Weaver's Week 2019-12-29

Revision as of 18:08, 9 June 2020

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With all the reviews of 2019 now written, let's have a look at what the various channels and platforms have brought us.

BBC1

Strictly Come Dancing remains television's most reliable format. From early September until late December, Saturday evenings are filled with celebrities performing for your pleasure. The show remains a journey, competitors go from completely rubbish to really good, and we're with them every step of the way. And it remains a little family, warm and welcoming and appreciative of everyone's efforts.

Strictly changes every year. A new judge – Motsi Mabuse replaced Darcey Bussell, bringing a different experience and outlook on the performances. The weekday It Takes Two editions were hosted by Rylan Clark-Neal, and he could bring the experience of someone who has performed on Strictly. But these were only little changes, the heart of the show remained as comfortable as ever.

BBC1's big new show in the spring was The Greatest Dancer, from Simon Cowell's production company. It contained elements from notorious flop show Rising Star, the audience had to give a supermajority otherwise nothing would happen. It contained great dancers – Oti Mabuse from Strictly, Matthew Morrison from Broadway, and Cheryl Cole from Popstars The Rivals.

The show went for the quick emotional hit, the performance to wow and impress. It's a Simon Cowell production, we expect nothing else. There's no mention of the hard work it takes to become the greatest dancer, none of the journey we'd see from Karim Zeroual on Strictly later in the year.

Many of BBC1's traditional shows continued on their familiar paths. Masterchef in its civilian and celebrity versions. Have I Got News for You, sycophantically laughing along with those who pretend to rule us. Would I Lie to You? and Pointless and One Man and His Dog, doing the same thing they've done for years. Who Dares Wins also graced Saturday night, and this year they had lists with thousands upon thousands of possible answers. Shows in the UK Gameshows A-Z? Give our apologies to Match of the Day, Nick, we'll start the bidding at 500.

The Eurovision Song Contest showed how the BBC still doesn't have the faintest idea about how to select and present a contemporary song. All Together Now came back for a second and final series. It was still fun to watch, but we agree that the gimmick has run its course.

There was more pop knowledge in The Hit List, a Saturday night entertainment that's almost caught on. The premise is simple: name popular songs from a short snippet. The presentation is slow and laborious, with themed lists and a lot of exposition for a very easy idea. Even the way they change the buzzer from "I'll answer this" to "I'll skip this" is confusing. There's a good show in The Hit List, but right now we're not seeing it.

Catchpoint proved more of an instant winner. Our players are asked general knowledge questions on a scale, a target ball drops, and catch that ball to win some cash. There's plenty of catching on the show, surprising charm from host Paddy McGuinness, and we really enjoyed the programme. So did the viewers, it turned into a sleeper hit.

The Wall emerged fully formed into primetime, and quickly turned into a monster hit. The format's been circulating in Europe for the past few years, and emerged here for the autumn. Key to the success was Danny Dyer: he doesn't have to do anything other than cheer with the players, and bring out their emotions. Who knew that a tough guy actor would help other people to act? The Wall gave us a rare six-figure win on the Beeb, and it'll be back for another series.

BBC1 daytime continues to move around its tentpoles – Homes Under the Hammer, Bargain Hunt before the lunchtime news, Pointless before the teatime news. This year, we had property show Best House in Town, weird arts programme Home Is Where the Art Is, and inventions programme The Customer Is Always Right.

We didn't get any mid-afternoon quizzes until April, when antiques puzzler Curiosity entertained us. !mpossible came back after Easter, ahead of some celebrity shows in the summer. Rick Edwards' quiz hasn't been shown at teatime this year, perhaps it's found a place that's not quite the next Pointless. Recruitment quiz Headhunters brightened up early autumn, it's about two tweaks away from being rather good.

ITV

A rum old year at ITV Building Site (formerly ITV Towers, now being redeveloped for the cash). The channel's established shows still pull in an audience – I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! had the biggest game show audience of the year, Got Talent also made the Ten Million Club. Dancing on Ice and The Voice all did exceptionally well, and there were decent numbers for The X Factor and Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

But notice something about those shows: they're all very well established. I'm a Celeb has been on every year since 2002, Got Talent since 2007. Dancing on Ice has been on-and-off since 2006, The X Factor since 2004, and Millionaire on-and-off since 1998. Only The Voice first came to our screens this decade, and that was in 2012. ITV continues to rely on its warhorses, there's very little new coming through.

And there needs to be something new coming through. The X Factor is damaged goods, this year's celebrity series peaked with the first audition, and lost almost half of its viewers before the finale. BBC1's breakout hit The Wall will have damaged X Fac, but it's only accelerated the general decline for the show. The one-week wonder Battle of the Bands was a complete flop, and its winners' single has failed to trouble the singles chart, even ignoring all the festive oldies. We were surprised to read that ITV has re-commissioned The X Factor for another year, people would rather see Tipping Point than this.

It's not been the best years for ITV daytime, with Jeremy Kyle Shouts At People taken off air under tragic circumstances. They've eventually worked out what to do with the hour: split it between The Lorraine Kelly Inc Show and This Morning with Scofe and Holly. The afternoon schedule has been consistent: The Chase dominates at 5pm, and the gamble to replace it with Cash Trapped seems to have paid off. There have been primetime Celebrity Chases, and a short series of Family Chase gave us an interesting dynamic.

Tipping Point at 4pm is more popular than X Factor, and Tenable has proven to be a solid game in the tricky 3pm hour. The Switch ran at 3pm in December, we think it's a decent show, but we're not desperate to see lots of episodes. See also: Take Me Out, which feels like it's going to finish with the current series.

Stephen Mulhern has been busy, as usual. Catchphrase was joined by his meet-the-people game In for a Penny. It's big and brash and foolish and such great fun. Pour buckets of water over your head for cash! Call up your mother and get her to say "bauble"! Count to 12 seconds and win a grand! We never have any idea what's coming next, only that Stephen Mulhern will make it fresh and spontaneous and fun.

"Fresh and spontaneous and fun" was the idea behind Small Fortune, which aired in the early spring. The idea is very simple: do this task in a miniaturised area, and do it perfectly. Take as many practices as you need – but they'll cost you – and then make the only attempt that counts. Tension is ratcheted up – and down – and then up again. It would be a great challenge amongst a show of other challenges – perhaps in Size Matters, alongside a game of giant things, and a game at human scale. Ultimately, we found it a show for the head, not the heart.

Other primetime shows included Brightest Family, now extended with extra tests and skills, such as a memory round. Ninja Warrior found the course could be completed, and What Would Your Kid Do? continued to test the predictive power of parents. 5 Gold Rings wasn't networked on Sunday evenings, as viewers in Scotland got to see The Cash Machine. This is probably an error: the show needed to move at a faster pace, nearer 45 minutes than a full hour. It's a viable format, and we wish STV luck in selling it.

BBC2

Race Across the World was BBC2's breakout hit this year. Six episodes showed our teams trek overland from London to Singapore, via Kazakhstan and China. The teams were up against each other, but never quite knew how far they were in front or behind each other. And even if they did, a strictly limited budget meant decisions had to be made.

To tell its story, Race Across the World chose to concentrate on the dynamics amongst each pair of players. They could have taken us on a travelogue of unlikely places, but that was a side-order on the trip. In order to be understood by the viewers, Race Across the World chose English as its means of communication, perpetuating the stereotype of Anglos Abroad. This column couldn't connect emotionally with any of the teams, but we applaud the broad ambition and hard work to make the show.

Interior Design Masters also told a story, about the strange world of home design. Fearne Cotton represented the viewer, thrown like Alice into a strange world where things aren't always as they seem. Eliminating one player each week means we see a lot of the finalists, and their styles, and we can root for or against them.

And there was a story from The Family Brain Games: we can do this, together. A rigorous series of experiments, designed to shed light on how the brain works, what parts improve with age, and what skills can be learned. There wasn't much pressure, but it gently increased for the final round, a test of logic, knowledge, lateral thinking, time management, communication, risk-taking, and knowing when to guess. Five questions are posed. The team cannot pass, and each player can only see their own screen. The players have to collectively work out the answer to the questions. There's a one-minute penalty for each incorrect answer, and the faster time overall wins.

Family Brain Games knew what it wanted to achieve, and it hit the mark with flying colours. Explain about the brain, be wonderful with the families, and have some contest to keep us watching. By treating the families well, they were relaxed and able to give their best on screen. Our moment of the year came from this show:

Dara Ó Briain was very unambiguous in his support for the families. One of the families had a difficult time with the shapes puzzle, and things were getting a bit stressed and a bit shouty before they fluked a solve. As soon as they hear it's right, Dara bounds through the door, beaming a big smile, and calling "Well done! Well done!" What was boiling up to a row was defused by the host's charm and bonhomie. Throughout the show, Dara gave praise for what people had achieved, and sympathy for what they had not.

The Chef's Brigade was BBC2's final new game show, a tour around Europe to find a group of people worthy of training by top cook Jason Atherton. This show lacked focus, we were never sure if the aim was to find a whole group of chefs to work as a team, or individuals who could be trained further, or what.

Many familiar shows returned. Great Sewing Bee and Masterchef The Professionals were big in the spring and autumn, and Dragons' Den has been solid on Sunday evenings. There's been a subtle changing of the guard on Quizzy Mondays: while University Challenge had the year's single highest audience, it's beaten in the raw viewer numbers by Only Connect (2). What is the attraction of young, intelligent, witty Victoria Coren Mitchell when compared with old and crabby Jeremy Paxman? Mastermind moved production to Belfast, did away with the high-scoring losers, and struggled on Friday nights; it'll move to Mondays for 2020.

A change of guard at teatime, as Eggheads appears to have fallen out of production. It's been replaced by Richard Osman's House of Games (3), a celebrity challenge where famous faces take part in a series of chucklesome general knowledge games. The show's developed a house style, questions written with a familiar type of wit and charm. When paired with Strictly Come Dancing on Two, it's a winning formula.

QI has been struggling a bit this year, we've not heard much chatter about the show – now in its 17th series, and beginning to run out of alphabet to ask. Great Local Menu moved to primetime, Mock the Week continued to chortle along with the establishment, and Antiques Road Trip sought bargains where they could. Only two episodes of I'll Get This – a charity and a Christmas special – with more expected next year. Insert Name Here also had a new series, but can anyone remember what happened?

Channel 4

Bizarre as it sounds, we reckon there is a logic behind Channel 4's commissioning. It wants to be a mainstream channel, safe family viewing for millennials and their young children. That explains their purchase of Bake Off, another massive hit series across the channel, with Celebrity and Professional and Junior and Festive spin-offs. It explains the meld of 8 Out of 10 Cats and Countdown, why they're persisting with The Crystal Maze, and the channel's purchase of Taskmaster for next year – but we'll come to that later.

Hunted had two new series, with civilian and celebrity contestants asked to evade capture for weeks on end. There was a new run of SAS: Who Dares Wins, and the inevitable The Big Fat Quiz of the Year shows. Channel 4 engaged in its own nostalgia with the summer series Jade The Reality Star who Changed Britain, an undeniably tragic tale. While an important part in the development of the celebrity culture, the documentary never delivered on its promise that Jade Goody could not have been replaced.

More modern reality has its place on Channel 4. The Island with Bear Grylls had a treasure hunt theme, but remained a survival challenge. The Circle was filmed this year in Salford, with the usual mixture of characters, including Richard Madley from Runway. We really enjoyed Snackmasters, where Fred Sirieix challenges professional chefs to re-create some of the most familiar snacks. Can you make your own Kit Kat biscuit? Behind the challenge was an entertaining (and gently educational) look at food technology.

In daytime, Channel 4 gave us Beat the Chef, a test of a great civilian cook against the house experts. Cooking Up a Fortune was an extended commercial for expensive street food, Your Room or Mine? looked into interior design, in a much lighter way than BBC2 had done.

Countdown began the year with its occasional Championship of Champions, during which Zarte Siempre set an all-time highest score of 150 points. We thought the record would last for years and years; it lasted four months, shattered by Elliot Mellor with 152. Play in the regular series has been patchy, and this column can actually score points from time to time. The £100k Drop and Fifteen-to-One had new series, and Kirstie's Celebrity Craft Masters asked celebs to learn new skills. Channel 4 also benefited from a link-up with Comcast's Sky Television division, giving access to Formula One racing, and showing Portrait Artist of the Year.

Other public service channels

With no Big Brother, Channel 5 was light on the games this year. They'd decided to shift Celebrity Game Night from January to April, and the show was quickly forgotten. Blind Date went out in the spring and summer, to no lasting effect. Gino's Win Your Wish List was a diversion for the summer. The Great Model Railway Challenge looked set to break through into the mainstream, but the scheduling department moved it from Friday to Saturday, annoying everyone. The Great Garden Challenge might be worthy of a second series.

BBC Scotland launched in February, and quickly became a home for very decent little game shows. (And for very decent little shows in general: Rewind 90s and Rip It Up Unwrapped were an acerbic and witty take on recent pop culture.) Test Drive showed off the tourist sights of Scotland, and the ability to make a quiz out of anything. It's earned a primetime repeat on BBC1 Scotland. Flour Power visits communities – people who live or work together – and has a little challenge to bake something lovely. It's a gentle show, it fits well on BBC1 network's Saturday mornings.

Wonderball is a little gem of a show. The aim is to have the last ball in a velvet bag, because that's worth £2000 at the end of the programme. Simple questions allow each pair of players to take other teams' balls out of the bag; more difficult questions let them keep their own in play. There's a danger ball, worth nothing to anyone, and the chance to sell one or more balls during the course of the programme. When written down, the format is complicated. When seen on screen, host Caitriona Shearer makes it look as easy as riding a bike. It's a surprise that Wonderball hasn't been picked up for a network showing, we'd put it out as teatime relief for House of Games.

S4C marked the 50th anniversary of Can i Gymru, the longest-running contest for songs, and a celebration of Welsh-language culture. They also returned to Junior Eurovision Song Contest, making a small but significant impact on the contest. Côr Cymru, the biennial choir contest, proved to be a testing ground for Eurovision Choir of the Year, where S4C competed against BBC Alba. Neither choir made the final three. Fferm Ffactor returned in a celebrities edition. While Prosiect Z didn't air any new episodes this year (the team made Project Z for CITV), we did get new rounds of Pigo dy Drwyn and darts quiz Oci Oci Oci!. Y Siambr was spectacular games in a cave, and Un Cwestiwn was a quiz for children.

S4C's quiz of the year is Rhannu. Take 16 contestants, and split them at random into two teams of eight. Each team is put into a soundproof shed, and sends out its champion on a topic. Questions are asked until one of the champions is right and the other is wrong; whoever made the error is out, taking their whole team with them. The questions are intercut with reactions in the soundproof sheds, increasing the tension without increasing the quiz. Only the winner leaves, for the end-of-year final, everyone else comes back next week. By keeping the same contestants across such a long time, we begin to learn about them, their strengths and weaknesses and styles.

CBBC continued to make shows of entertainment, gentle education, and some inspiration. Got What It Takes? continued to show the ups and downs of the star's life. Interactive marvel Last Commanders came back for a new series, gently advancing the plot they started last year. The Dog Ate My Homework may have lost original host Iain Stirling, but gained Hacker T Dog and Lauren Layfield. Susan Calman continued to shout the brilliance of everyone on Top Class.

Step Up to the Plate (2) was the new format of note, combining challenges of cookery with those of serving the food. Fred Sirieix and Allegra McEvedy gave advice and encouragement, praising those who showed ability and planning, and those who could think of new and innovative solutions to problems. We can see the format – both structure and positivity – working well for adult television.

Cbeebies appointed new Captain Heyho on Swashbuckle, and asked difficult questions on panel show Gigglequiz. BBC II! made programmes for its young audience – Glow Up found a make-up artist, The Rap Game found a rap star, and RuPaul's Drag Race looked for a drag queen. We think Elephant in the Room is the only new quiz or panel game on BBC radio, joined by Gloryhunters on Talk Sport.

Other broadcast shows

Changes of ownership at UKTV, which was eventually split late in the year between Discovery Networks and BBC Studios. The most visible change was on the Freeview EPG, where Discovery's Quest channel moved up and the Dave channel moved down. The uncertainty seems to have affected the shows UKTV made, they concentrated on pay-tv drama including Flack (darkly comic, and this column's fave drama of the year). Pay-tv flagship channel W contributed Masterchef Down Under, and other versions of the same series.

There were also new shows for Dave, most notably two more series of Taskmaster. They turned out to be the last editions on UKTV, as Channel 4 swooped in and picked up the expired contract. Perhaps Channel 4 thinks they can do for Taskmaster what BBC2 did for Only Connect earlier in the decade: introduce the show to a new audience, not set out to change it in any particular way, and see what happens.

Dave continues to make a lot of chatty shows involving a small number of regular comedians – Hypothetical reminded us of long drives in slow traffic, while Comedians Giving Lectures did exactly what it said on the tin. Scrapyard Supercar might have been a near-remake of Scrapheap Challenge, but it's so long since Robert Llewellyn hung up his welder, and the new show was surprisingly entertaining.

ITV2 had the biggest single show, Love Island was the biggest thing on television throughout the summer. They tried to lift The Fabulous Iain Stirling's career with Celebability, but the team-versus-star show remains something of an acquired taste. Don't Hate the Playaz returned for a second series, and Celebrity Juice continued for its umpteenth. Hey Tracey cast familiar faces as the "intelligent" part of artificial intelligence, a conceit that never quite grabbed us. There was a lot of art on Killer Camp, a careful and well-drawn pastiche of so many familiar tropes, but no-one watched it. Supermarket Sweep returned with a blaze of publicity, and just about managed to spin the show out to fill an hour. It'll be repeated into infinity.

Over on ITVBe, Dinner Date continued to fill many hours of airtime with its endlessly repeatable little dramas. Groundhog Date was an entertaining pilot, going through the same date with many suitors, so the only thing that would change is their reaction. 5Star had two more series of Celebs on the Farm, and imported Ireland's version of This Territory's Got Talent from VM1. We didn't get to see RTÉ's Dancing With the Stars.

Viacom's pay-tv channel Comedy Central commissioned a new series of Blockbusters with Dara Ó Briain. For our money, it's the best version since Bob Holness hung up his hexagons, Dara is warm and witty and just the right sort of daft for the light entertainment. Your Face or Mine came back for a third year. If we're to believe reports elsewhere, Viacom has decided not to commission new shows for Comedy Central, we wonder if they'll be picked up for their "Channel 5" Freeview brand.

E4 picked up some new editions of Come Dine with Me, including a celebrity week just before Christmas. Shipwrecked ruled the waves in the early spring, and two runs of Celebrity Coach Trip performed well. Pants on Fire was less well received, we were never quite sure if we were watching for the stunts, or the lying, or what. 8 Out of 10 Cats continued with its commentary on modern life. The Hangover Games showed what the human body can do after it's been punished with too much alcohol. More4 had a short series of Celebrity Countdown.

Comcast's pay-tv brand "Sky" also has a small budget for game shows. Artsworld continued its popular Landscape and Portrait Artist of the Year shows, and made another edition of pan-European show Master of Photography. General entertainment on The Satellite Channel included sports panel show A League of Their Own, and movies panel show There's Something About Movies. They also scheduled Gameshow of Thrones for the night we expected civilisation to end in late March.

Non-broadcast brilliance

Even without resorting to the dark arts, we're able to see a lot of great shows via the interwebs. Those who speak French get Fort Boyard and Tout le Monde Veut Prendre Sa Place through TV5monde.com. Dutch speakers can catch up on De Slimste Mensen and Blokken, and Wie is de Mol – unless the bvn.tv servers are over capacity with all the mole fans. 25 Words or Less] is big for North American viewers, and they make most of their episodes available on the web. One or two fine moments of Jeopardy! are available. And if you're only after highlights, that's easy – the best bits of almost every programme are chopped out for your delectation.

Ben Justice, one of the witty writers on House of Games, spent much of the spring counting down his 100 Best Game Shows in video form. It's a labour of love, with brief clips to bring out the game and an explanation of quite why they click with him. Lucy Porter and Jenny Ryan made another series of their Fingers on Buzzers] podcast, with star guests including Ben Shepherd to talk all about Tipping Point. Another podcast, Retroquizzical, reviewed many of the games from the 80s and 90s, and concluded that The Krypton Factor was the best all-round show of all.

And that's just the shows and 'casts this column has been interested in. There's so much more around: take yourself to Bother's Bar for an ongoing discussion of all that is good in non-broadcast game.

Ratings charts

This section goes on a bit. If you'd rather skip to the Roll of Honour, be our guest.

Ratings supplied by BARB are thousands of viewers who watched live or within 7 days of original transmission, averaged across the show duration. It includes viewing on broadcast television (satellite, cable, Freeview) or internet, and only those shows making the published part of the chart.

License fee-funded channels

BBC1

Strictly did incredibly well, Eurovision rated far better than the BBC's effort, and The Greatest Dancer got off to a good start. Note the shows that build up steam (Masterchef, The Wall) and those that deflate like a bad souflee (Celebrity Masterchef, All Together Now).

BBC2

Note how QI has settled down at a million-and-a-bit viewers, BBC2 was its home all along.

BBC4

Music shows dominate BBC4's reach, the weekly Top of the Pops scores 250,000 or so.

Cbeebies

Though Cbeebies repeats itself every few weeks, these were both new episodes.

CBBC

CBBC repeats itself quite a bit, though it's unusual for a competition to stay in rotation as long as Junior Bake Off has done.

BBC Scotland

Shows marked with a * were commissioned by BBC2 network, relayed on BBC Scotland.

S4C

Two entries for Can i Gymru? The second is a celebration of the show's 50 years. Y Ras was a sports quiz.

ITV channels

ITV

An awful lot of series openers here, ITV uses its promotional weight to attract people in, but give them no reason to come back after they've seen an edition. In for a Penny one of the few exceptions to this rule. Note how The Chase gets a primetime rating at teatime.

ITV2

No surprise that Love Island sweeps all before it on the channel, or that the Supermarket Sweep revival fell off quickly.

ITV4

All these shows are repeats. Shame we didn't get any more Football Genius.

ITVBe

CITV

Channel 4 channels

Channel 4

Half of Channel 4's top ten is Bake Off-related cakey goodness. For our money, Kirstie's Celebrity Craft Masters is the most Channel 4 programme possible: familiar faces doing homely things, encouraged by the ubiquitous Kirstie Allsopp. Surprised they buried it in daytime.

E4

The Come Dine with Me episodes were new on E4.

More4

Celebrity Countdown the only show commissioned by More4 on this list.

4seven

Everything's repeated from Channel 4, usually the night before. Bake Off really did attract huge catchup numbers on Wednesday nights, sometimes eclipsing what was on the main channel.

4music

Channel 5 / Viacom channels

Channel 5

Channel 5 try their hardest, and we enjoyed Model Railway and Gardening Challenges.

5star

5spike

5select

Comedy Central

Most weeks, Blockbusters was around 200,000, behind Your Face or Mine.

MTV

Still surprised that True Love or True Lies hasn't popped up on one of Viacom's free-to-air channels.

Nickelodeon

Both shows imported from their Stateside network. Which is remaking The Crystal Maze early next year, hint hint.

Paramount Network

VH-1

Video Hits One hasn't played music in about three years, and closes early next month.

BET

The erstwhile Black Entertainment Television is mostly soul music, with a smattering of games.

UKTV and Discovery channels

Dave

UKTV's commissions involving comedians weren't particularly original, but they hit a popular bone.

W

Fewer editions of Masterchef Around the World this year.

Really

Home

Food Network

Good Food

This channel closed in August, merged into Food Network.

Comcast / Sky channels

The Satellite Channel

Neither The Simpsons nor TSC's efforts at comedy are games as we know them.

Artsworld

The Challenge Channel

Other operators

Colors

Aimed at the Indian subcontinent, and only partly in English.

Lifetime

Repeats from 2018.

BT Sport ESPN

We deem this to be a game show, as there's a daily winner.

BT Sport 2

The 2019 Roll of Honour

Christmas University Challenge – Peterhouse Cambridge (Dan Mazer, Mark Horton, Michael Howard, Michael Axworthy)
University Challenge – Edinburgh (Matt Booth, Marco Malusa, Max Fitz-James, Robbie Campbell Hewson)

Countdown
Championship of Champions – Zarte Siempre
(June) – Dinos Sfyris
(December) – James Haughton

Eurovision: You Decide – "Bigger than us", written by Laurell Barker, John Lundvik, Jonas Thander, Anna-Klara Folin, performed by Michael Rice

Round Britain Quiz – North of England – Adele Geras and Stuart Maconie

Cân i Gymru – Elidyr Glyn for "Fel Hyn 'da Ni Fod", performed by himself

Dancing on Ice – James Jordan and Alexandra Schauman

Fferm Ffactor Y Selebs – Aeron Pughe, Elin Fflur, Dilwyn Morgan

RTE Dancing With the Stars – Mairéad Ronan and John Nolan
Strictly Come Dancing
Series – Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse
Christmas – Debbie McGee and Kevin Clifton

Masterchef – Irini Tzortzoglou
Celebrity Masterchef – Greg Rutherford
Masterchef The Professionals – Stu Deeley

This Territory's Got Talent
(TV3) – BSD
(ITV) – Colin Thackery
(Champions) – Twist and Pulse

Côr Cymru – Ysgol Gerdd Ceredigion

The Voice of Holland of This Territory – Molly Hocking
The Voice of Holland of This Territory Kids – Sam Wilkinson

All Together Now – Shelly Ann Evans

Portrait Artist of the Year – Duncan Shoosmith
Landscape Artist of the Year – Fujiko Rose

Celebrity Big Painting Challenge – Josie d'Arby

Only Connect – Dicers (George Corfield, Joey Goldman, Hugh Binnie)

Brightest Family – Lee (Nathan, Rae, Richard)

Young Dancer – Max Revell

Eurovision Song Contest – "Arcade" for AVROTROS; written by Duncan Laurence, Joel Sjöö, Wouter Hardy; performed by Duncan Laurence
Eurovision Choir of the Year – Vocal Line, representing DR
Junior Eurovision – "Superstar" for TVP; written by Małgorzata “Lanberry” Uściłowska, Patryk Kumór, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek; performed by Viki Gabor

Fighting Talk – Martin Kelner

Fifteen-to-One – Andy Tucker

Ninja Warrior – Tim Champion

Mastermind – Judith Lewis

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World
(lieder) Mingjie Lei
(overall) Andrei Kymach

Bake Off Crème de la Crème – Sam and Emmanuel from London Hilton Park Lane
Bake Off – David Atherton
Junior Bake Off – Fin

Brain of Britain – David Stainer

Rostrum Camera – Ken Morse

Taskmaster
(spring) – Lou Sanders
(autumn) – Ed Gamble

Master of Photography – Jan Düfelsiek

Love Island – Greg O'Shea and Amber Gill

The Great Garden Challenge – Tamara Bridge and Kate Savill

BBC New Comedy Award – Stuart Buchanan

Step Up to the Plate
Kitchen crew – Mackenzie
Restaurant crew – Charlotte

Let the Peoples Sing – Barb Aros

One Man and His Dog
Young Handler – Tara Foley and Skye
Brace – Kevin Evans and Doug & Bec
Team – Erin McNaught and Sam, Kevin Evans and Doug & Bec (as "Wales")

Chwilio i Seren Junior Eurovision – Erin

The Great Model Railway Challenge – Railmen of Kent

True Love or True Lies – Poppy Moran and Parisa Tarjomani

Counterpoint – Brian Thompson

The X Factor Celebrity – Megan McKenna
The X Factor The Band – Real Like You

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! – Jacqueline Jossa

Match of the Day Can You Kick It? – Sam

Top Class – Cobham Primary, Greater London (Sid, Aadam, Nagu, Anya, Mr. Hone)

Rhannu – Melfyn

Next year...

We've already previewed the New Year's week, so here are the highlights for the first full week of 2020.

Saturday 4 January sees lots of new series. BBC1 leads with The Greatest Dancer, Hacker T Dog and Mrs. McCluskey on Pointless Celebrities, and Jason Manford does First & Last. Over on ITV, it's Stephen Mulhern's Celebrity Catchphrase, mystery singing on The Masked Singer, more mystery singing on The Voice, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Sunday 5 January gives us Dancing on Ice, more Masked Singer and more Millionaire. Dancing With the Stars is back on RTÉ1.

Mastermind confirms its place on BBC2's Quizzy Mondays, before Only Connect and University Challenge. Celebrity Coach Trip kicks off on E4, Tenable is on ITV, and Antiques Road Trip returns to BBC1. Celebrity Countdown resumes (More4, weeknights). 8 Out of 10 Cats (E4) and Un Cwestiwn (S4C) kick off new series on Tuesday 7 Jan. CBBC finds the next star on Got What It Takes?, and The Great Pottery Throw Down slips into More4 (both Wed 8th). A League of Their Own are back in Europe (The Satellite Channel). Prue Leith joins the QI panel for "Quaffing" (BBC2, Fri 10th), and Rupaul's Drag Race reaches BBC1 (Fri 10th).

The Week will be operating at a slightly reduced rate next year, we're building in a week off each month so that we can maintain the quality you've become accustomed to. We expect to publish next on 12 January, covering everything we've seen over the Christmas period. Until then, we hope you have a tremendous start to the new year.

Photo credits: Thames and SyCo Entertainment, EBU / KAN, Possessed and 12 Yard, Remarkable (an EndemolShine company), Hungry Gap Productions in association with Century One Films, ITV Studios and Mitre Television, Youngest Media, Studio Lambert, Label 1 Television, Love Productions, ITV Studios, Optomen TV, Knickerbockerglory, Mighty Scotland, Boom Cymru, Lion Television (an All3Media company), Hat Trick, Thames, Little Gem, Znak & Co.

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