Saturday 18th November saw yet another extremely successful night for the BBC as 'Children In Need' returned once again to our screens. The channel made history raising a record £46.6 million thanks to the popular annual event that has been running for over 30 years.
It is safe to say that it was a night full of emotion as array of tributes were made to the late presenter, Sir Terry Wogan, who sadly died in January 2015 and had dedicated a total of 35 years presenting the prestigious charity event. So much so that, throughout the show, a montage of Sir Terry's best moments during 'Children In Need' were shown in his honour, the first of many which are intended to be shown in forthcoming shows.
Taking advantage of the recent release of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', the BBC rounded up a star studded cast to take part in one of the highlights of the evening: a fun filled clever sketch in which Eddie Redmayne, dressed as Newt Scamander, trys to find Pudsey the Bear, the official mascot of the fundraising campaign, as if it were one of his own fantastic beasts. On his quest, Redmayne came in contact with the likes of Mel and Sue from 'The Great British Bake Off' who, through the phone, connected him with the a number of famous stars such as the infamous 'Doctor Who' (Peter Capaldi), Britney Spears, Graham Norton and Jamie Dornan.
Despite the recent release of the film, the sketch seemed to encourage and excite viewers as the sketch linked to the plot of 'Fantastic Beasts' and as a result, it could be said, helped to generate a record breaking amount of donations than ever before. It seems that the BBC's intention worked with this strategy, as the channel broke its own record raising over 46 million pounds, comfortably beating the 37 million pounds figure of last November.