Come Dancing

Come Dancing is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949[1] to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, Strictly Come Dancing, contestants were not celebrities.

The show was created by Eric Morley, the founder of Miss World, and began in 1949 by broadcasting from regional ballroom studios, with professional dancers Syd Perkin and Edna Duffield on hand to offer teaching.

In 1953, the format changed to become a competition, with later series seeing regions of the United Kingdom going head to head for the coveted trophy.

The many presenters over the years included Peter West,[2] McDonald Hobley,[3] Charles Nove,[4] Terry Wogan,[5] Brian Johnston,[3] Angela Rippon,[5] Michael Aspel,[6] David Jacobs, Judith Chalmers,[5] Pete Murray[7] and Rosemarie Ford.[5] Commentators included Ray Moore and Bruce Hammal.

In 2004, a relaunched celebrity version entitled Strictly Come Dancing, hosted by Bruce Forsyth (2004–13), Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman (2014–) debuted on BBC One, and became a success with Saturday evening audiences. The title is an amalgamation of the titles of both the 1992 Australian film Strictly Ballroom and Come Dancing. The format of the newer show has been successfully exported to other countries as Dancing with the Stars or similar names in local languages.