For a few glorious years in the late Noughties, musical theatre reigned over the weekend television schedules. On Saturday nights, we could turn on BBC One to watch drama school hopefuls trying to sing and dance their way to a leading role in a major West End production, ideally one with lyrics that could double up as a decent TV show title.
The search for a new Joseph became Any Dream Will Do, the hunt for a Nancy for Oliver! was branded I’d Do Anything (I still wonder why they never tried making a Les Mis spin-off, when “Do You Hear the People Sing?” was there for the taking). Each time, Andrew Lloyd Webber would be on judging duties, critiquing contestants from a massive gold throne. But after the Wizard of Oz-inspired competition Over the Rainbow – a search not just for a new Dorothy, but for a dog who could play Toto, too – came to an end in 2010, it seemed as if the curtain had fallen on this surreal subgenre of British reality telly.
