to be worth a bit of pain.

Much ado about not very much. Coincidence that he went last or not, Jay's dance conveniently papered over many cracks.

I mostly like them.

I think if I was only an occasional viewer, the theme or special weeks would be the weeks I would tune in to watch together with the final.

I'm ok with themes as such , but when wardrobe goes almost insane by putting the dancers in costumes that make them look stupid or impede their ability then it grinds my gears . Less is more for goodness sake .

I love them, especially Halloween! I mean, let's face it, Wardrobe make somebody look stupid every week, not just on theme weeks! If I do have a gripe, it's overuse of props not on a theme week - that really gets my dander up!