It followed previous collaborations between the BBC and Lloyd Webber to find new musical theatre performers: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do and I'd Do Anything.

Following a public telephone vote, 18-year-old Danielle Hope was crowned the winner of the series and was chosen to play Dorothy.

They were:[4][5] The Daily Mail reported that Denise van Outen, a judge during previous series, had been dropped due to her pregnancy, however this was denied by the BBC.

However, he was already planning to star in American series Desperate Housewives when Talkback Thames asked him, and he turned down the offer.

[7] Applications for the series were solicited in November 2009 and auditions took place in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and London from January 2010.

[8][9] 110 auditionees were invited to the callbacks at the Hackney Empire in London, where they performed in front of Hancock, Partridge and casting director David Grindrod.

The group was then narrowed down to 50, and later increased to 54 when four eliminated contestants (including Jessica Robinson and Stephanie Fearon) were brought back into the competition.

The final 54 were invited to attend 'Dorothy Farm', where they received vocal, choreography and acting classes before performing in front of Church, Partridge and Hancock.

The search was led by Jodie Prenger, winner of I'd Do Anything,[10] along with dog trainer Gerry Cott and animal behaviour expert Sarah Fisher.

The winner of the series, Danielle Hope, claimed a pair of ruby slippers as her prize, as well as the starring role.

The show performances were: After the panel chose Amy, Bronte, Dani, Danielle, Jenny, Jessica, Lauren, Sophie, Steph and Stephanie to be in their top 10, Camille, Claire Ha., Claire Hi., Emilie, Emma, Katie, Philippa, Sarah, Tasheka and Tegan performed "Over the Rainbow" to be chosen as the wildcard and eleventh contestant in the live finals.

He selected Bronte to win the mission; her prize was an extra performance during the results programme and she chose Amy, Emilie and Jessica to join her.

Lloyd Webber worked with the contestants this week, and their mission (excluding Jessica who was ill) was to walk through a dark forest alone where they face a choice of going home or going to Oz.

After a master class, they performed a scene from Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre and the judges chose Missy as the task winner.

Sing-off: The sixth week and quarter-final stage of the competition, with the live show on Saturday 8 May 2010, saw the remaining six contestants perform musical theatre songs for four places in the semi-final.

Also during the week, the eight eliminated contestants went to see Hancock in Sister Act and met her and some of the cast (including Amy Booth-Steel, an I'd Do Anything finalist) backstage.

[35] Norton himself went on to parody the incident in his own show by placing a similar banner at the bottom of the screen and having a Dalek exterminate his own cartoon caricature.