3 April 2012 (2012-04-03) – 9 April 2020 (2020-04-09)
The Undateables is a British reality television series that follows a range of people on dates who have long term conditions, including: disabilities, developmental disorders, neurodevelopmental conditions, and learning difficulties. The series worked in conjunction with the dating agency, Flame Introductions, and was broadcast on Channel 4. Fifty-three main episodes aired since the documentary first aired on 3 April 2012, split into 11 separate series. The documentary has been narrated by Sally Phillips throughout.
Transmissions
Series
Start date
End date
Episodes
1
3 April 2012
17 April 2012
3
2
8 January 2013
5 February 2013
5
3
9 January 2014
30 January 2014
4
4
5 January 2015
2 February 2015
5
5
4 January 2016
1 February 2016
5
6
2 January 2017
30 January 2017
5
7
11 September 2017
9 October 2017
5
8
21 December 2017
29 January 2018
5
9
10 September 2018
18 December 2018
5
10
9 January 2019
17 December 2019
6
11
11 March 2020
9 April 2020
5
Episodes
Series 1
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Luke & Lucy
3 April 2012
2
Justin & Shaine
10 April 2012
3
Hadyn & Sam
17 April 2012
Series 2
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Michael, Brent & Sarah
8 January 2013
2
Sam, Ray & Steve
15 January 2013
3
Kate, Damian & Oliver
22 January 2013
4
Heather, Gareth & Matthew
29 January 2013
5
The Undateables – Revisit
5 February 2013
Series 3
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Mary, Daniel & Hayley
9 January 2014
2
John, Ruth & Zoe
16 January 2014
3
Michael, Ray, Brent, Kate & Steve
23 January 2014
4
Sam, Shaine, Richard & Justin
30 January 2014
Series 4
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Alex, Matthew & Daniella
5 January 2015
2
Tim, Ali & Alec
12 January 2015
3
Richard, Chris & Christina
19 January 2015
4
Ruth, Daniel & Michael Revisited
26 January 2015
5
Two Weddings and a Baby
2 February 2015
Series 5
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
James, Tammy & Tom
4 January 2016
2
James, Lucas & Tom
11 January 2016
3
George, David & Bethany
18 January 2016
4
Holiday Romance
25 January 2016
5
Wedding Bells
1 February 2016
Series 6
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Sam, Kate & Ian
2 January 2017
2
Eddie, Lily & Pani
9 January 2017
3
Jamie, Luke & Lizzie
16 January 2017
4
Shaine, Alex & Ray
23 January 2017
5
Richard, James, Tom & Daniel
30 January 2017
Series 7
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Jason, Souleyman & Charley
11 September 2017
2
Kaia, Rhys & Joshua
18 September 2017
3
Sam, Katy & Donovan
25 September 2017
4
Richard, Lizzie, Eddie & Sam
2 October 2017
5
Shaine, Lily, Ray & George
9 October 2017
Series 8
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Daniel, Shaine, Ray & Sam
21 December 2017
2
Luke, Sam & Becky
8 January 2018
3
Nisar, Daniel & Fatima
15 January 2018
4
Amber, Richard & Nick
22 January 2018
5
Alex, Jason & Tom
29 January 2018
Series 9
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Charlotte, Mitch & James
10 September 2018
2
Rory, Roland & Molly
17 September 2018
3
Jordan, Paige & Sam
24 September 2018
4
Ray, Jason & Luke Revisit
1 October 2018
5
Christmas: A Festive Proposal
18 December 2018
Series 10
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Michael, Tobi & Emily
9 January 2019
2
Tom, Esther & Thomas
16 January 2019
3
Ray, Becky, Shaine & James
23 January 2019
4
Daniel, Rhys, Richerd, Rory
30 January 2019
5
Francesco, Feron & Alex
13 March 2019
6
The Undateables at Christmas 2019
17 December 2019
Series 11
Episode
Title
Original air date
1
Nicholas, Sam and Shantae
11 March 2020
2
Sam, Jodie and Hannah
18 March 2020
3
Rory, Lily, Jordan and Nicholas
25 March 2020
4
Charlotte, Richard, Alex and Sam
1 April 2020
5
Michael and Zena
9 April 2020
Additional episodes
Title
Duration
Extra: What We Learnt About Love
4 minutes
Extra: A Guide to Dating
4 minutes
Controversy
Early controversy was generated from newspapers such as The Mirror and The Guardian, due to the word "undateable" being used in the title to describe people with mental and physical disabilities. Channel 4 claimed that the title of the series is based upon society's preconceptions of these people.[1]The Undateables faced significant backlash from doctors who branded the show "offensive" and "exploitative".[citation needed] Dr. Rachael Pickering said that the series had left her "disturbed at being part of a society that might seek to view disabled people as a source of comedy". She also spoke with the BMA (British Medical Association) annual representatives about the danger of patients being exploited by the TV documentary.[2] In an interview with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning, two stars of the then-upcoming fifth series, Tammy and James, responded to the assertions, with Tammy stating that she found it "quite insulting" that she "would be exploited in any way." She added, "Just because I’m disfigured, I’m not stupid."[3]
