This week’s show had an At the Movies theme (skating to songs from films, in other words) and included a compulsory one-footed dance spin.

Despite the fact that last week judge Robin Cousins called Kyran the best technical skater in the competition, he had numerous falls and hadn’t actually done the routine correctly even up to dress rehearsal. The fun Austin Powers-themed programme was enjoyable, but I found myself watching Melanie, the professional, rather than Kyran.

Kay Burley has – understandably – lost her confidence since last week’s horrible accident. She looked petrified practicing the big lift, but confident during the programme. They did some great lifts and it was actually a beautiful routine. I really enjoyed it.

Stephen Gately puts me in mind of Father Dougal-on-ice. There was a bit of a tumble and he’s basically a bit sloppy and amateurish (I know he is an amateur, but he’s at a much lower standard than the others). His chemistry with his partner is great though and he looked like he was having fun.

Lisa Scott Lee did an incredible routine which gave me the shivers – in a good way. It included “the swoop of death”, an amazing lift which I was actually afraid to watch in case it went wrong. It really was a gorgeous, impressive routine which was reflected in the judges’ score of 25.

Emily Symons was next with a great routine including lots of lifts, but there wasn’t much flow to the routine, it just seemed to be marking time between lifts.

Duncan James was next and I loved the routine. Unlike Emily’s there was far more dancing/skating than lifting and the lifts flowed beautifully into the programme. It was great fun, fitted perfectly with the music, and gave me the shivers. It’s funny how Strictly Come Dancing used to make me cry, but the ice show gives me the shivers. The scores weren’t great (the skating was technically weak, apparently), but I don’t care. I loved it.

Lee Sharpe did another lovely routine to Unchained Melody. It was romantic, charming and his skating seemed to have improved quite a lot too. It may have been a little boring, but I do think it was his best performance (and it was his best mark).

Ulrika Jonsson’s performance was very tentative. There was one good lift, but her nerves showed and she actually looked like the weakest skater after Stephen Gately. Very poor score too.

Clare Buckfield’s back-flip was given a big build up. She and her partner wore great, ’80s-style costumes and skated to Flashdance – fabulous. The back-flip was great and there were a couple of other impressive lifts and all in all it was amazing. I do feel that they’re putting too many showy elements in and they should maybe try and show off her actual skating a bit more. It would have been the best mark of the series, but for Jason Gardiner who didn’t think Clare performed it enough.

While we’re back in the ’80s, I realise I haven’t mentioned Philip Schofield, Dancing on Ice’s main presenter. He’s such a relaxed, professional presenter you barely notice he’s there. While this is an improvement on Bruce Forsyth on Strictly Come Dancing,  who drives me to distraction with his feeble jokes and constant mugging, and much as I have loved Pippy since Broom Cupboard days, he’s probably another reason I’ve so far found Dancing on Ice a bit, well, dull.

Another problems is that the judges – sorry, the “ice panel” – are so staggeringly boring. The judges on Strictly – and even on Just the Two of Us to a lesser extent – are characters and they argue and there’s interaction (both with each other and with the performers). I know that Jason Gardiner has been criticised for being too harsh, but he’s the only one showing any personality (and I’m not just saying that because he thought Lee’s performance was boring too).

Ulrika was out after facing Kay Burley in the dance-off (which can’t have been pleasant since apparently they’re not the best of friends by any stretch of the imagination). It probably should have been Stephen Gately, but Ulrika’s performance wasn’t up to scratch either, so that’s a fair result.

Dancing on Ice Week 2 /  Dancing on Ice Week 1