First Dates
| First Dates | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality |
| Starring | Fred Sirieix |
| Narrated by | Brian Protheroe |
| Music by | Miguel d'Oliveira |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series |
7 (regular) 1 (celebrity) |
| No. of episodes |
51 (regular, to 9 August 2016) 5 (celebrity) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | Twenty Twenty |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Productions UK |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release | 20 June 2013 – present |
| Website | |
First Dates is a British reality television show that has aired on Channel 4 since 20 June 2013. The show is narrated by Brian Protheroe.
Format
The show is filmed at the Paternoster Chop House restaurant in Central London, showing many people on dates, all of whom have not met each other before. At the end of the date, the couples are interviewed together and asked whether they would like to see each other again.
Restaurant staff
The restaurant's maître d' Fred Sirieix offers pieces to camera on the nature of love, romance and dating.[1] When not filming for First Dates he works as the general manager at Galvin at Windows, a Michelin-starred restaurant at the London Hilton on Park Lane.[2]
The waiting staff and barman do not work in the restaurant full time, but are recruited for when the show is being filmed. CiCi Coleman is an actor who trained at New York Film Academy, Laura Tott is in the Royal Navy, and barman Merlin Griffiths is a pub landlord who has previously worked as a global brand ambassador for Bombay Sapphire gin.[3] The waiting staff are joined by Sam Conrad.
Transmissions
- Regular
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 June 2013[4] | 25 July 2013[5] | 6[5] |
| 2 | 12 February 2014[6] | 2 April 2014[7] | 8[7] |
| 3 | 6 March 2015[8] | 29 April 2015[9] | 9[9] |
| 4 | 10 September 2015[10] | 17 December 2015[11] | 16[11] |
| 5 | 15 January 2016[12] | 12 February 2016[13] | 5[13] |
| 6 | 15 March 2016[14] | 19 April 2016[15] | 6[15] |
| 7 | 9 August 2016 | 2016 | ? |
- Celebrity
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stand Up to Cancer special | 12 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | 8 July 2016 | 29 July 2016 | 4 |
Special episodes
On 17 December 2015[16] Channel 4 aired a special episode of First Dates subtitled "The Proposal". This saw the return of 5 couples who had initially had their first dates in earlier episodes and who had formed a relationship, and also included the first marriage proposal of a couple, by Scott to Victoria, who had met during an earlier episode of Series 4.
Celebrity First Dates
On 12 October 2015, a celebrity edition of First Dates was shown.[17] This was part of a fundraising evening on Channel 4 for Stand Up to Cancer. The celebrities taking part were Jorgie Porter, an actress in Hollyoaks; Anthea Turner, TV presenter; Jamie Laing from Made in Chelsea; and Alexandra Burke, a singer, and winner of the fifth series of The X Factor.
A full celebrity series began on 8 July 2016 for four episodes.
- Episode 1: Esther Rantzen, Jessica Wright, Will Bayley and Richard Blackwood
- Episode 2: Ashleigh Butler, Jo Wood, Scarlett Moffatt and Preston
- Episode 3: Brad Simpson, Natasha Hamilton, Bernie Clifton and Keegan Hirst
- Episode 4: Daniel Brocklebank, Jessica Woodley, Siân Lloyd and Musharaf Asgar
References
- ↑ Nicholson, Rebecca (16 September 2015). "From Blind Date to First Dates: how TV matchmaking grew up". The Guardian.
- ↑ www.thesun.co.uk - Fred Sirieix
- ↑ "32 Things You Probably Didn't Know About "First Dates"". BuzzFeed.
- ↑ "First Dates - Series 1 Episode 1". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- 1 2 "First Dates - Series 1 Episode 6". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "First Dates - Series 2 Episode 1". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- 1 2 "First Dates - Series 2 Episode 8". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "First Dates - Series 3 Episode 1". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- 1 2 "First Dates - Series 3 Episode 9". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "First Dates - Series 4 Episode 1". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- 1 2 "First Dates - Series 4 Episode 16". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "First Dates - Series 5 Episode 1". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- 1 2 "First Dates - Series 5 Episode 5". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "First Dates - Series 6 Episode 1". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- 1 2 "First Dates - Series 6 Episode 6". All 4. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ Delgado, Kasia (18 December 2015). "First Dates proposal – watch the moment a couple got engaged on Channel 4". RadioTimes.
- ↑ Wightman, Catriona (12 October 2015). "Aww! Jorgie Porter finds romance in Celebrity First Dates". Digital Spy.