We’re not quite back to normal with Strictly yet, after last week’s slightly bizarre and trying-too-hard 100 year birthday theme, this time it’s the more traditional Halloween. The costume, hair and make up teams really pulled out all the stops for this, it was clear as soon as the couples started descending the stairs. And the judges! They all looked incredible too, even if Anton spent most of the show doing battle with his curly wig.

The costumes might have been good but some of the concepts were a bit of a reach this week. Rylan’s spent most of the week on It Takes Two poking fun at how much of a stretch some of them are. Scary bees, anyone?

Tony & Katya - Quickstep

This was so much better than I’d been expecting. Even though Tony is admittedly the weakest dancer left in the competition, you can see that he is genuinely improving and really wants to do well. The fast bits were great, in time, no missed steps. Some of the slower bits were more messy, but I loved the soul being dragged out at the end. Great comments from the judges, although I think they did slightly overmark.

Will & Nancy - Cha Cha Cha

This was a fun dance and great character - I’m not totally convinced the balance between dance and character was right, but he’d definitely toned down the energy and tightened up the control from last week. More great comments from the judges, someone’s put something in Craig’s tea, I think!

Kym & Graziano - Rumba

This is Graziano’s first rumba, apparently, and Frozen is such a tune to debut with. I was quite distracted by the CG crows so took me a minute to concentrate on the dance. It looked good, nice moves, felt just slightly wobbly in places. But Anton’s right, her confidence was way back up from this time last week.

James & Amy - Charleston

Loved the concept of the visit from three ex-Eastenders, ridiculous but amusing. The dance had good energy but the concept is so weird, and I’m not sure the choreography was that great. The swivels were really lacking, but that is always the hardest bit. “I’m buzzing,” Amy said in her incredible accent. Mixed comments from the judges this time, and lower scores. Uh oh.

Molly & Carlos - Argentine Tango

It feels odd to me that they didn’t go with a Stranger Things theme given that is prime Halloween fodder and the reason this song has had the resurgence this year. Really good dance though, not playing safe this time. Passion, drama and all those good things. Quite enjoy Anton feeling what it’s like to be booed all the time.

Tyler & Dianne - Cha Cha Cha

I really don’t know anything about Beetlejuice, but quite enjoying Tyler being scared of everything that’s associated with Halloween. I’m not sure he had the straight leg thing susses, and the balance felt all over the place to me. Good character though. Anton said it was the best he’s ever seen. For realz?

Helen & Gorka - Foxtrot

Gorka: “I’m not made for the woods.” The foxtrot is another one that can be dull if not done well, but this was okay and with some good character. I did see a bit of gapping, figured Craig woouldn’t like that. The best bit, actually, was Will clapping at the end - still in mummy character! Giving Motsi ‘final vibes’. Don’t jinx it Motsi!

Hamza & Jowita - Tango

Hamza said “that’s not exactly an image I want to hear” and I can’t stop thinking about that. I feel like he got on the wrong foot somewhere and the end was really clunky, he was apologising to Jowita at the end so I think something did go awry. But the judges didn’t mention it, and it was a great dance overall anyway.

Fleur & Vito - Salsa

What have they done to Vito, again? Second week in a row! I’m not a fan of this song, particularly, and the dance came across as quite frantic to me. Were there any hips? Great lifts though, and that move by Vito at the end on his knees. Core strength or what? Didn’t fully understand Motsi’s comment about cutting the lifts, they were the best bit!

Ellie & Nikita - Foxtrot

The Scooby Doo concept of this one was a concern, but it actually worked really well - if you ignore the 70s colours and flares. Great story, good dancing, nothing to complain about. She completely picked him up at the end, amazing. Anton says immaculate a lot.

Ellie & Johannes - Couple’s Choice

We got a bit of Ellie’s back story in the VT, but I’m not sure what that had to do with the dance. Jojo looked amazing, as per usual. Great character and storytelling but I’m not sure about the dance. I guess with all the skirts, I was expecting it to be a bit more paso but ultimatley it’s great to have a Couple’s Choice that’s not just street dance.

So Tyler and Ellie were joint top of the leaderboard, with James plum at the bottom. I’ve been picking James to go out for weeks now and I stuck with it in my prediction this week, actually guessing that it would be him and Fleur in the bottom two. I don’t think the Beyoncé song will have connected with everyone.

We bid farewell to James and Amy, then, with Tony still remarkably in the competition. Another week to see what genius Katya can come up with. And poor Fleur, I hope this doesn’t knock her confidence too much, I want more Vito!