There was a ghoulish theme to Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing as the 11 remaining couples performed a variety of routines in the Halloween special. And this week saw the contestants receive some of their highest scores so far, with both Scott Maslen and Kara Tointon both receiving 10's from the judges for their performances. Scott dropped just one point, scoring 39 out of 40, for his spooky Viennese Waltz with partner Natalie Lowe. "Last week you were good, this week you were great," Len Goodman told the couple. "It was spellbinding." Alesha Dixon, meanwhile, said that they "hypnotised the whole room". Kara bagged herself a 10 from Alesha for her Phantom Of The Opera-themed Paso Doble with Artem Chigvintsev - and the other judges also approved. "The last few weeks we've seen a bit of a spark from you," Len said, "Tonight we saw a fire, that was your best dance." It was also a good night for Patsy Kensit and Robin Windsor, who received their highest score yet - 31 out of 40 - for their Jive to Monster Mash. "All the hard work and the training has definitely paid off," Alesha said, while Bruno Tonioli was also keen. "I love you when you're camp," he told the actress. Matt Baker and Aliona Vilani also fared well with their Argentine Tango, while Tina O'Brien and Jared Murillo impressed the judges with the same dance. Alesha described Matt and Aliona's routine as "passionate", while Len called Tina's performance her "best dance to date". And actor Jimi Mistry also found himself in the top half of the scoreboard after he and Flavia Cacace had performed a Paso Doble to Michael Jackson's Thriller. "You obviously love playing the living dead," Bruno said of the routine, which featured Jimi wearing cat-like contact lenses. However it was a disappointing week for Pamela Stephenson, who had finished close to the top of the judges' scoreboard in recent weeks. The comedienne dropped down to 27 out of 40 for her jive, with the judges suggesting it wasn't the best dance for her. "You looked like you were enjoying it," said Alesha of her high-energy performance, "but I'm not sure this style suits you as well as previous dances." And while Felicity and Vincent's Viennese Waltz was described as "romantic and lovely" by Len, Craig complained that it "unravelled slightly" towards the end. Similarly, the hard-to-please judge criticised Gavin Henson for his Paso Doble. "The whole thing was just a load of posturing," he said. Meanwhile, Brendan Cole returned to dance with Michelle Williams, having missed last week following his dad's death. The pair received a mixed response for their jive to the Rocky Horror Show classic The Time Warp, with Len claiming he was "disappointed" but Craig giving it the thumbs up. "I think you'll absolutely love or hate that routine," he said, "and I loved it." And Ann Widdecombe found herself at the bottom of the heap for her Paso Doble with partner Anton du Beke. The former MP scored just 16 points out of 40 - 10 points less than nearest competitors Gavin and Felicity, after a flamboyant routine which saw Anton swing her off her feet and drag her across the dancefloor. "I don't think I'll ever recover from that ending," gasped Bruno while Craig was more succint in his summing up. "I only have three letters - O.M.G," he remarked. The results will be announced on Sunday evening with one more couple eliminated from the competition.
