Organisers are hoping the BBC's 20th televised Children In Need appeal will be the biggest yet - with the help of stars of stage and screen.

Last year's appeal raised £20m, with £11m being pledged at the end of the annual telethon hosted by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin.

Organisers want to top that with 1999's show - which sees the stars of EastEnders take a trip back to 1666 in a Children In Need special, Pudding Lane.

It stars Joe Absolom - who plays recently-convicted Matthew in the soap - as the local pickpocket, and Sid Owen as "Sticky Ricky" the carriage mechanic.

The Changing Rooms team - best known for transforming viewers' homes - will be turning their powers on themselves, appearing as the Village People to perform a version of YMCA.

Cliff Richard will lead pop stars joining in the appeal.

Boy band Another Level will try to perform in Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff and London on the same night, while Martine McCutcheon will be perform this year's Children In Need single Love Me with 100 children.

Steps will open the show, and S Club 7, Mel C and Simply Red will also be appearing, while the whole of the UK is invited to take part in a synchronised medley of Beatles hits.

The cast of the West End production of The Lion King will be performing exclusively for the show, while Bob Monkhouse will revive classic quiz The Golden Shot.

The appeal has been broadcast by the BBC since 1927, with the current television appeal starting in 1980. It has raised more than £255m since then.

Out of the £20m raised in 1998, grants given include £150 for five-a-side goals at Castlereagh Colts football club in Northern Ireland, and £500,000 to go to the Family Welfare Association to provide emergency funds for individual children.

BBC Radio 2 kicked off the fundraising on Thursday at 1900 GMT with its 24-hour appeal, before handing over to BBC One on Friday night, where the programme runs from from 1900 to 2100 GMT and from 2130 to 0155 GMT.

There will also be national and regional specials from around the UK. Fred MacAulay and Hazel Irvine will front the show from BBC Scotland and be joined by boy band 911.

In Wales, Animal Hospital's Rhodri Williams will present the prgramme, while Northern Ireland's coverage is being lead by Battersea Dogs' Home presenter Shauna Lowry.

Across England, presenters Michael Ball and Ainsley Harriott will go back to Shakespearean times in Birmingham.

In the South East, Airport's Jeremy Spake will broadcast from Heathrow Airport while in the South West the party comes from Bristol.

A hundred children are due to line the streets for the celebrations in the North East and, in the North West, Change That's Mark Curry and Bullseye presenter Jim Bowen head the show.

Viewers can donate by calling 08457 33 22 33, or by visiting the Children In Need website