How Strictly Come Dancing plans its themed weeks and beyond – from flying producers to fighting for fairness

The Strictly Come Dancing format is currently licensed to 61 territories worldwide, and while each is inherently similar, there's something different about all of them – and it's no walk in the park ensuring each and every one of them goes to plan every year.

Strictly Come Dancing is the brainchild of the BBC, with the series first beginning in May 2004, before Australia aired its version later that same year. Since then, roughly 20 variations of Strictly are on air every year worldwide.

As to be expected, there is an entire team covering all bases ensuring the series go ahead without any hitches – and this is where Sumi Connock, Global Creative Lead at BBC Studios, comes in.

Letting us in on the behind-the-scenes work that goes into putting on the shows from scratch, Connock exclusively told RadioTimes.com: "I have a team of flying producers that work with me. So whenever we get a new sale, let's pretend it's Belgium, we've got two flying producers who specifically work across Dancing with the Stars.

"So between them, they split all the territories and they will work really closely with that new partner, which could be the producer, and with the broadcaster as well.

"And they'll basically work with them from the start to make sure that they fully understand the DNA of the show and how to deliver it, and they'll work with them on sort of creative solutions in terms of they've got to solve challenges.

"So it might be budgetary, not everybody has got the budgets of the US or the UK version or even the bigger territories, some of them are working to much tighter budgets.

"But I think that when you're pushed into a corner, it can really be inspiring creatively and we've seen so many amazing creatives come out of countries that don't have as big budgets. So they will work really closely with them."

Afterwards, their attention is turned to the duration of the show, which can run for either two or three hours, before moving onto which dances to focus on.

What makes the Strictly format stand out from other televised dancing competitions is its focus on Ballroom and Latin, allowing for those behind the scenes to put their attention on the 10 key dances – Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Cha-cha-cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive.

Connock added: "We do allow other styles where they can sort of lean into local tastes or a traditional dance, but probably not in the first couple of weeks, because that's our USP and [is what] differentiates us from all the other dance shows is that we're rooted in Ballroom and Latin, we like the focus to always be on the celebrity and their celebrity journey and showing growth and improvement.

"We're about focusing on the fun, the funny, the positive, giving takeaway for the viewers. That's another really important attribute that we try and instil in all of our versions."

When it comes to the judges, there is always an important role to play in helping educate the audience in a way they can understand, and before each series the flying producers hold a judges' workshop with each of the judges to help them when it comes to "talking about creativity, talking about posture, giving constructive feedback", with there being one golden rule...

"We want to see a build of scores across the season," Connock explained. "So you don't want to see 10s in week one, because then there's nothing to work towards and they're not professional dancers, so they need to have something to build on. But we really don't like to see any zeros.

"We don't have a zero paddle, because there's always something good to find in whatever performance someone has done. So you might see a one, but there'll be something there to hold on to and take forward into the next week."

It's also important in regards to the judges that they are "honest, transparent and fair" in their voting.

"Fairness is really important. We need to make sure that we're really hot on our duty of care when it comes to training and injuries, and how to prevent that, and all that sort of stuff," Connock told RadioTimes.com.

And then it's time for the music, which must be "unashamedly mainstream".

Connock told RadioTimes.com: "We always think it's a bit like being at a wedding where there's something for every age, but there might be a different take on a classic. Obviously we don't have a live band or live singers in every territory, because, again, that can be a budgetary thing, but it is really exciting when you can have live singers.

"And again, that builds the whole atmosphere, and it means that you can do that specific take on a song, and do something different with it."

Strictly Come Dancing is loyal to its themes each year, with Halloween, Movie and Musicals Week all being staples for the BBC programme, with the new addition of Icons Week.

And it's not as straightforward as it may seem to put on a themed night, or even a themed dance.

Connock explained: "If you're doing a specific themed night or a specific theme dance, first of all, you're going to have to get the rights to make sure that you can do it depending on what it is.

"So if you're using the music, they need the rights. If you're doing a whole themed night, like a Wicked night, then you need to work with the IP owner to create all of that. But we do find that territories are inspired by each other. But it's the costume, the music, the finding the right dance that goes with each track.

"So [if] you've got Wicked then they're going to lend themselves to different dance styles. So it's about the timing of those. But then you've got to make sure that you've got to give everyone the fair amount of time to dance. They'll work with the musical director to create a length of music that's going to include the bit that everybody knows.

"You've got the chorus and the verse, whether it's one and a half minutes, or one minute 50, or whatever it is, so everyone has the same duration of dance to do just so that it's fair."

But as Strictly fans will know, themed weeks aren't introduced until a little later in the run, with the exception of US Dancing with the Stars, which has a themed night each week other than the launch.

"It depends in different versions, but you tend to sort of start with your classic dance, [you're] probably not doing a theme in your first couple of weeks," Connock told RadioTimes.com.

"In most territories around the world we do that, and then you start bringing themes in. You can also build the themes to include more props, more dancers as you go on, bringing more lifts, etc, so that you see a progression in terms of both what you're seeing visually in terms of what surrounds the dance, but also in terms of their sort of technicalities as well."

On the other side of the pond, there are plenty of differing themed nights, with the US Dancing with the Stars recently dominating headlines with its Dedication and TikTok nights, with the latter having potential to be seen in more formats.

Speaking of whether a new theme is likely to be introduced in a territory each year, Connock added: "We've had Prince [night], we've had Taylor Swift [night], or there might be a local artist that the territory will really lean into, but it was the first time that we had done a TikTok night this year.

"And I think that might be something that we see more of within that as well."

Read more:

• Strictly fans call for "iconic" format twist to become regular feature after chaotic scenes
• Alan Carr reacts to Strictly Come Dancing host speculation - and reveals whether he wants the job

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 6th December at 6:50pm.

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