Strictly’s Amanda Abbington lands first major TV role since row with Giovanni Pernice plunged show into crisis

THE celebrity at the centre of one of Strictly Come Dancing’s biggest scandals is making her big comeback in a serious TV drama. Amanda Abbington will star in the second series of detective thriller Down Cemetery Road. Amanda Abbington will star in the second series of detective thriller Down Cemetery Road Credit: Getty Amanda and Giovanni Pernice on Strictly Come Dancing Credit: PA Debuting last year on Apple TV, it is a prestige project from the makers of Slow Horses and stars Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. It will be Amanda’s first big telly role since the 2024 Strictly crisis involving Giovanni Pernice. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! The Italian pro was put under investigation after Amanda complained about his treatment of her during rehearsals for the 2023 series. He denied any wrongdoing. The BBC has apologised to Amanda and upheld some of her complaints, but cleared him of the most serious allegations. Amanda’s most recent serious drama was 2023 Channel 5 thriller Desperate Measures. NEW competition series Race Against The Tide will launch next month on BBC Two and iPlayer. Hosted by Love Island narrator and comedian Iain Stirling, the six-parter sees seven teams battle to build spectacular sand sculptures before the tide washes them away. Most read in TV DAVID’S BUMPER PAY DAY David Tennant made a whopping £2.7MILLION last year Credit: PA FORMER Doctor Who and Broadchurch star David Tennant made £2.7MILLION last year. Accounts for the actor show he had a bumper 2025 after playing ruthless TV boss Tony Baddingham in Rivals. The Disney+ bonkbuster reportedly paid its lead stars £1million each. The figures, published for the firm that handles his money, called No Mystery Limited, showed his earnings trumped the £2.3million from the previous financial year. David has certainly been busy. Recently he filmed the third season of BBC prison drama Time and is in series six of Netflix’s Only Murders In The Building. Plus let’s not forget those ads for MoneySuperMarket. COMICS IN TOUR DE FOURS Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett have recruited fellow comics Josh Widdicombe and Tom Davis for their Sky show Credit: Instagram JOSH WIDDICOMBE and Tom Davis have been recruited by fellow comics Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan for a high-adrenaline race. Rob and Romesh needed to form a group to ride in – to reduce wind resistance – as they took on the Tour De France in their Sky challenge show Rob & Romesh Vs. So their pals flew out to help, putting on Lycra cycling kit for the race. But Rob said it was quite hairy at times and stressful. Talking on his and Josh’s Parenting Hell podcast, Rob said: “All of a sudden you’re dressed in Lycra with your belly hanging out and tourists are shouting at you from the street, which is quite a high level of stress. “Then you’re in a race that’s slightly dangerous and it affects your adrenaline and when you come back and you can fully relax you go ‘Uhhhh’. “It was quite a boozy weekend for the rest of us, I can’t imagine you’re in those situations with lads much as you’re on tour alone or home.” Josh added: “I have to be clear to you that wasn’t a boozy situation given my past, I found it incredibly sedate. “I didn’t realise how much people had drunk because we were having dinner – it wasn’t until Romesh told me, quite earnestly, how proud he was of me for [hosting] Strictly. “I didn’t realise quite how drunk people were.” SARA’S QUIZ OUT OF TIME Former Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies Credit: PA AN ITV daytime quiz show has been axed after just one series – despite being hosted by popular former Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies. Time Is Money received very mixed reviews from viewers when it debuted on January 1 in a weekday afternoon slot. It saw five players given their cash prize by entrepreneur Sara before they had done a thing. But then every time they answered a question incorrectly they lost some of the loot. After a 25-episode run on ITV1 and ITVX, the programme won’t be getting a second series, according to telly website TV Zone. The first season is still available to watch on ITVX. 1 comment1