Come Dine with Me

In an age where the reality programme is king, alongside cookery, makeover shows, and murder mysteries, 'Come Dine With Me' is one of the better offerings, mainly because of the absolutely awful contestants and the witty, sarcastic voiceovers by Dave Lamb. Without his input, this would not have much going for it.

Originally the format was one dinner party per episode, with a group of episodes representing each contest - more recently, this has changed so everything is dealt with during one edition. This has probably gained more viewers as there isn't so much of a commitment involved should you want to see the whole contest leading to the £1,000 prize.

I normally loathe reality television but this series is quite addictive.

It offers the viewer into the homes and lives of a group of ordinary people who , thankfully, and unusually in terms of reality TV , don't expect to get a career out of it.

Its fascinating to see the way that "normal" people conduct themselves on TV.Vanities are often reduced to a million tiny pieces, sometimes amusingly so.A fine example being the hairdresser who wanted to be surrounded by beautiful people " like you'd find in the pages of Hello".

Clearly this individual has no self awareness and no mirror. I watch this show religiously.

I couldn't not comment, as the show is about to turn twenty, who'd have thought this show would have survived for two decades.

It used to be essential viewing, a show we'd watch as a family, I can't lie, it hasn't been on the radar for about a decade, but the twenty year anniversary, made it appealing.

It has changed a little, the public have become more over the top, louder, more competitive, and even more keen to win that £1000 prize.

It does vary somewhat episode by episode, some are terrible, some are great fun, it all depends on the contestants they've assembled.

Dave Lamb makes the show, he's so funny, so sarcastic, it's his cutting dialogue that makes the show so watchable.

Easy viewing, something you can have on in the background, something you can watch with the whole family, it works.

7/10.

Always an upper to watch Come dine with me is a sure bet Raise your appetite with some laughs A truly reliable winning horse

COME DINE WITH ME now occupies a large slice of Channel 4's daytime schedule, with episodes running at lunchtime, late afternoon and most of Saturday afternoon. Channel 4's sister station More4 runs more episodes in the early evening. Watching several episodes back to back allows certain themes to emerge: the food selection by each contestant is often repetitive; the contestants have entrenched attitudes; their judgments are affected very much by the desire to win the competition; and all of them are more than ready to act in front of the ubiquitous television camera. Dave Lamb's narration contributes to the overall jokey atmosphere, as he makes fun of the contestants' pretensions. From a sociological perspective, however, COME DINE WITH ME is a fascinating text, as it encapsulates within each twenty-five-minute episode the enduring class, gender and age prejudices of most of the contestants. Anyone who thinks that contemporary Britain has changed in terms of its social structure, as compared with, say, half a century ago, would have their assumptions readily undermined here. Snobberies, racial prejudices, and gender jealousies still exist, even if they are perhaps more politely expressed than they might have once been.