I'm not usually one to watching something just because an actor or actress I like is in it, but I've been half-heartedly following the progress of the Merlin cast, and it's that which drew my attention to Dates. Not only does Katie McGrath feature in a single episode, but Will Mellor (who played Knight Valiant way back in season one of Merlin) has a more substantial role that spans several episodes. Dates is a nine-episode series of half-hour instalments, detailing the interactions between strangers that have contacted each other on a dating website and agreed to meet up. What follows is best described as nine short vignettes of their time together, structured entirely around the date itself. There are no glimpses of any other part of their lives beyond the time spent on their dates, and we learn nothing of their backgrounds beyond what they chose to talk about. Almost by necessity the acting has to be of high standard, as most of the episodes revolve around "talking heads" – that is, actors simply exchanging dialogue with each other. To make this engaging for an audience is each actor's personal challenge.
