Alongside my rather unhealthy obsession with E4 reality show Celebs Go Dating is the soundtrack. However, as noted previously it is almost impossible to use Shazam to identify songs due to their limited use or the highly entertaining commentary from Rob Beckett which is the stand-out feature of the show (across all twelve series – the one consistent pillar – we could all bet our collective houses upon). Therefore at the start of 2021, I decided to write to firstly production company Lime Pictures and ultimately Channel 4 to get a full listing of all commercial music played in series 10 through 11.

Music is the soundtrack to all our lives. A large junk of the music we hear will be on alternative mediums aside from the wireless. Being closer to 50 than 30 I never listen to commercial music radio. I tend to have Global’s LBC on or switch over to BBC Radio 4 from the Beeb. The majority of the time – my smartphone will be connected via Bluetooth and I will be playing Spotify or very occasionally a podcast.

Let me take you back to 15th February 2022 when I decided to write to Derek D, Head of Production at Lime Pictures as he was one of the people I had noted down on the end credits of the show. I decided to write to their offices in Central London on this occasion. On a slight tangent – credits run so quickly these days as the continuity announcer is advertising the next show. (I can sense myself turning into my Dad as I wrote that phrase). I paused my PVR and noted down the name and then wrote a letter requesting the music used for the last two seasons. I expected a reply within a month. When I did not hear anything I wrote to Managing Director Claire Poyser. (Life is easier now most companies list their senior people on their website) A week after my letter was received (both sent Special Delivery) I tried to call the office to speak to Claire but the receptionist and ultimate gatekeeper would not let me proceed any further. I tried both the London and Chester (does that actual mean Liverpool) offices but got nowhere. In both cases, the receptionist I spoke to said she would pass my message(s) on. I just wanted her to respond to my request. Okay, I gave up on getting hold of anyone at a commercial production company and decided instead to go for the commissioning public service broadcaster – Channel 4 in this case. I wrote to the MD, Alex Mahon/ but after a month had not heard back so took the unprecedented step of contacting the chairman of the board. Please note eighteen months had passed by this stage (and I had even had the life milestone of moving home (which probably deserves its blog post but is probably still sitting deep in my drafts).

Perhaps I was a little impatient. I believe the MD would have got to my letter eventually and passed it down the chain of command to the relevant department. However, more for impact than persistence, I decided to reach out to the Chairperson of the Board as technically they are accountable to the general public. I reiterate that my request was rather straightforward. I still do not understand why television shows do not publish all the music played online somewhere. A Spotify playlist is the amber nectar but just a page on their website would suffice. It is not rocket science! (I have even gone to the effort of managing to publish one playlist for the wilderness pandemic year set in The Mansion.)

Took over 3 years but I obtained the full music listing for series 10 and 11 of Celebs Go Dating from Channel 4 via Lime Pictures. Eventually today I received an e-mail from a junior production person at Channel 4 who was going to get me the information from the production company. She was just waiting for somebody to return from annual leave. I expect to have all the details in a matter of weeks.

Update: On Monday 18 Sept at 10:19 when Kathryn S replied to me from Channel 4 with both a PDF file and Spotify link – magic. It had only been 1 working day (3 calendar days since Celebs Go Dating Series 12 finished broadcast on E4)