song "I'd Do Anything", was hosted by Graham Norton with Andrew Lloyd Webber again overseeing the programme,[4] together with theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh.

[5] The BBC also confirmed in late February 2008 that Barry Humphries would join Barrowman and Denise Van Outen (who was previously the presenter of the US Broadway reality show Grease: You're the One that I Want!)

However, whilst the format for the Nancy was the same with the public choosing the winner, the three boys who would play the part of Oliver were chosen by the judging panel.

[8] Following expert advice in providing a duty of care to child contributors, the BBC announced on 13 March that the boys would not face a public vote, and that each week the "Olivers" would be performing musical tasks, learning the tricks of the theatre trade and also perform as a group, before the judging panel make their final choices.

[3][9] The first programme, which aired on 15 March, charted the journeys of thousands of auditionees as they begin their quest for stardom in the regional auditions.

[3] For the role of Nancy, just over a hundred young women were called to London to perform before the panel, consisting of John Barrowman, Denise Van Outen and David Grindrod.

For the role of Oliver, 50 young boys were selected to work with musical theatre experts before the final twelve were chosen for the live shows by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh.

Footage of the Olivers' progress is shown, during which Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh select one to proceed through to the semi-final.

* as of the start of the series Twelve potential Olivers made it through the audition rounds and performed in the live shows.

Ultimately, Gwion Jones, Harry Stott and Laurence Jeffcoate were announced as the three winning Olivers in week nine on 24 May.

Andrew Lloyd Webber worked with each of the Nancys in the week before the show to improve their performance, focusing on their acting abilities.

The Nancys were joined by five of the finalists from Any Dream Will Do - Daniel Boys, Lewis Bradley, Ben James-Ellis, Keith Jack and Rob McVeigh to perform a group number.

They were paired up: Rachel and Daniel; Jodie and Lewis; Jessie and Rob; Samantha and Ben; Niamh and Keith.

"[28] Cameron Mackintosh confirmed that Rowan Atkinson will be performing the part of Fagin in the stage show.

The show performances and missions were:[30] Sing-off: Notes: In the week following the show, it was claimed that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh had fallen out over Lloyd Webber's decision to eliminate Rachel Tucker who Mackintosh had wanted to see in the final.

"[44] In the week the semi-final aired, the four semi-finalists did a photoshoot for Now magazine recreating some of Madonna's iconic images.

However, Webber defended Prenger, saying that she had both the vocal talents and personality for the role, saying "Jodie could be anybody's idea of Nancy - I can see it absolutely.

At the end of Show One, the finalist with the lowest number of viewers votes, Samantha was eliminated and therefore finished third.

The show performances were:[30] The final vote was then announced and it was revealed that the winner was Jodie Prenger with Andrew Lloyd Webber saying, "The people's Nancy.

They also pointed out that the BBC had no commercial interest in the West End productions of Oliver!, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat or The Sound of Music.

[50] Spacey's comments were criticised by Simon Cowell who stated, "It sounds like Russia in the Sixties, that mentality.

[51] The first programme of the series which aired on 15 March, before the first live shows two weeks later, was watched by 5.5 million viewers, 24.2% of the total audience, in what the Entertainment and Media website Digital Spy described as "a weak debut".

Lloyd Webber next returned to BBC screens in 2010 with a similar series, Over the Rainbow, a search to find a new Dorothy for The Wizard of Oz, produced by his company, The Really Useful Group.