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Dance of the clones dominates the new schedule for BBC1 |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 03 December 2004 |
Lorraine Heggessey, the controller of BBC1, has rejected claims that she is "flogging to death" the success of the hit show Strictly Come Dancing by flooding the schedule with new versions of the same format.
Ms Heggessey was speaking at the launch yesterday of the BBC1 winter and Christmas schedules, which include several dance-based programmes. She described Strictly Come Dancing on Ice , which will star the former England footballer Paul Gascoigne, as a "Boxing Day treat".
The soprano Lesley Garrett will present a drama-documentary, The Waltz King , which recaptures the atmosphere of 19th-century Vienna. A Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing will be presented by the newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky. Graham Norton, hired for a reported £5m this year, will present Strictly Dance Fever , in which amateurs will compete for a £50,000 prize.
Ms Heggessey said Strictly Come Dancing , a huge ratings success with an audience of 7.7 million last weekend, was a "whole phenomenon" created by BBC1. She denied that by making multiple versions of the format she risked ruining the appeal of the original show. She told reporters: "What we are trying to do is move it on. Strictly Come Dancing On Ice is one version of moving it on and Strictly Dance Fever is another. Hopefully we will keep moving it on and not flog it to death."
Other programmes include Supervolcano , a drama-documentary which is based on the possibility that the volcano under Yellowstone National Park could erupt.
BBC programme makers said the Yellowstone volcano erupted once every 600,000 years and that the last eruption was 640,000 years ago. Satellite technology suggested that the mouth of the volcano could swallow Tokyo, the world's largest city, and that one billion people were at risk from an eruption.
Michael Mosley, the executive producer, said: "It's possible, indeed almost certain that it will erupt again and when it erupts it will change everything." Mr Mosley said the drama to be shown in two one hour films on consecutive nights had been made with the co-operation of five US government agencies including the federal Emergency Management Agency, which had "really embraced" the project and had provided data on the likely impact of a volcanic ash cloud on American cities.
The BBC1 season will also include a new series of Doctor Who , starring Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper, and a return of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett when the pair are reunited in The Two Ronnies' Sketchbook .
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