Dani Dyer made a solid start last week with her mid-table samba. Now she's the Belle of the ballroom, with pro partner Nikita Kuzmin furring up and donning horns to play the Beast. Sweet staircase opening. Decent frame, lovely lines, stretching elegantly. Gliding gracefully across the floor. The judges will be looking for clean footwork and heel leads but the romantic mood and fairytale feel is all there. Spinning finish. Disney princess fantasies fulfilled.

Beauty and the Beast from Beauty & The Beast. The theme song to the 1991 Disney film, originally sung by Angela Lansbury. The ballad was later released on single as a duet by Celine Dion and Peabos Bryson. Our own Emma Thompson sang it in the 2017 live-action adaptation.

Danny 'n' Sandy from Grease! Julie Andrews! John Travolta! A saucy rat! A chef's hat! Nikita as an actual beast! The dressing-up box has been ransacked.

The 15 fancy-dressed couples emerge in their Movie Week finery. Cowboys! Lifeguards! Witches!

The paddle-racing panel swan onto our screens: Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and head judge . They cut some rug to Zootropolis too. The absolute animals.

Here's our hostly trio, so let's do a filmic fashion face-off. is in a strapless sparkly snakeskin black dress. in black shirt and pink shirt. in green tuxedo with structural bow on the shoulder. Emma wins.

One for younger viewers but rather fun. Zoo-ooh-ooh.

We kick off with a movie-themed group routine from the pros. This number is soundtracked by a medley ofs Try Everything and Zoo.

Jowita is playing Officer Judy Hopps and Julian is Nick Wilde. Animal fancy-dress all round, like a children's party with an over-enthusiastic face-painter. Ginger Neil klaxon!

Still adjusting to the new-look title sequence. Lawrence Robb gives Jowita a piggy back! John Nellis flexes his bicep! Turkey hand from Will Best! Glittery gobble gobble!

Roll the traditional movie-themed VT. A Top Gun spoof this time. I feel the need. The need for speed.

Salt or sugar your popcorn. Switch your phones to silent. Pop open that "sharing" box of Maltesers. We're about to go live to Elstree Studios…

He's statistically the harshest judge, of course, and 's average paddle-raise last Saturday was just 4.6 points – his lowest week one scoring since 2020.

Something tells me that totals will be higher all round tonight. They usually are in a theme week. It's just until the director calls "Action"…

is just finishing up on BBC1. By the magic of prerecorded TV, contestants include Strictly's very own . Hope he's got his dance shoes on and a taxi waiting.

Talk about running time bloat. Tonight's show clocks in at an – five minutes longer than last Saturday's opening live show. Assume that extra time will be filled with film-themed fluff. It's like a choreographic Chrisopher Nolan film.

Not long now until the Pearl & Dean tune…

The 15 Movie Week routines include the first Charleston and Couple's Choice of the series. Too soon? Quite possibly.

There's also much more ballroom tonight, with nine traditional numbers to please the purists. A mere 15 minutes until spangly showtime…

Tick them off as you spot them! Take a drink for each! End up tearily texting your ex! Here's your 10-point spotter's checklist for Movie Week:

• Repeated, verging-on-criminal misuse of the word "iconic"

• Celebrity unconvincingly claims they're paying homage to their all-time favourite film. (Ratatouille? Really?)

• Emma Willis inhabits Tess Daly by saying "The crowd are on their feet!"

• Anton Du Beke harks back to his own Movie Week routines of yore

• Film-themed VT with Craig playing the villain/Shirley as the fairy godmother

• Judges have no literally no clue how to mark Couple's Choice, so dish out random high scores

• Celebrity is damned with faint praise as "having fun", "telling a story" or "embracing the character"

• Craig isn't happy with the ankle swivel during this year's first Charleston

• First theme of the series is flogged to within an inch of its life

There was no viewer vote last time out, so this is the first chance for the Strictly audience to back their favourites – and the first couple will be cruelly voted off.

Last Saturday's judgely scores will be carried over, then combined with tonight's totals and the public vote. The bottom two will be consigned to this year's first dreaded dance-off and somebody will be sent home with the sparkly-handled wooden spoon.

Any predictions? is the hot bookies' tip but , and could also be in the danger zone. Stock up on "concessions", it's 25 minutes to screening time…

Last week saw the live debut of all-new presenting trio and– and safe to say it didn't go entirely smoothly.

There were some satellite delay-style pauses in the handovers. Jojo could barely be heard above the balcony crowd. Poor "Joshy" got a critical mauling in the press, with claims that he looks like a spare part.

It's by no means a crisis yet. Give them a chance to settle in. But BBC bigwigs will certainly be hoping that things are slicker and snappier tonight.

Buckle up, Barry Norman. Clunk-click, Pauline Kael. It's less than half an hour until the film cameras start rolling…

Lights, camera, ballroom action! Yes, has surprised us all by shifting Movie Week to the contest's first full weekend. As if this series hadn't featured enough changes, they've switched up the dancefloor diary too.

Evening all and welcome to the second live show of the series. I'm Michael, your torch-wielding, ice cream-selling usherette for tonight's show. You are cordially invited to watch along with me as the red carpet is rolled out for the premiere theme week of 2026.

Last week's inaugural live show saw foxtrot to the top and a three-way tie down the bottom. Now, for the first time in Strictly history, all 15 pro-celebrity couples will get their Movie Week close-up because the themed special has been brought forward from its traditional week three slot. They'll be performing routines inspired by Hollywood films in their bid to avoid this year's first elimination, so expect a feast of fancy dress and novelty props.

On Sunday night, their scores will be combined with last Saturday's, plus the first public vote of the series, before the credits roll on one couple's competition. So whose routine will be a box office blockbuster? And which flop will go straight to the Blu-ray bargain bin?

It's showtime at 6.15pm on BBC One. I'll be liveblogging from 5.45pm, providing build-up, rolling coverage, analysis, reaction and heckles from the back row of the cinema. So stock up on exorbitantly priced pick 'n' mix and I'll see you on the front row of the cinema.

As ever, I'd love to too. You can @michaelhogan, contact me on Bluesky or Threads @michaelhogan100, michael.hogan.freelance@guardian.co.uk and the comments section below is back open for your Movie Week musings. I'll foxtrot down where from time to time to gauge your reaction and report it up top, so please do share your thoughts.

Saturday night at the movies, anyone? It's nearly time to staaaaaart cinematic dancing!