Jane McDonald & Friends – Channel 5

Actor Claire Sweeney, opera singer Russell Watson and musical theatre star Ray Quinn join Jane McDonald for the last show in the current series

Friday nights just won’t be the same without Jane’s sparkle, warm wit and fabulous music.

In the last show of the current series, Jane’s guests include actor and fellow cruise singer Claire Sweeney, plus Claire’s former Brookside cast mate Ray Quinn, who first came to our attention in the soap in 2000 before taking the runner-up gong in The X Factor 2004, and then went on to win Dancing on Ice in 2014.

Ray performs tonight with the cast of Summer Holiday: The Musical.

Jane McDonald &amp; Friends &ndash; Channel 5 — Ray Quinn and the cast of Summer Holiday

Rounding off a wide-ranging collection of guests is people’s tenor Russell Watson, who sings classic anthem You Raise Me Up.

Jane &amp; McDonald &amp; Friends — Russell Watson guests

A fitting finale to a series full of old-fashioned razzmattaz and just a smidgeon of camp.

TV Times rating: ****

CATEGORIES

As TV Times Highlights Editor I get to hear about all the latest TV shows coming soon. Here at TVT HQ we are in the privileged position of selecting the best programmes from across all the channels and streaming platforms. Our mission is to make it easier for our readers to decide what to watch - and give them lots of choice of genres - all the latest shows, plus some nostalgic choices we call hidden gems, too. My career began with a postgraduate degree in periodical journalism (ahem, yes old school!) in 1991 and I’ve worked in TV media since 2000.