An epic serving of fab-u-lous froth makes perfect post-dinner viewing
Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special
At the best of times, Strictly Come Dancing is a decent substitute for Christmas. It has jolly tunes, sparkling costumes and an outside chance of at least one person going home in tears.
And so the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2023 (BBC One) is like Yuletide squared, an eggnog fountain with no “off ” button, Santa multiplied by Frosty the Snowman with a Sugar Plum Fairy on top.
In other words, just what you wanted as the Christmas evening lull kicked in and the temptation to doze verged on overwhelming. There was no snoring through this enjoyably whiz-bang affair.
Eastenders’s bad boy Jamie Borthwick, Sugababe Keisha Buchanan and clever-clogs historian Dan Snow were among those teaming up with pro dancers – and each put in the full turkey-with-trimmings effort. Snow kicked off with an amusing piece discussing the history of Strictly Christmas specials as if reporting on such dimly recalled figures from the annals as the ancient Mesopotamians or Simon Cowell’s X Factor.
Then, it was over the top and into the line of fire. Dressed as a gingerbread man, Snow hoisted Nadiya Bychkova into the air during a jive and ripped his trousers for good measure. Here was an unwrapping everyone could have done without – not least, the quietly mortified Snow.
On Strictly Come Dancing proper, he’d have been reduced to mince meat. Instead, the judges essentially invited him to sit up and enjoy a mince pie.
A Viennese waltz by Buchanan was a reminder that part of the fun of Strictly was watching celebs step outside their comfort zone. In her day job as one third of a girl group, she is mysterious and imperious. Dancing with Gorka Marquez, she was less sure of herself – “I came in humble. I knew this was something out of my field” – and seemed delighted by the feedback. “You warmed my heart like a glass of mulled wine,” said Shirley Ballas.
At nearly 75 minutes, this was an epic serving of light entertainment pie. Those feeling the effects of a full lunch may have found their attention coming and going.
There was no missing out on the star, though. Borthwick’s spectacular quickstep with Nancy Xu evoked the 1920s with such chutzpah it felt like sitting through an Agatha Christie mystery in miniature. Whodunit? Cheeky Borthwick, of course. He scored a perfect 40 from the swooning judges. He also topped the studio audience vote and walked away with the glittering Christmas trophy.
His win was followed by a closing routing featuring the pros, celebs and judges. It was a bit bonkers – at one point, Ballas twirled so fast there was a fear she might spin out the studio doors. She looked thrilled to be out from behind her desk – and viewers will have been likewise charmed by a fab-u-lous serving of festive froth.
‘Those feeling the effects of a full lunch may have found their attention coming and going’