Heggessey's Saturday Night

An article in today's Guardian by John Plunkett, called "Forsyth leads BBC1 into Saturday night scrap," discusses the new dynamic being employed soon for Saturday night programming in the UK. "[BBC1 controller] Lorraine Heggessey turned to tried and tested talent to win the Saturday night ratings battle," it says, and notes that Bruce Forsyth is returning to BBC1 on Saturdays with "Strictly Come Dancing, a revamped celebrity version of the classic ballroom dancing show that began just four years after the end of the second world war." The lineup will also "see Johnny Vaughan and Denise van Outen reunited for the first time since The Big Breakfast in a new House Party-style show in front of a live studio audience" and notes that Graham Norton, who was acquired from Channel 4, will make his BBC debut sometime this autumn. It then goes on to mention six new entertainment shows as well as the return of Doctor Who. "We are trying to grow the next generation of shows but it is really difficult to get entertainment right," Heggessey told the Guardian. "The only way we are going to do that is through a process of trial and error. We would love to guarantee that every one will be a hit but sometimes it takes two or three times to get it right. We are trying to ring the changes and we want to bring freshness into the early evening." Other shows are mentioned in the article, including EastEnders and Fame Academy. (Thanks to Korvin Mobberley)