Blind Date | |
---|---|
Genre | Dating game show |
Presented by |
Cilla Black (1985–2003) TBA (2017–) |
Voices of |
Graham Skidmore (1985–2002) Tommy Sandhu (2002–03) |
Theme music composer | Laurie Holloway |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 18 |
No. of episodes | 373 (inc. 10 specials) |
Production | |
Location(s) | The London Studios (1985–2003) |
Running time | 45 minutes (Series 1–4) 50 minutes (Series 5) 60 minutes (Series 6–18) |
Production company(s) |
LWT (1985–2003) So Television and Stellify Media (2017–) |
Distributor | ITV Studios |
Release | |
Original network |
ITV (1985–2003) Channel 5 (2017–) |
Picture format |
4:3 (1985–2001) 16:9 (2001–03, 2017–) |
Original release |
Original series: 30 November 1985 Revived series: 2017– |
– 31 May 2003
Chronology | |
Related shows |
Blind Date: Kiss & Tell Take Me Out The Love Machine |
Blind Date is a British dating game show produced by London Weekend Television. An unscreened pilot was made with comic Duncan Norvelle as presenter but it was eventually hosted by Cilla Black, who already hosted the LWT series, Surprise Surprise. Blind Date originally ran on Saturday nights from 30 November 1985 to 31 May 2003 on ITV.
Blind Date returned on 16 October 2013, to celebrate Black's 50-year career in the entertainment industry. This special one-off was part of another programme, The One and Only Cilla Black, presented by Paul O'Grady.Blind Date producers brought back three of the show's most memorable contestants who were still single, giving them a second chance to win a date. However, the couple's date was not shown.
On 7 February 2017, it was reported that Blind Date would return in 2017 on Channel 5. The new series is expected to air on Friday nights and will be produced by So Television and Stellify Media, a firm part-owned by Sony Pictures Television.
The show had a format similar to the show known in Australia as Perfect Match or in the US as The Dating Game. Three singles of the same sex were introduced to the audience. They were then asked a question by a single of the opposite sex, who could hear but not see them, to choose with whom to go on a date. Before the decision 'Our Graham' (replaced on the final series by Tommy Sandhu), who was never seen, gave an amusing reminder of each contestant. The couple then picked an envelope naming their destination. The following episode showed the couple on their date, and interviews with them about the date and about each other. Locations ranged from Bognor Regis or a date in an ice cream factory, to Anguilla or the Maldives.