'Dancing on Ice': Is it time to freeze the show out?

There always comes a time in a reality TV show's lifespan that it should be boxed up and sent off to telly heaven. Some shows get a decade-long run (Big Brother on Channel 4), while others didn't even merit a proper full series (Celebrity Wrestling). However, picking the moment to pull the plug is a tricky game.

With Dancing on Ice's Sunday night ratings falling to record lows and the Beeb's big-hitting dramas (Call the Midwife, Birdsong) biting chunks out of its audience, the most obvious reaction would be to panic.



Dancing on Ice has brought some reliable naff New Year cheer to ITV1 every January for the past seven years. In a post X Factor lull it provided some glittery comfort for those coping with Cowell cold turkey. It didn't matter how many ropey old soap stars were shoved onto the ice, how pantomime the judging panel was or how much Phillip Schofield yelped, viewers tuned in every year without fail.

So what has happened in 2012 that has prompted viewers to flick the off button on their remotes? The lineup may have featured more dreary soap stars than usual and Sam Nixon and Chico are hardly going to set pulses on fire, but overall the bill isn't any more noticeably drab than series past. Until they end up letting Stuart Baggs and some Big Brother rejects strap on their ice skates, there's still plenty of barrel to be scraped in the casting department.

Also, the standard of skating has been as impressive as ever - if not better. Jorgie Porter flings herself like a ragdoll and has been willing to hurtle her pocket-sized frame around the rink. Emmerdale's Matthew Wolfenden has matched her skate for skate, powering around the ice with control and brute strength. Both are also pretty easy on the eye.



The only real change to the show this year has been the judging panel. The ludicrously camp villain Jason Gardiner and bleh Emma Bunton have been replaced by ludicrously camp nice guy Louie Spence and bleh Katarina Witt.

Spence may not have lived up to ITV's expectations in terms of creating scandalous headlines in the way that Gardiner did, but we can't stomach the prospect, nor actually believe, that it's the departure of Gardiner's moustache-twiddling sub-Cowell bad guy routine that has really hurt viewers.

So what is the cause of the Dancing on Ice slide you may well ask? The verdict of Reality Bites is something we're calling 'Reality Fatigue'.

How many times do viewers want to see someone from Emmerdale pouting in pink Lycra? Do you really need to hear Schofe's shrill cries about the dangers of the ice as a former Pop Idol contestant smashes their face into an ice rink once again? Would you really care if you didn't get to see Rikki Loney, Nikki Grahame and Bob Carolgees strapping on their skates in 2013?



'Reality Fatigue' set in on Big Brother during series 8 when we'd seen and heard every 'I'm mad me' cliché at least two times. 'Reality Fatigue' is in its early stages on Simon Cowell's X Factor and TOWIE has also suffered from a serious case of RF during its latest fourth run.

New twists can be devised, formats can be tweaked and judges can be changed but 'Reality Fatigue' is always terminal.

Hardcore fans will no doubt be disappointed when the show is finally frozen out of the schedules by ITV, but reality TV fans should rejoice. It's time for a new format to fill the New Year entertainment void. Celebrity Jugglers? Swim When You're Winning? One Wagner, Two Jedwards? Underwater Boogie with Dale Winton? Ok, we'd probably best work on those ideas.

Do you think it's time to freeze out Dancing on Ice? Has the show run its course? Or do you want the skating to run and run?