Strictly Come Dancing 2024, Movie Week 3, live: Nikita and Sam resurrect Tomb Raider with a sizzling paso

It’s quite an achievement to be camouflaged in a leopard print toga, but Paul managed it. After gyrating on the judge’s desks, he swung onto the dancefloor from a giant vine – another bit of introductory padding, but at least it was active. His samba with Jowita showed gentle but consistent improvement. “Absolutely hate the film, but I love the samba,” he said at the end. He and Jowita are solidly mid-table, but his dry wit should keep them safe for a few weeks more.

Craig: 6; Motsi: 6; Shirley: 7; Anton: 7
Kat’s score: 6

JB and Amy’s American Smooth to Pure Imagination from Wonka resuscitated this poor dance after weeks of suffering at the hands of niche English anthems. They swept around the floor so comfortably, with JB managing some strong lifts and excellent characterisation – it might be ballroom, but those years with JLS definitely helped with his musicality.

Craig: 7; Motsi: 8; Shirley: 8; Anton: 9
Kat’s score: 8

While on paper, Sam and Nikita drew the short straw with a Tomb Raider-themed number to Elevation by U2, in reality, they pulled off a dramatic, sexy and convincing paso doble. It might not be as iconic as some of the other numbers tonight, but they made it their own – with some help from the wardrobe department who gave Nikita as much of a conversation-starting costume as Vito’s incredibly tight trousers last week.

Craig: 7; Motsi: 8; Shirley: 7; Anton: 8
Kat’s score: 8

Chris and Dianne’s Wayne’s World jive parties on

After some exuberant body makeup for the pro dancers in a Despicable Me-inspired routine as The Minions (with Kai sporting a very Dr Evil take on Gru), Montell and Johannes opened the show with a tango to One Night Only from Dreamgirls the Musical. Montell has the drama and the leg flicks in spades, but as in previous weeks her dancing in hold was quite stiff – often the case on Strictly with athletes more used to working individually. The judges saw plenty of promise for Montell and praised her frame.

Craig: 7; Motsi: 7; Shirley: 7; Anton: 7
Kat’s score: 7

Improvement! Toyah and Neil’s samba to Poor Unfortunate Souls was much better than last week’s jive. Toyah brought the drama and the makeup and wardrobe departments brought their best work, although they didn’t seem to bother much with Neil, who resembled a piece of seaweed which had recently been scraped off the aquarium floor. The dancing was much better – but the judges killed with kindness. Positive feedback was followed by scores that were even lower than last week’s 18.

Craig: 3; Motsi: 4; Shirley: 4; Anton: 4
Kat’s score: 5

Chris and Dianne’s Wayne’s World jive was already fantastic – and then he did knee slides with holes in his trousers, and they headbanged in a car to Bohemian Rhapsody and it went supernova. This is terrific, spirited dancing for week three. This snappy and light-footed jive saw a standing ovation from the studio audience, including Dianne’s 2018 dance partner Joe Sugg, and Chris and Dianne playing to the audience beautifully by replicating Wayne and Garth’s “We’re not worthy!” bows to the judges. “You. Can. Dance.” Craig said after his critique – Chris truly can, and his hard work and humour with Dianne are paying off week after week.

Craig: 7; Motsi: 7; Shirley: 8; Anton: 8
Kat’s score: 8

A glimpse in rehearsal of Aljaž dressed as Mojo Dojo Casa Ken made me wish he and Tasha were doing a funny routine – but their rumba dressed as the classic Barbie and Ken was so beautiful that it made up for it. Tasha’s previous experience in commercial dance might have given her rhythm and control, but this rumba was new, and they were utterly compelling. I don’t expect to see a hashtag Strictly journey from her but, my goodness: I love watching her dance.

Craig: 8; Motsi: 8; Shirley: 9; Anton: 9
Kat’s score: 9

Oh dear – this week Paul and Karen suffered another long delay before getting on the floor, this time because of two giant horse props. There wasn’t a lot of skill here on Paul’s part, but he was game and going for it. The problem that might see this popular pair troubling the bottom two is that, compared to their previous dances, their Cha Cha to The Magnificent Seven theme wasn’t weird or silly enough to entertain voters, and it wasn’t particularly enjoyable either.

Craig: 3; Motsi: 5; Shirley: 5; Anton: 6
Kat’s score: 5

Introducing Sarah and Vito’s Viennese Waltz to Hedwig’s Theme, Tess rolled out her “hushed, dignified” voice to pay tribute to Dame Maggie Smith who died last week. I tried and failed to imagine how much Smith would have loathed to be immortalised in a Harry Potter dance on Strictly. That said, Sarah and Vito did a stunning job of their waltz, inspired by the character rather than a full-drag cosplay. Seeing Sarah’s glittering McGonagall being critiqued by Shirley dressed as Mary Poppins felt like spiritual sisters.

Craig: 8; Motsi: 9; Shirley: 8; Anton: 8
Kat’s score: 9

Tonight’s songs and dances

If Aljaž can keep a straight face, then his and Tasha’s rumba to What Was I Made For? from Barbie will be one to watch – otherwise, this isn’t the most thrilling Movie Week line-up that Strictly’s ever compiled.

The prospect of Nick Knowles dressed as Paddington Bear in his little duffle coat has gone some way to assuage my disappointment at a great number like Poor Unfortunate Souls going to Toyah and Neil who, if last week is anything to go by, look likely to spend a full two minutes playing with the set rather than dancing.

Montell and Johannes: Tango – One Night Only (Dreamgirls)

Punam and Gorka: Couple’s Choice – Bole Chudiyan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)

Sam and Nikita: Paso Doble – Elevation (Tomb Raider)

Sarah and Vito: Viennese Waltz – Hedwig’s Theme (Harry Potter)

Tasha and Aljaž: Rumba – What Was I Made For? (Barbie)

Toyah and Neil: Samba – Poor Unfortunate Souls (The Little Mermaid)

Chris and Dianne: Jive – Wayne’s World Theme

Jamie and Michelle: Quickstep – I’m Still Standing (Rocketman)

JB and Amy: American Smooth – Pure Imagination (Wonka)

Paul and Karen: Cha Cha – The Magnificent Seven Theme

Pete and Jowita: Samba – George Of The Jungle Theme

Shayne and Nancy: Viennese Waltz – If I Can Dream (Elvis)

Wynne and Katya: Cha Cha – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Mrs Doubtfire)

Read Chris’s Strictly Diary

Watching Chris and Dianne dance is the living embodiment of that old joke: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practise, practise, practise.”

These two are practising like nobody’s business. “Dianne’s trust in my abilities is immense, and my trust in her is likewise,” Chris writes in his latest Strictly diary. “I would honestly try to catch her from a great height whilst riding a unicycle if she asked me to, although I really hope she doesn’t.”

It’s completely fascinating seeing how they work around each other, and with each other – Chris writes about reading the shifts in Dianne’s bodyweight so he knows when to step over her legs, and here’s a great insight into how much work went into that amazing guitar leg moment last week.

“We messed it up a lot at the beginning… We both ended up on the floor a few times, sometimes she would miss me entirely, or she wouldn’t handstand far enough and I would have to wrestle her leg out of the air. And there was also that one time that she cartwheeled towards me and kicked me straight in the face.

“I joked about this on the show with Claudia, because often people might think that I have some useful vision, but I have nothing – and the proof  of that was my complete lack of anticipation or avoidance of the foot,  I just stood there and took Dianne’s foot right in the face like a man…  a blind, blind man.”

You can read Chris’s Strictly Diary in full here