Children in Need: What happened on the night?

The final total raised was more than £33m, the presenters announced

Children in Need, which helps improve the lives of disadvantaged children and young people around the UK, raised £33.5m during its charity appeal night on Friday.

Since the BBC's first appeal in 1980, Children in Need has raised more than £1bn for charities and projects.

During the live programme, 14-year-old actor Lenny Rush made history becoming the first-ever child presenter of the show.

Royal message

The Princess of Wales kicked off this year's Children in Need TV appeal

This year's televised Children in Need appeal began with a message from Catherine, Princess of Wales.

The princess said helping children was "vital" when describing why projects supported by Children in Need "are so important".

"They help the very youngest, most vulnerable members of our society feel safe, secure and loved in these important, formative years, so that they can enjoy their childhoods now, and grow to reach their potential and thrive in the world in later life," she said.

Doctor Who

David Tennant, who has returned to Doctor Who for 2023 made his first appearance back during Children in Need's live show, featuring in a 5-minute mini episode.

The clip saw Tennant as the Time Lord accidentally crashing his Tardis at the "genesis of the Daleks" - the birth of the doctor's greatest enemy.

Tennant, who first appeared as the 10th Doctor in 2005, is starring as the 14th Doctor for three 60th anniversary specials this year - the first of which comes out next week.

During the short episode, the Doctor said: "Hello, just passing by because I got a bit lost - it's funny, 60 minutes ago I was this really brilliant woman and now I've got this old face back again. I mean, why?"

Music performances

On the night there were music performances from the likes of Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock and girl group STAND UNIQU3.

The three young singers have been chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 and will be heading off to Nice for the competition in France on Sunday 26 November.

Vernon's challenge

The live show also featured an appearance from BBC Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay, who this week ran 116-miles as part of an ultra-marathon challenge.

As he finished his challenge, nearly 400 people, including his mum and dad, cheered him into the Bolton Wanderers' football stadium in his home town as he completed his final day of running.

Vernon's wife, Strictly host Tess Daley, called to congratulate him, but was unable to meet him in person because she's in Blackpool for this week's episode of the dancing show.

After completing his challenge, he was left speechless when it was announced he had raised more than £5m for the charity.

A dog's dinner

Also appearing during the charity fundraiser was CBBC's Hacker T Dog and his half-brother Dodge from CBeebies.

The pair appeared on a special edition of MasterChef, one of the most famous cookery shows on BBC One.

Renamed 'Puppet MasterChef', Dodge and Hacker were joined by classic children's TV characters, such as Basil Brush and Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies.

In the special episode Hacker and Dodge served up dog food for the judges, before the MasterChef kitchen was closed because of the animal infestation - you can watch the chaotic special by catching up on the full Children in Need show which is available on the BBC iPlayer.