Review by gilleliath

You can see the attraction from ITV's point of view. Besides filling a lot of prime-time weekday slots with a proven winner, the fact that it isn't live means that they don't have to disrupt their weekend schedule, and no doubt makes production cheaper and easier. But - besides Amir Khan embarrassing them with a doping scandal after recording - pre-recording causes a big change in dynamic. With live TV, being live is a big part of what makes you watch - and you look indulgently on stuff which otherwise would seem a bit lame. That was often the case here: Ant & Dec's well-worn linking schtick, particularly, came off badly. Perhaps it was to counteract this that they made the trials more disgusting than ever. But I think that was a mistake - is that really why we watch? Personally it made me switch off. And, whereas the live format with its audience voting usually means that the most entertaining people are kept in till near the end, here the format favours those who are good at trials - which means the sensible boring ones. The final three was Wotsit Banjo, Fatima Whitbread and Myleene Klass - QED.

The powers that be, however, will no doubt be pleased that they finally had three ethnic minority finalists and (of course) one of them as winner. ITV have clearly been worried for some while about the 'optics' of this show - which, if memory serves, has never had a BAME winner - and maybe that, too, was part of the equation in having a recorded version.