The glitterball’s been polished, the dances choreographed and Bruce Forsyth has been wheeled out of storage and dusted down. Which can only mean one thing. Strictly Come Dancing is back, properly, and here to stay (until Christmas at least)!

So after all these months, a rousing rendition of the theme tune by ‘Dave Arch and his fabulous orchestra’ and ‘that dance’ by Brucie and Tess in a shapeless pink dress, it was time for the first couple to take to the floor.

In a last-minute switch to the lineup, Holly Valance and Artem went first, taking the place of Alex Jones (and her partner James) who had to present last night’s ‘One Show’.

Holly cha cha cha-ed onto the dancefloor in a glitzy little (little being the operative word!) number, looking as though she had two black eyes courtesy of the makeup department.

She seemed to do a pretty good job, although I can’t be totally sure as pressing the red button to listen to the commentary caused the arrival of a mini-screen showing pro Karen Hardy and comedienne Katy Brand backstage, thus obscuring much of Holly and Artem.

I am a big fan of Karen (she used to be my favourite pro-girl) but unfortunately the screen was far too much of a distraction from the dancing and the commentary had to go off within 30 seconds.

Apparently Holly did ok, apart from dancing with bent legs, scoring a 6 from a grumpy Craig but a high score from an 8-paddle-happy Alesha, ending up with a very respectable 28 points.

Next on was Dan Lobb with Katya dancing a waltz. As an ignorant peasant I thought he did a rather nice job. A little bit nervous and stiff but leading well. Alas it seems I was wrong.

Craig thought the lead was ‘tentative’ and Dan scored a not-great 24 overall (though still effortlessly surpassing Kate Garroway and previous ITV presenters).

Then came Lulu and Brendan performing a cha cha. Well, I think that’s what it was meant to be. After a few seconds of choreography and singing along Lulu promptly appeared to forget everything and just dithered and strutted around trying to catch up with Brendan.

Lulu's terrified expression says it all

Craig’s verdict?  ”It was a complete dance disaster. You made it up from beginning to end.” He gave them a 2 and I’m afraid that was over-generous. At least Len offered up some really good advice for next time, the key to ballroom dancing ‘You can’t make mistakes.’ Useful.

Audley Harrison and Natalie came next, dancing a waltz, no easy task when you’re tall as a house with size 17 feet (!!) Considering he struggled to fit on the television screen he drifted around the dance floor surprisingly lightly. Not much in-hold stuff though.

The judges were not  impressed and Audley ended up with a paltry 20 points.

Fourth onto the dancefloor was the threesome that is Robbie Savage, his dance partner Ola and his hair. Happily on this occasion that hair was covered by a menacing looking hooded garment. It didn’t look much like a cha cha but boy did he give it energy, punching the air for all he was worth. He certainly captured the ‘bad boy’ vibe of their Alexandra Burke song choice.

Sadly he failed to capture the hearts of the judges with Craig describing his performance as ‘wooden’ and lacking in content. Robbie was awarded just 19 points in total.

Then came the couple we’d all been waiting for, Russell Grant and Flavia. These guys sure knew how to make an entrance. As Flavia sashayed down the stairs, out popped Russell from the centre of a giant oyster shell handily located in the middle of the dance floor, wearing white pyjamas and looking tai chi ready. They then threw themselves into an energetic cha cha to the song ‘Venus’. It wasn’t technically good and it wasn’t tidy, but he really ‘had a go’ and was evidently loving every minute.

The judges were mesmerised by his efforts and astonishingly he went into fourth place on the leader board with 21 points.

Last but not least was Anita Dobson with Robin. Both looking elegant and suave respectively they took to floor…and shone! Anita’s not quite the shocker Pamela Stephenson turned out to be last year, but she’s not too far behind. Their waltz was lovely and graceful and Anita already had very balletic arms. It was the dance of the night for me without doubt.

And it seemed the judges agreed deeming it ‘beautiful’ and ‘elegant’. Even Craig was impressed, giving her a few pointers to work on but saying overall ‘I thought the whole routine was gorgeous’ and awarding her a 7, something he rarely dishes out in Week One. They scored joint top with Holly-28.

All in all, it was a great night of highs and lows. I can’t wait to see how the rest of them get on!