Two decades in, does the show still have legs?

When long-serving presenters leave a seemingly timeless show, two questions immediately arise.

- Mark Lawson

Why are they going? And who will replace them?

On the first point, the BBC will hope the joint departure of Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly from Strictly will be attributed to longevity - Daly has served a 21-year term, Winkleman 11 years as a main co-host - and the impact on family life of a weekend gig.

Yet if diaries and tiredness were the primary reason for the hosts leaving, it would have been more likely to be announced much closer to the December end of season 23. This weekend’s episodes mark only the fifth week of 13.

And it cannot be denied - though the BBC would wish it could - that the appeal of spending 13 Saturday late nights with would-be hoofers in Elstree may have been reduced by almost two years of scandals or allegations about the alleged behaviour, language or favoured stimulants of some participants.