History Series / StrictlyComeDancing

* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: Most viewers are unaware of this, but there are actual lyrics to the Strictly theme song, as demonstrated in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCua8549zPE the pro number that opened the 2012 series]].

** The 2021 series had Tilly Ramsay, who was under 20 at the time. She was paired with newcomer pro Nikita, one of the younger dancers if not the youngest (AJ had left by then and while fellow new pro Cameron was younger, he wasn't partnered).

* ARareSentence: After Angela Scanlon referred to Carlos as a "Nan", Claudia asked him if he was ready to become a Nan, before saying she'd never thought she'd say that.

%% * AmazonianBeauty: As with its American counterpart, there have been quite a few female contestants who fit the bill.
%% ** Kirsty Gallacher in 2015
%% ** Gemma Atkinson in 2017
%% ** Lauren Steadman in 2018.

%% * CampGay: Bruno and Robin. Not to mention Russell Grant in 2011 and Julian Clary in 2004. Craig too seems to have gotten more and more camp over the years, especially in the side-show "It Takes Two''
* CampStraight: Most of the male pros come off as this, being flamboyant with their dancing and some of their outfits, but are in relationships with women and identify as straight. Nikita Kuzmin in particular stands out for being able to dance well with other male pros and his celebrity partner in the 2023 series, but has only ever dated women.

* LatinLover:
** Played for laughs with Vincent Simone whose dark looks and thick Italian accent and positively obscenely overactive eyebrows are undercut by a lisp and rather diminutive stature- his partners tend to either be teenagers or much older women. If anything, the trope appears to be a lot more effective with Giovanni Pernice (who is also Italian, but much taller) as well as Spanish pro Gorka Marquez.
** For the 2018 series, a ''second'' hunky Italian pro appears in Graziano de Prima, who's a dead ringer for Jon Snow of ''Series/GameOfThrones''.
** The 2022 series introduced Vito Coppola, another Italian pro.

* MrFanservice: During his one series as a pro, Gleb Savchenko was definitely this. Upon being paired with him on the launch show, Anita Rani joked that he was so handsome she couldn't look directly at his face, and throughout the series there was at least one instance of him taking his top off.
%% ** Matthew Cutler
%% ** Brian Fortuna both fill this role.
%% ** One young, good-looking male amongst the celebrity contestants every year.
%% ** Giovanni
%% ** Gorka fits the LatinLover look.
%% ** Graziano.
%% ** Aljaz is athletically handsome, coupled with his tendency to get ''very'' sweaty.
%% ** AJ, while noticeably [[PrettyBoy younger and prettier]] than his peers, has been slowly growing into the role.
* MrsRobinson: Arlene Phillips and Shirley Ballas are both presented this way, as both voice their appreciation of certain male contestants.

* OlderThanTheyLook:
** Pro AJ Pritchard was 21 when he first joined the show in 2016 but looks much younger.
** Pro Chloe Hewitt was 21 when she started in the show in 2016 and passes as someone younger.

* SensualSlavs: A lot of the female dancers hail from former Soviet bloc countries; notably Kristina Rihanoff (Russian), Ola Jordan (Polish), Lilia Kopylova (Russian), Aliona Vilani (Russian-Kazakh), Nadiya Bychkova (Ukrainian), Jowita Przystał (Polish) and Luba Mushtuk (Russian). Nikita Kuzmin (Ukrainian) may also count as a male example.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Pro Kai Widdrington was 25-26 when he started the show in 2021 but looked closer to 30. When he mentioned being 28 during the 2023 series, many viewers were surprised because they'd thought he was older.

** The 2021 series had Tilly Ramsay, who was about 20 at the time. She was paired with newcomer pro Nikita, one of the younger dancers if not the youngest (AJ had left by then and while fellow new pro Cameron was younger, he wasn't partnered).

%% * CampGay: Bruno and Robin. Not to mention Russell Grant in 2011 and Julian Clary in 2004. Craig too seems to have gotten more and more camp over the years, especially in the side-show "It Takes Two"

** This also happens to the pros when their partners are eliminated, as their appearances for the rest of the series are reduced to special performances during the results show (and sometimes at the beginning of the main show), and the occasional shot of them in the audience or standing behind Claudia in later episodes when there are fewer contestants. Taken even further with those who made it far in the competition one year, only for their next partner to leave early on in the following year. For example, Kai and Giovanni made it to the final in 2021 (though in the former's case, his partner had to miss the final because of an injury) while in 2022, their new partners were eliminated in weeks 2 and 3 respectively.

* SplittingPants: Dan Snow's trousers split during his jive, the first competitive dance of the 2023 Christmas special. It's not terribly obvious, but Craig immediately points it out in his judges' comments.

* SplittingPants: Dan Snow's trousers split during his jive, the opening dance of the 2023 Christmas special. It's not terribly obvious, but Craig immediately points it out in his judges' comments.

* ModestyShorts: Worn by Lauren Steadman for her Jive during the 2018 series.

** In 2021 Nikita took off his shirt during his Samba with Tilly Ramsay when they were in the dance off. It didn't do them any favours, though, and they were still eliminated. Two years later, he recounted the event on ''It Takes Two'' when it was brought up that he'd made it past Week 10 for the first time.

** The 2023 series had Angela Rippon, Angela Scanlon, Layton Williams and Nigel Harman, all of whom have backgrounds in different kinds of dance. It was most obvious with Layton Williams (who stressed along with the judges that he still had to learn the proper techniques of Ballroom and Latin) because he was primarily known as a broadway star, while the rest had other things they were famous for that made it easier for most viewers to overlook. Ellie Leach was also said to have had some prior dance experience.

** The 2023 series had Angela Rippon, Angela Scanlon, Layton Williams and Nigel Harman, all of whom have backgrounds in different kinds of dance. It was most obvious with Layton Williams (who stressed along with the judges that he still had to learn the proper techniques of Ballroom and Latin) because he was primarily known as a broadway star, while the rest had other things they were famous for that made it easier for most viewers to overlook.

** From the 2020 series onwards, the lineups have included at least one pairing where both the contestant and the professional are the same gender (Nicola Adams and Katya Jones in 2020, John Whaite and Johannes Radebe in 2021 and both Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice and Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer in 2022).

* SensualSlavs: A lot of the female dancers hail from former Soviet bloc countries; notably Kristina Rihanoff (Russian), Ola Jordan (Polish), Lilia Kopylova (Russian), Aliona Vilani (Russian-Kazakh), Nadiya Bychkova (Ukrainian), Jowita Przystał (Polish) and Luba Mushtuk (Russian). Nikita Kuzmin (Ukrainian) may also count as a male example.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[OnceAnEpisode And remember...keeeeep dancing!]]'']]

* DramaticPause: Taken to excess at times. TheReveal of who's safe and who's in the dance off in each episode takes ''ages''.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of ''Come Dancing'' on [=BBC=] television might well be viewed this way, such is the popular power of the new show. Beginning as ''Television Dancing Club'' in 1949 and renamed ''Come Dancing'' in 1950, the show ran to 1995 with few breaks. It took the form of a regional contest between strictly amateur teams and soloists who represented their cities, counties and wider regions. A typical show might have had "Home Counties North" in a formation dance-off against "Northern Counties South", in a variety of styles and disciplines with up to twelve couples per side dancing in unison. This was staid and stuffy television and was much parodied by comedians, such as ''Series/TheGoodies'' and ''Series/RutlandWeekendTelevision''. This format was quietly retired in the early part of TheNineties.

** "It's the moment of truth."

** Amy Dowden had to miss out on taking part in the 2023 series due to undergoing treatment for her breat cancer diagnosis. However, she made a surprise appearance during Week 3 to read the voting terms and conditions, and continued to stand around with the rest of the cast for the remainder of that episode.

* DramaticPause: Taken to excess at times. TheReveal of who's out in each episode takes ''ages''.

* HeartbeatSoundtrack: The drums that play during the announcement of which couples are in the bottom two, as well as when the judges are deciding who to save, bring to mind a fast-paced heartbeat, likely mimicing how anxious the couples are feeling at this point.

* {{Irony}}: Angela Scanlon in series 21 [[spoiler:got as far as episode 10]], where she danced to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. [[spoiler: No she didn't.]]

* LiveButDelayed

** The Halloween pro dance which featured no less than five of the professional male dancers dancing topless.

** Also in Halloween Week 2022, Johannes wore a dress and wig for his ''Film/HocusPocus'' themed dance with Ellie Taylor.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Pro Kai Widdrington was 25-26 when he started the show in 2021 but looked closer to 30.

* {{Irony}}: Angela Scanlon in series 21 [[spoiler:got as far as episode 10]], where she danced I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. [[spoiler: No she didn't.]]

* Ironic: Angela Scanlon in series 21 [[spoiler:got as far as episode 10]], where she danced I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. [[spoiler: No she didn't.]]

* Irony: Angela Scanlon in series 21 [[spoiler:got as far as episode 10]], where she danced I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. [[spoiler: No she didn't.]]

** Downplayed with Luba Mushtuk, who was a recurring extra dancer since 2016 and was promoted to titular pro in 2018, but without getting a celebrity partner. She wasn't partnered very often compared to most of the other pros, though, and was usually eliminated early.

* ABirthdayNotABreak: Jody Cundy was eliminated from the 2023 series on his birthday.[[note]]This is ignoring the fact that the results show aired on the following night, as it was still filmed on the previous night.[[/note]]

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of ''Come Dancing'' on [=BBC=] television might well be viewed this way, such is the popular power of the new show. Beginning as ''Television Dancing Club'' in 1949 and renamed ''Come Dancing'' in 1950, the show ran to 1995 with few breaks. It took the form of a regional contest between strictly amateur teams and soloists who represented their cities, counties and wider regions. A typical show might have had "Home Counties North" in a formation dance-off against "Northern Counties South", in a variety of styles and disciplines with up to twelve couples per side dancing in unison. This was staid and stuffy television and was much parodied by comedians, such as ''Series/TheGoodies'' and ''Series/RutlandWeekendTelevision''. This format was quietly retired in the early part of TheNineties.

** The 2023 series had Angela Rippon, Angela Scanlon, Layton Williams and Nigel harman, all of whom have backgrounds in different kinds of dance. It was most obvious with Layton Williams (who stressed along with the judges that he still had to learn the proper techniques of Ballroom and Latin) because he was primarily known as a broadway star, while the rest had other things they were famous for that made it easier for most viewers to overlook.

** The 2023 series had Angela Rippon, Angela Scanlon, Layton Williams and Nigel harman, all of whom have backgrounds in different kinds of dance. It was most obvious with Layton Williams (who stressed along with the judges that he still had to learn the proper techniques of Ballroom and Latin) because he was primarily known as a broadway star, while the rest had other things they were famous for that made it eaisier for most viewers to overlook.

* CallBack: The group performance featuring all of the previously eliminated celebrities and their partners in the 2022 series finale had a few references to some of their past dances, such as Tony Adams wearing red sparkly shorts (referring back to his performance in week 3) and Ellie Taylor dancing to the ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' theme song (referring back to her dance in week 5).

** Movie Week 2023 had Layton Williams dressed as Rizzo from ''Film/{{Grease}}'', while Adam Thomas did a routine based on ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' dressed as Mario - and his partner Luba was dressed as not as Princess Peach, but as ''Luigi''.

** The 2023 series had then 21-year-old Bobby Brazier.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Pro Kai Widdrington was 25 when he started the show in 2021 but looks closer to 30.

%% ** Gorka fit the LatinLover look,

* TooQualifiedToApply: The show is nominally about celebrities ''learning'' to dance, and viewers tend to not take to celebrities they perceive as having had prior experience. This perhaps reached its apex with the 2018 series, which featured at least two celebrities predominantly already known for dancing (Ashley Roberts and Danny John-Jules). The stipulation in such cases is that they may have dance backgrounds, but not in Latin or Ballroom, which they have to learn from scratch. It has also been noted that celebrities with ballet training in their background often struggle, especially with the Latin dances, as the training required for good ballet can make Latin dances far too "clean", "prim" or "stiff". One of the few ballet dancers who was able to make the transition to Latin was former ballet dancer and teacher, Debbie [=McGee=], who became a good all-rounder and 2017 finalist once she learned to "undo" her ballet training for the Ballroom and Latin techniques.

* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: Kara Tointon's acting career since winning series 8 has been far from poor, but runner-up Matt Baker received a bigger boost in his presenting career (his performance on the show resulted in him getting the job as host of ''The One Show'', a role he had been passed over for before because of doubts as to how popular he was). It's a common occurrence for the more technically-impressive runner-ups to score musical theatre roles, as was the case with Danny Mac, Alexandra Burke, and most recently Faye Tozer. Since being on Strictly, Joe Sugg hosted the show's official podcast, was one of the titular presenters for the 2019 Comic Relief telethon, had a role of Ogie in the West End musical ''Waitress'', recently guest edited ComicBook/TheBeano and got a TV acting role in ''The Syndicate''.

** "Seerrrvvvvveeeeen!"