Strictly Come Dancing: Five week one routines we loved from Zoe Ball's Waltz to Mark Ramprakash's Cha Cha Cha

It’s finally here!

Two weeks on from the launch show, 15 celebrities are raring to get out on the dance floor for week one of Strictly Come Dancing.

Series 16 – with a line-up boasting the likes of Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts and Blue frontman Lee Ryan – promises to be a glitzy countdown to Christmas.

While the competition is very much in its infancy, week one has been host to some memorable dances over the years from Waltz’s to Cha Cha Cha’s – the starter dances of choice in earlier series’ – to Jive’s and Foxtrot’s.

Ahead of tonight’s first live show, here are five week one dances we loved…

Series 3 (2005): Zoe Ball and Ian Waite – Waltz

It Takes Two host Zoe consolidated her place in the Strictly Ballroom of Fame right from moment she took her first steps with partner Ian, who now joins her weekly on the spin-off show.

Ball's elegant Waltz to Eagles classic Take It To The Limit scored her 35 – the highest we’ve ever seen in week one – with Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli transfixed by Ball – who looked radiant in red – and her routine.

The dancing duo went on to finish third in the competition, losing out to Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova for the glitterball trophy, having topped the weekly table numerous times for their wonderful routines, including their Samba and Tango.

Series 4 (2006): Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy – Cha Cha Cha

The England cricketer is one of the few winners of the show to have topped the leader board in week one, scoring 27 for his Let’s Get Loud routine.

Singling out his loose hips and his taste for fancy footwork, Ramps – as he was affectionately known – went all the way in the competition, and created several memorable moments along the way – not least, restarting his Salsa after Karen Hardy got tangled up in mics and that Argentine Tango.

Series 10 (2012): Lisa Riley and Robin Windsor – Cha Cha Cha

The actress – best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale – came out with a look of sheer joy on the second of the week one shows back in 2012.

Dazzling in blue, Riley gave her debut performance her all as she shimmied her way round the floor to a top score of 30.

The pair – who became firm friends during the show – narrowly missed out on that year’s final, crashing out fifth during week 11.

Series 15 (2017): Debbie McGee and Giovanni Pernice – Paso Doble

For the second year running, Paso Doble made an appearance in the first week – considered by some as unfair given the complexity – but Debbie used the fiery dance to make a real statement.

Backed by Be Italian, a fitting song given her partner, the performer showed off both her acting and dancing ability in the number, sitting second on the leader board with 30.

Debbie and Giovanni went all the way to the final, eventually finishing somewhere between second and fourth, and had captured the hearts of the nation with their friendship and chemistry.

Series 11 (2013): Susanna Reid and Kevin Clifton – Jive

The opening week of series 11 had several contenders for our list – it’s definitely worth mentioning Natalie Gumede and Artem Chigvintsev’s Cha Cha Cha to Rasputin, by Boney M, for sheer enjoyment.

Journalist and broadcaster Reid took to Latin like a duck to water, scoring 28 for her Shake Your Tailfeather routine on the Friday night of the first weekend. She went all the way to the final, finishing second or third (we don’t quite know), with the honour being the first of Clifton’s four finalists in five years.

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One at 6.15pm.