Television series
First Dates
- Romance
- Dip in and out
A Channel 4 dating show that seats strangers at a restaurant table and lets them work out whether there's chemistry over dinner. It's warm and gentle, genuinely interested in whether people connect rather than manufacturing drama. If you like watching real conversations unfold and the small miracle of two people clicking, this is a kinder way to spend an hour.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you find real people's nerves and awkward pauses more compelling than scripted romance, and like watching strangers gradually loosen up over a plate of food.
Skip it if you need a story with a plot, or find strangers' small talk tiresome over a full hour, since the format repeats closely from one date to the next.
What it asks of you: Each episode runs about an hour and moves at the pace of real nerves, so it rewards patience more than attention.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Married at First Sight2014
Follows the same impulse—strangers, instant commitment, real emotional stakes—but with higher drama and more complex fallout. You'll find yourself invested in whether these couples actually work.
But The format can feel engineered for conflict, and some series lean harder into manufactured tension than others. It's also a much bigger emotional lift.
Love Is Blind2020
Takes the speed-dating concept to its logical extreme: marry someone before you see them. It's compulsive, occasionally heartbreaking, and genuinely strange in ways that feel fresh.
But Heavily produced, with contestants who know exactly what they're signing up for. The show itself becomes part of the story in a way that feels less pure than First Dates.
My Mum, Your Dad2022
A dating show for older people who deserve better than being patronized. The conversations are sharper, the stakes feel realer, and there's a joy to watching people take romance seriously at any age.
But The format can feel a little mushy, and not everyone clicks with the gentler pace of connection-building between people who've already lived.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from First Dates
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Breakfast at Tiffany's1961
Both are fundamentally about whether strangers can genuinely connect across the gap between who we are and who we present. The restaurant table and the New York apartment are the same stage.
A film about surfaces, chemistry, and whether two people can actually find genuine connection in a world that demands performance. Holly and Paul talk brilliantly. The whole film is foreplay and conversation, dressed up in glamour.
But It's a 1963 film, so the pacing feels unhurried to modern eyes. And the racial caricature in it hasn't aged well, which sits uncomfortably alongside everything else.
More like this (8)
Gogglebox2013
If you liked the quiet intimacy of watching strangers talk to each other, this captures something similar: people reacting naturally, with genuine feeling, to things they watch together.
But It's a reaction show, not a dating show. The appeal is completely different, even if the vibe of people being genuine together overlaps.
Undressed2021
Another dating experiment, but the conversations happen as people literally undress together—vulnerable, awkward, sometimes tender. It asks interesting questions about what we hide and why.
But The gimmick overshadows the actual connection for some viewers. It can feel more about the shock value than the genuine moments of intimacy.
The Bachelor2003
The godfather of dating competition. If you've never watched it, you should know what you're missing—it's camp, strategic, occasionally moving, and genuinely entertaining as spectacle.
But It's a entirely different animal from First Dates. Heavily produced, very much about the drama and the game rather than quiet human connection.
Making It2018
A craft competition that works as a dating show in spirit—people under pressure, genuine connection emerging between contestants, warmth instead of cruelty. Very British, very wholesome.
But Not a dating show at all. You're watching for the craftsmanship and the chemistry between contestants, which might feel like a sideways recommendation.
The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On2022
A relationship experiment show that's genuinely thought-provoking about commitment, attraction, and what makes people feel chosen. Messier and more complicated than First Dates, but fascinating.
But It can be emotionally exhausting. The drama is real and sometimes painful, which makes it compelling but not always comfortable to watch.
Love on the Spectrum2019
A dating show centering autistic people looking for connection, with real tenderness and no condescension. The conversations feel more genuine than most dating TV because the stakes are clearer.
But Some episodes feel incomplete—not every connection works out on camera, which can be awkward. The show's gentleness might feel slow if you're used to faster formats.
Before Sunrise1995
Like First Dates, it trusts that watching two people genuinely connect in conversation is enough. No manufactured conflict, no backstory, just the immediate present of two people discovering each other.
Two people meet on a train and spend one night walking Vienna, talking about everything. It's entirely conversation, entirely real, and you'll believe in the connection absolutely. Romance as dialogue instead of plot.
But Nothing happens. There's no climax, no resolution, no event to hang the story on. Just two people talking for 80 minutes, which requires patience to appreciate.
Come Dine with Me2005
Both shows understand that the dinner table is where real connection happens. First Dates brings strangers together once; Come Dine With Me builds connection across multiple dinners. Same insight, different rhythm.
Strangers cook dinner for each other over four nights, and you watch both the food and the human dynamics unfold. It's gentle, revealing, and genuinely funny. People show who they are through what they cook and how they host.
But The format is repetitive after a season or two. And the judging at the end feels forced—the real pleasure is in the dinners themselves, not the competition.
People
Cast
Brian ProtheroeNarrator
Production
- Barnaby CoughlinExecutive Producer
- Jon CrispExecutive Producer
- Michele KurlandExecutive Producer
- Richard MearsProducer
Recommended by
The Bachelor, Dating Around, Married at First Sight, Love on the Spectrum, The Undateables, Farmer Wants a Wife, Take Me Out, My Mum, Your Dad, Flirty Dancing, Dating in the Dark, Naked Attraction