Children in Need 2018: All-time total reaches £1bn

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Graham Norton and Mel Giedroyc hosted part of the five-hour show

Children in Need has now raised over £1bn since it began the annual fundraiser in 1980.

It comes after a record-breaking £50.6m was donated during Friday's programme, which featured Boyzone taking to the Strictly dance floor.

The five-hour show also saw the cast of EastEnders dress up as Disney characters and perform a medley.

Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker made an appearance on the charity extravaganza, surprising a young fan.

The total raised surpassed 2017's previous on-the-night record of £50.1m.

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The show opened with a performance from the cast of musical School of Rock, followed by a welcome by the first set of hosts, Tess Daly and Ade Adepitan.

Image caption,

The cast of musical School of Rock sang a medley including Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk and Taylor Swift's Shake It Off

Complete with Disney costumes, the EastEnders cast performed songs from Beauty and the Beast, Frozen and Aladdin.

Image source, PA
Image caption,

The cast of EastEnders put on a special performance with an Aladdin theme

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Jessie Wallace swaps Kat Slater for Elsa to sing Let It Go from Frozen

Also in the programme, the four members of Boyzone performed routines on Strictly Come Dancing.

Ronan Keating said it was "totally out of our comfort zone" while judge Bruno Tonioli praised band member Shane Lynch for "starting like a true leading man".

Image caption,

The four members of Boyzone performed with their Strictly partners

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Children's choirs from all across the UK sang in unison

Meanwhile, Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker surprised a young fan who was on a trip to the set of the sci-fi show.

Image caption,

A Doctor Who fan was surprised by the woman herself

On social media, many people said they were tickled by a moment when an audience member appeared to stand up by mistake when Tess Daly asked for volunteers in the audience to get up.

"It made my night," somebody tweeted, while someone else said: "I'm howling."

Hosts for the TV marathon this year included Tess Daly, Graham Norton, Mel Giedroyc, Ade Adepitan, Rochelle and Marvin Humes and Rob Beckett.

In another clip, Eddie Redmayne and Zoe Kravitz played a prank on The One Show presenter Alex Jones, with the help of some children who secretly gave them instructions such as making sheep noises and gargling water.

The pair then admitted to the joke, with Ms Jones saying: "I was thinking what is wrong with these two. They are being so weird."

Image source, PA
Image caption,

Eddie Redmayne, Alex Jones and Zoe Kravitz are helped by (left to right) Vidhit Nihal, Kelsey Wheatley and Lucy Subbiah

Jazz musician and broadcaster Jamie Cullum has written the official Children in Need single, Love Is In The Picture.

Children in Need is the BBC's official UK charity and raised a total of £60.7m for disadvantaged children across the country last year.

The charity is currently supporting 2,400 projects helping children facing a range of disadvantages, such as poverty, abuse or physical disability.

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