'Celebrities' gear up for Let's Dance for Comic Relief

For the nation's ever-growing legions of TV celebrity dance-show fans who simply can't wait to get their next fix, there's good news andthere's bad news.

The good news is that, barely days after the latest Strictly ComeDancing series drew to a rather anticlimactic close, the BBC is gearingup to show Let's Dance for Sport Relief, which, as the title implies,sees well-known contestants strut their stuff in the name of the charityfundraising drive.

The bad news, however, is that, even compared to I'm A Celebrity's most recent offerings, the line-up looks, at the very best, D-list.

Joining the comics Katy Brand, Rufus Hound and Shappi Khorsandi will be former Birds of a Feather actresses Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, while Susie Blake and Jenny Eclair will also be representing the female stars of the small screen.

However, as ever, it seems that the smart money should be on an ungainly former sportsman, meaning viewers should perhaps think about spreading their bets between snookers aces Willie Thorne and Dennis Taylor, or even Peter Shilton or Manchester City legend Rodney Marsh.

Fortunately, as with Brucie on a Saturday night, the Beeb has managed to sign up some of its brightest talent for presenting duties, with Steve Jones and Claudia Winkleman set to add gravitas to the four-week series.

Welcoming the return of the show, which was won by Peep Show's Robert Webb last time around, BBC comedy entertainment executive director Jo Wallace suggested that, despite its serious undertones, this latest offering should be ideal for millions of people still suffering from the winter blues.

"Saturday nights on the BBC are all about eventful, big, fun, family entertainment and Let's Dance For Sport Relief absolutely fits that bill," she said.

"The celebrity-packed show aims to have audiences singing and dancing along in their living rooms and, no doubt, in fits of laughter, as the stars of the show try to impress them and the judges with their dance
moves, all in the name of charity."

Less fits of laughter than giggles of incredulity are likely to have greeted the news that, rather than any of the show's fresh-faced young starlets, former Coronation Street actor Bruce Jones is set return to the UK TV Guides after landing the lead in a new prime-time show.

According to The Sun, Corrie legend Jones, who played Les Battersby for ten years before being axed in 2007, will play the manager of an out-of-control boyband.

A source on the inside of the spoof revealed to the paper that it will be "like Skins meets Phoenix Nights", though details of when, or even on which channel, the new show will be shown have yet to be announced.

As such, viewers could be better off waiting for a bit more of the original thing, with comedian Paddy McGuinness having revealed that he and Peter Kay would love to reprise their roles as Max and Paddy in the
Phoenix Nights spin-off, even if 'never say never' is usually TV-speak for 'maybe in ten years when all other offers have dried up'.