Blind Date, 1985
Another London Weekend classic that was must see Saturday night TV for millions of us.
The show originated from a pilot entitled “It’s A Hoot” presented by camp comic (who turned out to be not so camp) Duncan Norvelle. Recorded in 1984 it was never screened.
The Independent Broadcasting Authority had reservations about Norvelle’s camp style so consequently his pilot was never screened. However, Cilla Black had seen the US show “The Dating Game “and enthused about it to London Weekend Television’s then Controller of Entertainment, Alan Boyd. She also got to film a pilot leading to a full series.
Blind Date ran for 18 series between 1985 and 2003 clocking up a mammoth 386 shows, not many game shows have clocked that up.
At the height of its popularity in the 1980’s, 18.2 million of us tuned in on a Saturday night, now that’s must see TV!
Come Back!
In 2017, two years after Cilla Black’s death, Blind Date returned. Seventeen years after the original ended, Cilla’s friend Paul O’ Grady took up hosting duties in an updated version.
The new series broadcast on Channel 5 included LGBT (Lesbian, Gay and Transexual) contestants alongside regular contestants which should make for some hilarious moments.
The updated ran four series until 2019.
Summary
One contestant asks three contestants of the opposite sex on the other side of the screen three questions each, aided and abetted by Cilla Black.
After all the questions have been asked there’s a comical quick reminder from “our Graham” then it’s decission time.
Having picked their Blind Date the contestants must then pick a card that will tell them where they are going on their blind date. There were some wacky dates such as a day trip to Bogner or an ice cream factory but there were also some great destinations such as Anguilla or the Maldives.
Each week the previous week’s winners would come back to tell Cilla how they got on.
By the final series the premise was wearing thin and ratings were starting to fall so a few changes were made, Our Graham (Graham Skidmore) had moved on, his voice overs were done by Tommy Sandhu. A “Ditch or Date?” twist was added to the show, and a companion show, called Blind Date: Kiss & Tell was produced for ITV2 and hosted by Sarah Cawood and Brendan Courtney. The show was also broadcast live.
Clips
Revival!
Hosted By
Duncan Norvelle, (1984 pilot)
Cilla Black, 1985 – 2003
Paul O Grady, 2017 – 2019
Voice Of
Graham Skidmoe, 1985 – 2002
Tommy Sandhu, 2003
Melanie Sykes, 2017 – 2019
Details
Channel: ITV (original series), Channel 5 (revived series)
Produced By:
London Weekend Television (original series)
So Television, Olga TV and Stellify Media (Revived Series)
Original Transmission Dates: 30th November 1985 – 31st May 2003
Revival: 20th June, 2017 – 16th June 2019