Reality TV has had a respectable pandemic. The Great British Bake Off was one of the first shows to brave the new normal by rolling on with production during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Nor could a once-in-a-century public-health crisis interrupt the stride of Operation Transformation or Ireland's Fittest Family.
But First Dates Ireland (RTÉ2, Thursday, 9.30pm) is an entirely different affair. Dating involves meeting strangers and getting to know them (or so it is possible to glean from ancient texts left behind by our forefathers). But that's not going to work with a life-threatening virus running amok.
So it’s a surprise how little a distraction Covid-19 proves as the series returns. The brisk and upbeat opening episode doesn’t make a song and dance about coronavirus, which it sensibly frames as merely another background detail. (The diners we see over the shoulders of the singles are all members of household bubbles.)
Returning to the Gibson Hotel, in Dublin, and its restaurant’s chatty maître’d, Mateo Saina, we are introduced to the quartet of what are technically known as “love-hungry singletons”. Sean and Amy, from Dublin, bond over their mutual love of slagging. Alas, Amy then bruises Sean’s heart slightly by revealing she’d like to see him again but “as a friend”.
Shane and Avril, from Meath and Dublin, have a happier time of it. As do Tracy from Dublin and Rob from Cork. And as the participants strike up a connection – at a socially distanced remove at either end of their tables – some intimate details are shared.
Shane speaks about the life-threatening brain injury he sustained in his 20s. And Tracy, a ukulele enthusiast, says that, as the only black person in her friend group, she has grown up in a world where not a lot of people look like her. Later she tiptoes off to the ladies’ to update her friend by phone on her date – and to express her admiration for Rob’s beard and love of music.
Natterings in the loo and impromptu facial-hair admiration are a welcome distraction from all the doom and gloom of lockdown.
Alas, we are later informed that Tracy and Rob’s chemistry does not bubble up into a long-term romance. And that’s despite both expressing a wish to continue seeing one another and each having a preference for Lyons tea over Barry’s. (As Rob is from Cork he can expect to have his passport immediately revoked.)
Nor does Cupid hit the target in the case of Rory, a painter and decorator, and Tim, a former Game of Thrones actor, although they do seem set to become best pals.
Shane and Avril, however, are still dating. And, to paraphrase that noted authority on the human heart Meat Loaf, one out of four ain’t bad.
