I am a refugee from X Factor and switched over this year. It was a really good show. It looks really promising.

Who else enjoyed it?

Definitely. But on first viewing the girls look better than the guys, although I may change my mind after seeing the girls dance properly next week.

I agree with you, the girls do look better. I think there could be a female winner.

Was a bit of an anti-climax for me...... and I'm a die-hard fan.

Bruce & Tess were cringeworthy, the pantomime panel were too inconsistent and the boys were..... well, rubbish ..... with the exception of John Barnes

Totally agree, i'm off to watch the Yanks.

Bruce was very annoying.

I'm looking forward to seeing the ladies dance, from the group routine, I can see that there is already a lot of competing going on

Alesha stood out for me but in terms of the men, I thought that Willy was good, for a first dance, Matt has potential and John is good but I think he needs to be smoother.

Agreed.

I was really disappointed with, well, everything really. I was expecting someone to blow me away, and nobody really did that.

Bruce was awful, Tess was worse, and Kenny and John are about as fun as the Ebola virus.

Excellent first show and i was delighted to hear the choice of music matching the dances in beat and tempo for all the couples, and the girls dance tonight. Lets hope those in charge have come to their senses and stopped picking totally inappropriate music.

I really enjoyed the show. The first is always the worst as everyone is so nervous and it just gets better as you get to learn more about everyone and both the dancing and partnerships develop. The women looked great and I think a couple of those men will improve and be in it as well!

I agree, I was looking forward to the younger guys but they were a bit flat.
Every year on Strictly the overall standard of the male celebs gets better and better. I think it just took a huge dip this year. (yes I'm judging by the first week only)
Gethin and Matt especially have a lot of potential all I can hope is the fulfill it.
Wasn't that impressed by Dominic. Brian and Kenny need a lot of work. Really liked Willie though!

They should have started with the girls week or even better have 12 couples and all dance together

I did enjoy it - the girls are looking fab this year, would have like to have seen them dance apart from in the group formation.......do they usually only have either the guys or girls dancing on week one, i cant remeber that from last year?

I liked it. It's best that the show doesn'tr peak too early. I suppose this year they're trying to big up the "journies" that the contestants will undergo.

It was a wonderful first show but not having the results show to look forward to later tonight had deflated my excitement of the night.

Bruce really should retire after this show. I've always defended him but he was definitely the weakest link tonight. Otherwise, I enjoyed it and can't wait for tomorrow's show!

Yes, he did splutter a bit on a couple of occassions bless him

Utter rubbish. Well, not quite but definitely on a downward descent. They're going through the motions and NO RESULTS. We have to wait 24 hours for an insipid recorded programme.

I'm going to wait until Monday to see the result with Claudia, but to be honest I don't think I'm going to see this series out. They've really pi****d on their chips.

I think both presenters are a weakness....but they don't really affect my enjoyment much.

It's a great format...not the best standard tonight...but good to have it back on.

Hope the delayed results show doesn't detract too much.

Totally agree the girls look so much more promising than the boys but I guessed that when the lineup was revealed.

Tomorrow night looks good as well with Mark and Karen back dancing and the group dance, personally I think Willie or Brian will be of first.

I switched over to TXF and heard 'this is ging to change our lives' and switched back.

Much as I dislike the idea of the male then female competitions in the first 2 shows; well documented from last series, & tonight's show over-ran a bit, I thought that it was great to finally have something worth watching on a Saturday night again.

Okay, so the camera angles can be annoying & Brucie's joke's can be as amusing as a club foot, at times, this is simply part of the charm of the show; face it, what would a family Christmas be without the arguments , SCD is back & we can all sit back & enjoy.

It's a great programme. The scheduling is stupid (SCD is prime time, not Casualty!) and the direction is as dodgy as ever (send the director to a dance studio, show him the full length mirror and explain why it's relevant to see the whole of a dance), but it's still a gem of a show.

It's a shame no really was great from the start. Willie did well but once he has to do a latin dance he will be out. John Barnes did well but as soon as the girls enter the show and people like Gethin and Matt improve he will be left behind. The same for Dominic.

The new slick production was awfully 'busy' and Americanised. Mind you, the studio inherited a grander sense of scale with the towering arch now erected over the face of the stage.

I do fear an erosion of the subtler elements which have characterised SCD's unique charm over the past 4 years. It was the least enjoyable opening show since the first series for me, but still pretty good fun.

I wish they'd take it back to the home of ballroom dancing; i.e. The Tower Ballroom, Blackpool. Can't get more magnificent than that for a dancing.

Oh i absolutely agree. The final needs to go back to the Tower Ballroom. Cut it back to a 10 week series and invest the freed-up production costs into invading Blackpool for the finale!