Children in Need 2014 raises £32.6m for charities

The BBC's Children in Need appeal has raised more than £32.6m on the night, with acts including One Direction, S Club 7 and Susan Boyle taking part.

Sir Terry Wogan hosted the BBC One event on Friday with Tess Daly, Fearne Cotton and Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw.

The annual telethon saw Boyzone take to the stage, while Sir Bruce Forsyth returned to Strictly Come Dancing to help find a young ballroom champion.

By the end of the show at 02:00 GMT on Saturday, £32,620,469 had been raised.

This is more than the £31.1m raised on the night of the 2013 gala, and the final total is expected to be higher once all donations are in.

'Amazing cause'

The money will help disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

The extravaganza was watched by an average of 8.3 million people on BBC One between 19:30 and 22:00 GMT. The audience peaked at 10 million for a special children's Strictly Come Dancing around 20:15.

Over the course of the night, Rochelle Humes from pop group The Saturdays joined veteran presenter Sir Terry - along with Daly, Grimshaw and Cotton - in hosting the gala.

Pop group S Club 7 performed for the first time since 2003 on the show, while One Direction played on the set of Eastenders.

Four former characters from the soap opera also made appearances from beyond their fictional graves.

Long-serving character Ian Beale encountered his late ex-wife Cindy, mother Kathy and daughter Lucy, while Pat Evans - who made her last appearance in January 2012 - also made a comeback.

S Club 7 played together for the first time since 2003

Sir Bruce Forsyth made a special Strictly comeback for the occasion

One Direction played in Albert Square during the programme

Other highlights included a new cartoon starring Tom and Jerry made especially for Children in Need.

Elsewhere, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, The Script and the cast of West End musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory performed. And Donny Osmond and the cast of musical Made In Dagenham also took to the stage.

In a first for the gala, Gareth Malone and his all-star choir performed the Children in Need single, Wake Me Up, which is expected to top the charts on Sunday - according to midweek figures from The Official Charts Company.

Comic Jo Brand, TV presenters John Craven and Mel Giedroyc and actress Alison Steadman were among the members of the vocal ensemble.

Sir Terry Wogan and Tess Daly were among the hosts

Gareth Malone's All-Star Choir performed the Children in Need single

Boyzone said they were "delighted" to perform on Children in Need

Other fundraising efforts included the fourth Children in Need rickshaw challenge, which saw six young people travel 450-mile (724km) journey across England.

Ahead of Friday's gala, BBC Radio 2 had already raised more than £6m through a series of events, including a quiz night hosted by Ken Bruce, a performance of the West End musical Matilda and a series of live auctions.

The 2013 appeal made a record £49.6m - including the £31.1m raised on the night.