Britain’s 2017 answer to the US format handed the stage to children aged three to thirteen and simply let them do their thing. Each hour-long instalment follows the same pattern: Dawn French ambles on, trades a few scripted gags with a prodigy, then waves them into the spotlight where they belt out opera, flip through karate katas, pipe cupcakes or drum like Animal from The Muppets. No scoreboards, no eliminations, no jeopardy beyond the possibility of a tiny tap-dancer slipping on the shiny floor.
The production, split across two six-part series between March 2017 and May 2018, was filmed at BBC Studioworks and packaged by Wall to Wall for ITV. Ellen DeGeneres and Steve Harvey retain creator credits, but the tone is pure British Saturday-night custard: colourful wide shots of the studio audience clapping on cue, cutaway gags of French pulling disbelieving faces, and a house band that keeps everything brisk enough to survive the ad breaks.
Critics filed it under “throwaway warmth”. Tim Dowling in The Guardian dismissed it as “cheap and cheerful fare designed to be broken into viral chunks”, yet overnight ratings hovered around the five-million mark and ITV quietly recommissioned it within three months. The kids went back to school, the sets were struck, and the format survives only in YouTube clips where a seven-year-old yodeller still racks up fresh comments every week.
Production Details
ITV1 / 2 Seasons / 12 Episodes / 2017
Created by: Lee Stuart Evans Alan Connor
Writer(s): Lee Stuart Evans Alan Connor
Producer(s): Andy Rowe Emma Taylor
Main Cast
Dawn French as Host
