Strictly Come Dancing

Final names complete Strictly line-up

Rutherford has just returned from the Rio Olympics where he won a bronze medal in the long jump final. He announced his taking part in the celebrity dance contest on BBC's The One Show alongside actors Lesley Joseph and Tameka Empson.

Joseph is most remembered for her role in the 1990's hit sitcom Birds of a Feather, where she played promiscuous neighbour Dorien, while Empson rose to prominence in her hidden camera comedy 3 Non-Blondes in 2003. She currently stars on EastEnders as the bubbly but vicious Kim Fox.

Len Goodman to leave Strictly Come Dancing

Strictly Come Dancing 2015 judges

The Head Judge of the BBC’s Saturday night hit has announced that the next series, his fourteenth, will be his last.

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are to present new series, and judges Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Darcy Bussell will also be returning.

The RTS-award winning show has not yet announced this year’s line-up of celebrity contestants who will be taking to the floor to win the glitterball trophy in the autumn.

Mr Entertainment shifts into top gear

Mark Linsey’s career in television has progressed from producing An Audience with Freddie Starr to the heady heights of running BBC Television. As Acting Director of Television – following the abrupt departure of Danny Cohen – Linsey finds himself playing a critical part as Charter renewal gathers pace.

Ask how an executive with 30 years in entertainment shows might play such a crucial role, and this safe pair of hands reaches for the word “distinctive”.

Top entertainment TV for 2016

David Walliams, Lip Sync Battle, UK, Mel B, Professor Green

The year is coming to an end, it is time to remember fondly the past year’s television treats, and look forward to what 2016 will bring in TV entertainment.

 

Lip Sync Battle UK - Channel 5

This American import is being given a very special British makeover. Hosted by former Spice Girl Mel B and rapper Professor Green, the show will have all your favourite celebrities miming their hearts out for the studio audience’s votes. 

Lip Sync Battle UK starts on 8 January 2016

Bake Off rises to the top of 2015's most watched shows

Nadiya Hussain, Mary Berry, Bake Off, Paul Hollywood, Sue Perkins, Mel Giedroyc

Over half of the top 40 TV shows of 2015 aired on BBC One, according to research compiled by the Press Association from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (Barb).

Despite an increase in viewers over the year, Channel 4 does not make the list, as BBC One fills 27 spots, and ITV takes the remaining 13 places. 

Strictly Come Dancing appeared 13 times in the list, making it the most consistently viewed show so far this year.

Lorraine Heggessey: Crises never go away

Lorraine Heggessey at the RTS London Christmas Lecture 2015

Top Gear was “an accident waiting to happen”, said Lorraine Heggessey, who told the audience enjoying her RTS London Christmas Lecture that she would have dealt with the programme’s presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, more quickly.

“Jeremy is a bit like a spoiled toddler,” she said. He had “crossed the line several times with quite racist remarks and got away with it”, added the former BBC and TalkbackThames executive.

Five things to look out for at this year's Children in Need

1. A brand new Star Wars sketch

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is out in December, but if you can't wait until then, there'll be an exclusive sketch tonight. R2-D2 and C-3PO will be joined by Warwick Davis (who played the Ewok Wicket in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) and Lord Sugar as they "attempt to find a worthy winner to help trigger the first BBC Children in Need totaliser of the night."