Scheduling executives this morning have admitted their dismay at the failure of the new ‘Dancing on Snow’ show. The show was intended as a contender to ITV’s ‘Dancing on Ice’ – which was initially a contender to the BBC’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ – but viewing figures showed that there were even less people watching it than a Mock the Week repeat on Dave.
“Admittedly we knew it wasn’t going to be great, as the snow had already started to melt by the airing time of 7pm on Sunday night,” stated Geoffrey Backdoor at the BBC. “I suppose that having Gary Glitter as a contestant wasn’t going to be a big hit with viewers either”.
Unlike the glamorous shimmering leotards featured on Dancing on Ice, contestants on Dancing on Snow wore fleece sweaters and some old salopets that they found lying around in the loft. Carefully choreographed routines had been sacrificed to enable a speedy airing of the show before the snow melted, resulting in the content mostly consisting of 12 D-list celebrities falling down some stairs. Bruce Forsythe’s presentation – watching the dancers from the window of the One Show – was described as “even worse than usual” by critics.
Greasy-lipped DoI judge Louis Spence commented on the rival show following the ratings release, noting that “the only time I want to see people slipping round on slushy white goo would be at one of my cheeky parties”.