The Stage

Cameron Mackintosh and Zoe Tyler denied places on I’d Do Anything panel

Published Tuesday 4 March 2008 at 15:55 by Matthew Hemley

Vocal coach Zoe Tyler has been dropped from the latest BBC talent search show, I’d Do Anything, as part of a revamped format that will also see Cameron Mackintosh denied a place on the judging panel.

Mackintosh is the producer of the forthcoming West End production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, which will include performers playing the roles of Nancy and Oliver found through the TV series.

However, unlike How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do, both of which featured the producers of the resultant stage shows, the BBC said Mackintosh would only be around to “keep an eye on the progress of each contestant”.

The decision not to include Mackintosh on the panel follows criticism from the BBC Trust last September about the inclusion of The Sound of Music co-producer David Ian on the panel of the 2006 show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?.

It said: “It would have been better for the programme to have had only Andrew Lloyd Webber as a representative of the West End production.”

However, a BBC spokeswoman said there was “categorically” no link between the fact Mackintosh is not sitting on the panel and the trust’s criticisms.

She said the format for the new show “differs slightly from its predecessors”, adding that the panel for I’d Do Anything will be performer-based and will feature John Barrowman, Denise Van Outen and Dame Edna Everage creator Barry Humphries.

As a result, vocal coach Tyler, who was on the panel of both previous BBC series, has also been dropped.

The spokeswoman added: “For this series, the three panellists are performers, all of whom bring to the show a diverse range of experience across a wide variety of musical theatre roles. Cameron Mackintosh will be around to keep an eye on the progress of each of the contestants, and will join the panel for the semi-final and final.”

Lloyd Webber, who is co-producer on all the shows, will continue to preside over the judges.