Throng

After the success of last year's series, which brought the BBC Children in Need fundraising message to a new generation of viewers, the Celebrity Scissorhands hair and beauty academy will open its doors once more.

It's the battle of the hair brushes as a team of celebrities go head-to-head to see who can 'cut' the mustard and be crowned Celebrity Scissorhands Hairdresser Of The Year 2007.

Amongst the celebrity trainees are: pop singer and mum-to-be Javine; teen rocker Lil' Chris; Hollyoaks actress Carly Stenson (Steph in Hollyoaks), It girl Tamara Beckwith; British actor and star of Willow Warwick Davis; 3 Non-Blondes' comedian Ninia Benjamin; actor and Neighbours star Ben Nicholas (Stingray in Neighbours); and BBC Radio One Breakfast Show's Aled Haydn Jones.

Under the guidance of renowned British hairdresser Lee Stafford, the celebrities will attempt the impossible – to be transformed from the utterly untrained to fully fledged hair and beauty experts in just three short weeks.

In the purpose-built state-of-the-art academy in the heart of London, Lee will train the cutters as they are let loose on the public in aid of BBC Children in Need.

Returning to the academy is last year's favourite trainee – Eighties pop icon Steve Strange. Steve has been recruited to assume the role of Assistant Manager and will be helping Lee to run the hair and beauty academy as well as getting to grips with more courageous clients' hair.

George Lamb (The Restaurant – You're Fried, T4 and E4 Music) will present the hour-long prime-time show from within the walls of the academy.

As our celebrity trainees create beautiful barnets or, more realistically, horrific hair dos, George will exclusively report on all the academy action, get the lowdown on who can really hack it as a hairdresser and encourage viewers to fund-raise or donate money to BBC Children in Need.

Joining Lee's staff of experts this year is the glamorous beauty guru, Lindsay Hunter – wife of the late snooker legend Paul Hunter. Lindsay is a qualified Beauty Therapist and will be teaching our trainees a variety of beauty treatments.

From massages to spray tans; the celebrity trainees will be on hand to pamper the public and leave them feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

Over the three weeks, Lee's celebrity apprentices will be working flat out, six days a week, nine hours a day perfecting their techniques on willing members of the public. And the trainee's had better work hard, as every tip donated in return for a haircut/treatment will go to BBC Children in Need.

The series culminates with a glamorous finale where the top trainees will have their scissor skills put to the test in front of an audience of critical hairdressers and celebrities. They will be put under pressure to present a catwalk collection of their best haircuts of the series, as well as perform an intricate haircut live on stage.

The show's spectacular finale will also see a 'cut off' where a panel of judges will decide which celebrity will be crowned Celebrity Scissorhands Hairdresser Of The Year 2007.

Hairdressers train for years to be good enough to hold their own on a stage like this. Lee's celebrity trainees will have just three weeks. Will the trainees be able to cut it in the world of hairdressing? Find out when the series kicks off on the 28 October.

Get interactive

The Celebrity Scissorhands' website is all about keeping up the excitement and fun of the academy. The website will provide entertaining clips of the damage the new crop of celebrity croppers will inflict on their clientele. And this year, these clips will also be available on social networking sites such as YouTube, further spreading the fun of BBC Children in Need.

This is also the place where fans are enticed to cut or style friends, relatives, or classmates' hair for charity, and to send in the results – good and bad. Their efforts will be published on the website – and the best shown on TV.

Users can also pledge money to the BBC Children in Need Appeal through the website and download sponsorship forms.

Watch all the action from the academy and pledge cash to BBC Children in Need at bbc.co.uk/scissorhands.

Get involved

Viewers can participate in Celebrity Scissorhands by booking appointments with one of the celebrity trainees.

Appointments can be made online at bbc.co.uk/scissorhands.

All haircuts and treatments are free-of-charge, but all tips and donations made to the academy will go directly to BBC Children in Need.