Inspiration Behind the New and Improved Idea

In June Channel 4 started its ''Mating Season'' programming which included Dates, a romantic drama series illustrating a series of first dates between on-line dating service users. Set in London, each episode focused on a first date between two people, with the series exploring the issues and intricacies of modern relationships.

I was one of the people watching the series and it was fascinating to see so many believable and recognisable characters who represent different classes, sexuality and ethnicity. Also the format is really appealing because of the seemingly real interactions between the dating participants, portraying the ''thrills and calamities'' of first dates. 

It motivated me to look into the colloquial language used in normal conversations, the meaningless of the spoken word and how often we hide between matter of speech not to protect someones feelings. The normal running time of Dates is 25 minutes without adverts and so we would have to condense the story's development into 5 minutes which is why we chose speed-dating to have more flexibility in portraying a rage of characters while still maintaining a linear narrative.

Watch a snippet of the first episode Dates A Good Start - Ep. 1 Channel 4