Surprise, surprise! Blind Date is coming back! Disney+ has announced that a brand-new version of what it calls “the ultimate dating series” is on its way to the streamer. But wait, wasn’t it already rebooted a couple of years ago?
Well, yes – Channel 5’s 2017 version of the dating show saw Cilla Black replaced by another cheeky Scouser, the late Paul O’Grady. But despite having all the same elements as the original, Blind Date 2.0 didn’t find an audience and was axed two years later. Nevertheless, it’s clearly not dissuaded the Disney bigwigs from cashing in on a pre-existing – and pre-loved – brand.
Blind Date isn’t the only rebooted series to have fallen flat. The BBC spent an inordinate amount of money to revive Survivor in 2023 only for it to flop spectacularly – it was cancelled after just one series. Other resuscitated formats – Blankety Blank, Jeopardy!, Deal or No Deal – truck along with modest audiences, but haven’t captured viewers’ attention in the way the original series did.
But there are other shows that have managed to make a successful comeback, most notably Gladiators. Its return last year garnered critical acclaim, got the programme a National Television Award nomination, and sparked a live arena tour. Proof that looking to the annals of TV history for shows to reboot isn’t always a bad idea.
With that in mind, here are 11 other series I’d like to see given another chance:
Total Wipeout (2009 – 2012)
If we can learn anything from the success of Gladiators, it’s that audiences are keen to see members of the public take on physical challenges. While in that series we are rooting for the contestants to do well, the entire premise of Total Wipeout depends on us willing them to fail – and do so in a hilariously graceless fashion as they attempt to complete ridiculous assault courses above pools of water (or in some cases, mud).
I’m sure there’d be all sorts of problems with insurance, and the health and safety forms would no doubt be hundreds of pages long, but having those big red balls bounce back onto television will be worth every hoop production would have to jump through.
Take Me Out (2010 – 2019)
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If we’re talking dating shows, then we must discuss the Saturday night marvel that was Take Me Out. Hosted by Paddy McGuinness, who peddled catchphrases (“no likey, no lighty”, “let the hokey see the cokey”) like he was the reincarnation of Bruce Forsyth, this was not a series to be taken too seriously. Let’s be honest, no one was going to find the love of their life on the “Isle of Fernando’s”, but it’s that frivolity that made Take Me Out so fun.
Sure, it might need an update to work in 2025 – the power dynamics were iffy and the strict gender binary of the original doesn’t allow for much LGBTQ+ inclusion – but TV is missing a slice of light-hearted flirty fun on a Saturday night.
Top of the Pops (1964 – 2006)
Do you ever get the feeling that you’re completely out of touch with modern music? Me too – but that was never the case when Top of the Pops was on TV. Despite being a British institution, the series fell victim to low viewership figures as we discovered new ways to discover new music, namely the internet.
Now, almost two decades on, I’d argue the pendulum has swung the other way, and we need a show exactly like Top of the Pops to help us make sense of the overcrowded music industry. Having said that, I’d certainly make some changes – allowing acts to perform live rather than mime along with a backing track would be a good start.
The Million Pound Drop (2010 – 2017)
The Million Pound Drop was once one of the tensest, most stomach-droppingly exciting game shows on television. Davina McCall was the perfect host to both crank up the pressure and reassure the contestants as they watched their cold, hard cash winnings drop through a trap door. Then, in 2017, it changed its name to The £100k Drop to reflect the new lower cash prize and I lost interest.
There’s just something so exciting about the prospect of watching someone win £1m – it’s why Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has stood the test of time. If a production company is willing to stump up the cash, there’s no reason The Million Pound Drop wouldn’t capture the attention of a whole new audience. As long as Davina returns with it, of course.
Golden Balls (2007 – 2009)
Deny it all you want, but I know your favourite part of The Traitors is when a Traitor successfully throws someone under the bus for their own financial gain. That’s the entire concept of the short-lived but much-loved daytime quiz show Golden Balls, which set players against one another in its gut-wrenching final round. The last two contestants were given the option to split or share the jackpot cash, giving them the opportunity to betray their fellow player and send them home with nothing.
Golden Balls has the nuts and bolts to be a fantastic quiz show, but it needs a prime time makeover. Increase the prize money (that magic million number should do it), and give it an electric, unexpected host – someone cool like AJ Odudu. ITV, call me.
Stars in Their Eyes (1990 – 2015)
The rise of serious talent contests like The X Factor made Stars in Their Eyes look small and silly. These people weren’t looking for stardom, rather just a good night out pretending to be their favourite stars. It’s that harmless lack of ambition that made the series so watchable – not to mention the sometimes dodgy transformations.
Technically, Stars in Their Eyes did make a return in 2022, renamed as ITV’s Starstruck. But beyond the normal folk imitating the world’s biggest music stars, the format was unrecognisable. I say we bring it back in all its former glory – dry ice and sliding doors included.
Shipwrecked (2000 – 2009)
If Love Island producers are looking to zhuzh up the format, they need look no further than T4 masterpiece Shipwrecked. Abandoning a handful of sexy young things on a tropical island and leaving to fend for themselves makes for fantastic TV – and it’s even better when you split them into factions (the “sharks” and the “tigers”) and make them compete for a cash prize.
Unlike Survivor, which forced its island inhabitants through a series of mental and physical challenges, Shipwrecked took a hands-off approach, leaving them to get on with it alone. I’d love to see how Gen Z get on with making their own fire and catching their own dinner.
Airline (1998 – 2007)
How airlines work is a mystery to most of us, but ITV’s fly-on-the-wall documentary series lifted the lid on how easyJet runs its business on a day-to-day basis. There were many iconic incidents over the years, from the passenger who attempted to take a live lobster on their flight, to the woman on a hen do who didn’t realise she needed a passport. At the centre of it all was Luton supervisor Jane Boulton, who became a minor celebrity thanks to her no-nonsense handling of tricky customers.
Airports are surely still full of all sorts of characters and disputes, but also beautiful reunions and first meetings. I can think of nowhere more suited to an uplifting, sometimes heart-wrenching docu-series than the arrivals and departures lounges. Bring back Airline, I say, but with a little less arguing.
Home on Their Own (2002 – 2004)
I thought I had dreamt up this bananas home makeover show in which children decorate their parents’ home until I found a Reddit thread of other 90s kids looking for the same programme. Presented by Ulrika Jonsson, Home on Their Own let the participating children’s imaginations run wild – I remember an outdoor slide being installed from the top floor to the bottom, a kitchen transformed into a burger bar and a master bedroom turned into Japanese-style sleeping pods… for a claustrophobic mother.
Is Home on Their Own absolutely ridiculous? Yes. Will it be impossible to find anyone who would be willing to hand the design reins over to their children, particularly given the current state of the housing market? Most likely. Do I want it back on TV anyway? Absolutely.
Don’t Tell the Bride (2007 – 2020)
Was Don’t Tell the Bride a bit cruel? Yes, but it was also undeniably excellent television. And while it was the poor bride who felt the brunt of their husband-to-be’s poor decision-making, it was the groom who was derided by the viewing public. It’s hard to pick which was the worst wedding in the show’s history, but the bloke who decided to get married on a pig farm has to be up there.
It might well be impossible to make a classy version of Don’t Tell the Bride, so to counteract the icky feeling, it would be good to see the brides get their own way, with husbands-to-be listening to their partner’s wishes instead of indulging their own off-the-wall ideas. Does that mean we only get to see meticulously planned, perfectly executed weddings? Maybe! And wouldn’t that be lovely?
Wife Swap (2003 – 2017)
Wife Swap is often remembered in a bad light, casting people who just wanted to be on TV and exploiting the class divide to make women fight. It’s been banished to the heap of trashy series that shouldn’t ever have seen the light of day – and, in its old format, rightly so. I remember one episode that sent a black “wife” to live with a racist…
But the core premise of the show could be something really special in the right hands. Just imagine the bridges we could build across Britain’s cultural and political chasms if Wife Swap cast curious people who genuinely wanted to learn about lifestyles that differ from their own. And while we’re at it, why not change it to Husband Swap?
