This week’s show could have been subtitled Heroes and Villains.

We had naughty old Brendan Cole trying to slip not one but two rule-breaking lifts past the judges (and getting 7,4,4,6 for his trouble- don’t think he’ll be trying that again… or at least not for a couple of shows). And we had training footage of poor Georgina (the judges called her rumba "awful" and "useless") and her whip-cracking, bully boy partner, James. Is he being edited to be the new bad boy, or is he really nastier than a very nasty thing? Discuss!

But there were heroes and heroines, too: lovely little Louisa and lispy Italian Vincent performed the quickstep of the evening… until Emma and Darren came along at the end and blew everyone else out of the water. Cue: a zillion jokes based on Spice Girls lyrics from the judges. The wags. She might have been a gibbering wreck in training but she pulled it off on the night, big time. I told you they would be good!

I also told you that Mica Paris probably wasn’t that graceful and -surprise!- she wasn’t. She gave her rumba a good effort (it’s one tricky dance!) and actually scored better than Georgina but a combination of no natural talent and, I suspect, Ian’s rampant and oft-expressed ambition to win, meant she had to leave.

Other heroes: Carol Smilie did a darn good job and I don’t think Jan did too badly (except for that slip at the end which was more vaudeville than ballroom- she’s not quite a twinkle toes yet, but she’s very likeable). And then there was the group dance, where Ray once again showed off his lovely hip action/dancing skills and Mark and Spoony put up a good fight, too. Lovely! The professional dancers’ showcase dance in the results show was again superb (this time a Lindy hop followed by a jive- my favourite!)

Perhaps worse than being a hero or a villain is being a bit blah- stand up Peter Schmeichel and Matt Dawson! Good lift from Peter, but that takes muscle, not talent… meanwhile Matt was ambling around the floor in an aimless fashion! Poor Jimmy Tarbuck was too ill to dance at all- get well soon, Jim, we want to see you tango… well, we want to see you in good health, anyway.

For me the competition is now between Emma, Ray, Mark, Louisa and Spoony but Carol and Claire might be contenders if they improve a little bit… Don’t quote me on this, but I’m sure they said both men and women will be dancing next week (and did I imagine it’s tango and jive respectively?)- I guess there’s only one way to find out!

PS: Have you noticed that Strictly is now on every day? The show on Saturdays, It Takes Two 6.30pm on BBC2 on weekdays and, new for this series, a highlights programme on Sundays at 7pm. Handy!

Strictly Come Dancing Week 1  Strictly Come Dancing website.

[Diane Shipley].