BBC Secret of the Sexes s01e02 Episode Script

In a bar in London twenty men are about to meet twenty women.
It's a speed date.
And sparks of attraction are soon flying.
But this is no ordinary encounter.
He likes her right but it's not reciprocated at all is it? These men and women are taking part in a scientific experiment.
They've all been measured.
Their preferences have been explored.
I'm very pleased with that man.
And their deepest desires revealed.
You're happy with that.
Yeah.
I'm in love with that.
That's perfect.
Now scientists will try to find them a perfect match.
Match failed.
And their predictions will be put to the test.
She's smiling warmly and uh winding him down at the same time.
Uh let that be a lesson to all of us.
But in the game of love nothing ever goes according to plan.
It was a disaster.
It was a bad gig.
I liked him.
I got him.
There are over four million single women in Britain.
And Beth Egland is one of them.
Now she's about to try a new way of finding love.
Good morning Beth.
How is you? - Fine.
Hello.
- Come in.
In collaboration with an international team of scientists we've created a unique matchmaking agency.
We've recruited over one hundred single men and women tojoin it.
For all of these people conventional dating has failed.
Now they've agreed to put their love lives in the hands of scientists.
By meeting loads and loads of false women.
Ioads of women who are selfish.
I tend to meet men that kind of like sap me of my strength as I tell them what to do.
Um unbelievably petty considering the amount of choice I get which isn't a lot.
The men that I've tended to attract in the past have been pretty much unreliable.
For the scientists these lovelorn people are guinea pigs.
They present a rare opportunity to test different theories about the nature of attraction and compatibility.
Uh this is Beth.
Um I'm going to leave you together.
Um he's going to be taking some little measurements.
Good luck I'll see you later.
OK bye.
Bye OK I will take a facial photograph of you for.
One theory held by zoologist Karl Grammer is that facial similarity is the key to a successful match.
Facial similarity to a male might be a particular form relationships are built.
So how.
It has to be similar or.
They have to be similar.
Right OK.
Wow interesting.
I am looking for Keanu Reeves but I'm probably not going to be able to get him so someone who looks exactly like him.
Somebody who's uh really outgoing - blonde.
Busty and beautiful.
My ideal man is someone with an Oxford education and an SW7 postcode.
Glen Wilson is a psychologist who's CQ test can tell if a couple will be compatible before they've met.
How important to you is sexual explicitness? It's certainly very important.
And total fidelity.
I think the odd lapse is forgivable.
This one is reciprocated and uh both in CQ and facial similarity.
Chances are that would be uh an ideal match.
If the scientists succeed it will herald a revolution in dating.
And no one would welcome this more than Beth Egland.
Perfect partner.
Honest.
Busty.
Younger and intelligent.
Beth is a successful career woman.
She's been single for over a year and is finding it increasingly hard to meet men.
I'm knocking on.
You know almost thirty-three.
If I ever want to think about having children then I have to think about it now.
It's just one big vicious circle of going out with.
You know.
Pathetic losers most of the time.
To increase her options Beth has volunteered to see if the scientists can make her more attractive before she's introduced to anyone.
By analysing the geometry of beautiful faces a plastic surgeon has developed a special mask.
This transparency represents a template of perfection.
And although Beth's face falls short a makeup artist can use it to pinpoint the features which need the most help.
So you can see on here.
Your mouth is good and we can just even out the top line so that it's a bit more even.
And the only thing that I think is quite obvious from.
From.
From this is.
Is.
And is the position of your eyes.
So what I'm going to do is use toner and highlighter to create the illusion that they're a little bit further apart.
The beauty mask is usually used to inform the decisions made by cosmetic surgeons.
But it can also be used in this simple and more cost-effective way.
Turn the mirror over.
Yeah.
It's uh.
It's nice because it's still.
I still.
It still looks like me but I can see exactly what you've done.
I think men are going to stop me on the street.
No I look lovely.
- Cool.
Excellent.
- Thank you.
Can scientific insights also be used to make men more attractive to women? OK.
Peter Kerr has volunteered to find out.
Well today we're going to be talking about Thatcher.
So that'll get us started.
But Peter is a thirty-seven year old politics lecturer.
Monetarism.
That's good.
How does that work? Married in his twenties he's now divorced.
Hey that's good.
And has been single for two years.
What do you think women think of you? Uh the.
The most repeated thing the women say about me is that I'm a really nice guy.
But actually that's fatal when women say that.
How do you rate yourself physically? Physically I'm short.
Skinny.
Minging um.
What's minging? What's minging that'd be the technical word for um not very good looking.
Peter thinks it's his physical appearance that's the problem.
But what can you do to improve it.
Can I borrow you for a moment? Thank you.
I just want to get an impression of this guy here.
This is Peter OK.
Before he's introduced to anyone the scientists are going to identify precisely what is turning women off.
What I need from you is your immediate impressions.
OK.
So what age do you think he is? - Forty.
- Forty.
Um what do you think he does? If you just met him in the street what would you say he did? Um I don't know maybe he works in a shop.
And if the scale of one to ten of attractiveness.
If ten is really sexy and zero is rather no.
- Me personally.
- Yes.
- Um zero.
- Zero right.
Peter can't hear what the women are saying.
Until the results are played back to him.
- Um what age? - Um maybe um forty-six.
- Forty-six.
- Oh my god.
And what sort ofjob do you think he does? Probably a window cleaner.
On the scale of zero to ten.
Where ten is really.
Really sexy.
Where would you put him? Um minus one.
Minus one.
- Would you go on a date with him? - No.
Uh would you go on a date with him? I've got a boyfriend so no but if I didn't um no.
Sorry.
What's emerged from the experiment is that Peter is perceived to have a low status job and income.
Where most scientific studies suggest women are attracted to men who can provide resources.
The next day a fashion stylist gives Peter a more affluent look.
Good luck.
Confident.
Very anxious.
Um that was a terrifying experience.
So I'm not sure what to expect.
Right was it more terrifying than yesterday? Much more terrifying because I knew this time what was coming and yesterday's feedback was so negative I was terrified this morning that that was going to happen again.
In spite of the scientific research many women claim that money isn't one of their priorities.
I am looking for somebody who's not too bothered by his um status in society.
Not money-drive.
Not uh dri.
More of a tree hugger than a Porsche driver.
Someone that's not into cars.
Expensive cars.
Football or money.
So will Peter's new look actually make any difference.
What do you think he does for work? - Businessman.
- Businessman.
- Management or something.
- Oh that's better.
- Authoritative.
- Professional.
OK.
How much do you think he earns? - Oh I think he's earning quite a lot - uh quite a bit.
- Have a guess.
- Forty thousand plus.
And on a scale of nought to ten how attractive do you think he is? - Be honest.
- Four.
Four you'll give him a four OK.
- Not bad.
- That's five up on yesterday.
What do you like about him.
You gave him a six which is a pretty good score.
What.
What's? The overall package is good.
Oh I like that one - package.
Quite sexy looking.
Sexy looking good.
Would you.
Would you go on a date with him if he asked you to go out? I think maybe yeah.
Would you consider it? Depends where he was going to take me.
Right oh yeah.
Good answer.
Fabulous.
- That's a huge.
Huge difference from yesterday.
- Yeah.
Now I've um quantified some of the numbers here and it's very.
Very interesting.
In terms of yourjob they um upgraded you considerably.
Um and that's reflect also in your income.
Yesterday the figure that most people tended to come up with was thirty thousand.
Today it was forty thousand.
Um so you have gone up by ten thousand.
And a big difference was how attractive they found you.
Your average score yesterday was.
In fact.
Three point four.
Uh today you have gone up to five point eight.
Well done.
A simple insight into female psychology has made all the difference.
Now it's Beth's turn to learn how to manipulate male perceptions.
Ah Beth hello.
My name's Adrian Fenn and I'm a psychologist.
And this is Goff he's a professional stylist.
Have a seat please.
One of my interests is in the science of female attractiveness and it's something that a lot of male psychologists are interested in.
And what we're going to do today is to try and understand how the science as it's been done.
Informs us about how you can dress differently to make yourself more attractive to men.
The scientists have taken Beth's vital statistics but which aspects of the female figure are actually the most important to men? What shall we work on first? - Well um the breasts I think.
- On the breasts.
OK fine.
Is it the breasts? - Uh you have a look at those.
- Yeah definitely.
The legs.
Uh that's.
That's - that's yeah.
Or the bottom.
Yeah I've a feeling I like that.
To find out the dating agency has conducted a groundbreaking new study into what men find physically attractive.
This software allows the men to manipulate female bodies in any way they like.
We can increase those to a sort of size to a sort of a size you'd.
You'd be happier with.
- Yeah that's brilliant.
- Full cup.
Yeah.
- Right you're happy with that.
- Yeah very.
With dials to control independently every single body part each man can create his ideal woman.
- Oh.
Oh no.
No.
- Like.
Like to put a bit of weight on.
Now do you like a woman with quite a bit bottom.
And give her the.
Give her the J Lo bottom.
Let's try that.
Oh no.
No.
Oh my good.
Oh no that's.
No.
No.
No.
No.
NO I don't like that - - somewhere in the middle maybe.
- OK.
- Yeah.
All there James.
- OK.
This is the first research of its kind and it's about to provide a unique insight into what men really want.
I'm in love with that.
That's perfect.
Well let's look at the studies.
I haven't seen this - - it'll be of interest to me as well.
- OK.
Let's have a look at them.
Hah.
Right OK.
Look at the difference between those last two.
An amazing difference in the breast size and the waist.
See how the stomach is changing and the breasts are changing.
Gosh.
Well that's just ridiculous.
That'.
That's Jordan isn't it.
- That's anatomically unusual.
- Absolutely.
Professor Fernham now averages out the differences to create the optimally attractive woman.
Wait with bated breath.
It is exciting isn't it.
There she is.
Ah now what we see from our sample is that they like relatively large breasts.
What size do you think she would be? Um I don't know - uh Goff probably would.
She.
I would.
I would say she's definitely a thirty-two on her back and she's.
I think we're looking at a C to a D cup.
And what we know is that the average woman.
I think in this country is a thirty-six B.
But what's most striking is the hourglass figure.
The equivalent of thirty-six inch hips and a twenty-three inch waist.
Essentially hip to waist ratio is one of the best ways of seeing whether a woman is fertile.
It is easier to make babies with somebody with a lower hip to waist ratio and men appear to know this.
They appear to find fertile women attractive.
Men like curvy women.
I mean that's what's showing there I think.
So how does Beth measure up and what can the fashion stylist do to help her? To find out Professor Fernham morphs the ideal woman to Beth's measurements.
What you can see quite clearly there is changes in the bust but very little change in the waist hip ratio which is not that different from yours and that's good news.
Oh yeah.
Using these insights Goff dresses Beth to manipulate subtly the perception of her figure.
OK right then boys are you ready? We are.
Good to see.
Right OK Beth do you want to come on out my darling.
Here we are.
Right then what this does optically when you look at the dress is this.
A simple necklace it's got quite a lot going on just there.
What we do is when we look at Beth we gain eye contact then that's just below so the first thing we want to look at is her chest area.
The belt is meant to accentuate the waist to hip ratio.
Yes.
If we didn't have this belt area here.
This - which brought in the waist.
I'm going to let go and you should just see dramatically what happens - so the one thing that the guys wanted when we saw the reports was that small waist.
Exactly.
Gone.
So simply by just putting on just a stretch of material its amazing isn't it.
That looks to me as if you've got very much nearer to he perfect ideal which is.
Of course.
So much more attractive.
The makeovers appear to have worked.
Meanwhile a vast amount of data has be processed.
And the scientists are preparing for the next phase of the experiment.
To predict mutual attraction.
We are looking at a number of variables and the way that they combine.
There is uh physical attractiveness.
There is similarity to one's self and the CQ that covers uh a vast array of personality.
Social attitudes and uh personal preferences.
What type of relationship would you prefer? CQ stands for compatibility quotient.
The test has been developed using happily married couples.
And predicts how well a couple are likely to get on in the long term.
Rather ambitious task we have here but we would suppose that if a person showed compatibility in all of these areas then uh the future would be quite rosy.
The predictions will be tested at a speed date.
The scientists have selected twenty men to meet twenty women at an event which will generate four hundred encounters.
None of these people has any idea who the scientists have matched them with.
But they have very clear ideas about what they want.
The woman who I'm looking for is someone who likes to do the household chores.
Cooking.
Cleaning and whatever.
Rich so she can support my huh expensive lifestyle.
Oh and she must be interested in sex.
Or she must like sex.
I'm looking for somebody who's not necessarily handsome but is more striking looking.
They don't necessarily have to be mega-Ioaded.
I'm not worried about that.
I'm not materialistic although obviously I don't.
I want them to have.
You know have a decent lifestyle.
I think somebody like Richard Branson - he has all those qualities.
As the only woman to have received scientific beautify advice Beth is in a bullish mood.
If he was hot as I do.
Who knows what could happen.
There might be a marriage proposal by the end.
You don't know.
But will the makeover give her an edge on the competition? Exciting.
- Looking forward to it.
- A date.
Yeah.
Me too.
I'm going to bag a man tonight.
Peter is feeling altogether more apprehensive.
I saw some of the other guys for the speed dating event when they turned up at the measuring day.
They all looked younger than me.
They all looked much better looking than me and much smoother so I think I've got absolutely no chance today.
Um I think I'm competing with some.
Some quality opposition.
But we'll see.
Nice to meet you.
The competition will be even stiffer than he thinks.
Among the bachelors are three men who specialise in the art of picking up women.
They've formed a society to pass on this know-how to other men.
Never un.
Underestimate the power of the ugly girl.
Never.
Emir is a former city broker.
We have real men you know that - so you know you can have the winger commander that is going for the main target and you have the.
The wing man that is going for whatever.
You knowjust taking care of everybody else.
Then we have this.
The kamikaze fighter that is going for the married girl - the.
The big ugly guy.
The boyfriend or something you know.
And is going to crash and burn he knows that.
You know he.
He things you know.
These men have been entered into the experiment as a wildcard.
Will their techniques give them any advantage? As in a conventional speed date the men and women meet each other for three minutes.
The first thirty seconds starts now.
But there is a twist to the proceedings.
Each table has been fitted with a gadget which enables the participants to register their positive or negative feelings by turning a dial.
Before the date begins the men and women have been instructed to sit in silence.
And rate each other from nought to a hundred.
Karol Grammer thinks that facial similarity will be decisive.
People are attracted to other people who look like themselves.
OK that's it.
If you have a partner who is like yourself.
You're probably not getting into trouble with him so often because you will have the same ideas.
You share the same values.
The same attitudes and so on and it looks like that people hope that somebody that looks like themselves also shares the same attitudes.
Values and so on.
Dr Grammer illustrates this principle with some well known couples.
Arnold Schwartzenegger.
And uh his wife.
Two very square faces.
Almost identical structure - high cheek bones.
These two have the same chin.
Very round faces.
With an almost identical nose.
This is the same.
Very identical mouth.
They also have uh comparable nose.
And uh the eyes are almost of the same form and colour even.
The zoologists believes that there are genetic benefits to inbreeding and that the men and women with similar faces will find each other the most attractive.
Using special software he has created a facial similarity index for everyone in the agency.
Match found.
Match found.
So will Grant be attracted to Leanne? Match found.
Gail to Simon.
And what about Beth? Match found.
It turns out that several men have similar faces to her.
So Karl Grammer has joined forces with Glen Wilson to identify her best match.
OK Karl shall we look at the faces that are most similar to Beth and I will lay out the faces that have the highest CQ scores.
Dr Wilson's compatibility test has identified the men with whom she has the best chance of success.
So is this our problems or theirs? Beth is a property manager who likes to be in control.
Oh OK well can you arrange for that then? OK.
Right let's go and have a look inside.
OK.
In her previous relationships she has usually been the dominant partner.
I'm independent and I'm a strong character.
And men think that they want that - and they think that's great about me and that's great when we're dating.
You know they think that's great but after three months down the line or whatever when it's a serious relationship they realise that I'm not the kind of person they do want.
They want someone who's going to stay at home and not have the strong opinions that they.
They were attracted to in the first place.
And that's my personal difficulty.
But uh and I find that with all men and always have done.
But the scientists have identified four man who match Beth facially and psychologically.
How about that.
That's pretty good hit rate considering we started with fifty people.
As far as age and height are concerned um it's ideal if the male is uh is about five inches taller than the female which is about the average height difference and it's also fairly ideal if.
If he is perhaps uh four or five years older than she is.
We see that on height three of them are taller so that uh this one goes out.
And uh in terms of age they're all actually younger.
The nearest is uh.
- This one.
- This one.
And his CQ is the highest of them all so if the chemistry was right they would get on extremely well together.
By now Beth has registered first impressions of eight men and she's not easily impressed.
At last she meets Dave.
Both of them.
Of course.
Are completely unaware of the scientists prediction.
A lot of flirtatious signalling going on there.
Well the knob has gone up a little bit there so she obviously likes the look of him.
And uh what's he going to do? Yeah looks as though uh he's initially attracted to her as well.
Yes it's an immediate reaction I think.
The same procedure has been used to identify Peter Kerr's best match.
Number two.
- That's a hit is it? - Yes.
Yeah.
Like Beth Peter has no idea he is facing his one scientific match.
She's a good actress.
She's smiling warmly and uh winding him down at the same time.
Uh let that be a lesson to all of us.
This result is typical of the first impressions.
She's flat-lining on him.
But there's still everything to play for as the speed date proper now begins.
The men and women meet for exactly three minutes.
After which the men move onto the next table.
Afterwards these forms will be handed in and the participants find out if any of their offers have been reciprocated.
It's a hit and miss approach to finding love.
But sparks of attraction are soon flying.
- So what's your name? - AJ.
Simon.
Hello Simon nice to meet you.
- So.
- Sorry.
Uh tell me about yourself.
Beth was given high scores on first impressions.
But in the three minute conversations she takes a very business-like approach.
Why are you single? Why am I single? Yeah.
And even so you can ask one.
Fire in the question.
So why are you here.
Why are you here? Well I'm over thirty and I'm single - and so my biological clock is ticking.
- Right.
So you're here.
Yeah I'm not desperate.
I'm not desperate.
- The cracks are showing already.
- Yeah.
And so what brings you to speed dating? Uh oh it's a long story.
I've been.
We've got three minutes so shorten it.
Shorten my long story.
Yeah condense your story.
So how come you so long at speed dating.
What's your problem? Look you're a good looking bloke.
You're young.
Uh sl.
Slightly animate.
Wow she grills them doesn't she? It's clear that some people are better at speed dating than others.
And knowing how to flirt certainly helps.
- Pastries and stuff.
- Of course.
- What about moustaches? - Always.
- You like moustaches? - Yes.
OK let's say I'm having a really tough day at work.
So I come rolling into the door and.
- You want to know.
- What happens? I would be naked.
- OK good start.
- OK.
Well it's easy to see what her appeal to.
To men might be.
Members of the London Seduction Society are using a confrontational strategy.
And so you appear to have a boyfriend.
Just because you can't keep them or? No I just don't appear to like anyone.
Oh you're a fussy one.
Have you tried girls? We understand the game sense that we know that there is about ten guys that just before just said exactly the same thing as you.
Were talking about theirjobs and everything so I was a bit teasing about my job and when they started asking about.
- You are.
- Model.
- Are you? - Yes an model in this.
Oh I think.
- Do you think? - Yeah.
And that.
That put them a bit on an edge so it was a good thing to see them qualify themselves and.
And trying to - oh my god I need to impress uh this guy.
It certainly does look as though their strategy is to try and put the woman.
Lower her self-esteem relative to them so they will come across looking big.
Impressive and dominant.
But.
In fact.
The real key to seduction is to make the other person feel good not.
Not to diminish them.
Yeah that's the point.
I thought you looked really friendly.
- I thought you were.
- Yeah.
Thanks.
And I thought.
That is really.
Thanks Peter.
That is really nice.
After a disastrous set of first impressions Peter's personality is making all the difference.
- Ask me.
- Genre.
Rock.
Right the Chilli Peppers or Fu Fighters.
Crucial question.
- Fu Fighters by far.
- Really.
- Ah.
Please.
- Ah don't know.
But can he impress his one scientific match who scored him zero in the silent encounters.
Very hard to recover from first impressions.
So he's got an uphill grind.
Uh well basically I'm a university lecturer.
University lecturer.
Wow in what? In politics.
- Ah right.
Oh respect.
- Ah no.
- So respect.
- It's not rock and roll.
You know.
No but its respect.
Its politics.
OK so he pulled it back a little bit there.
She enjoyed the.
The prestige of his occupation and uh not turned off by his politics yet.
Anyway.
- His status impressed her.
- Yeah great.
But I wonder what she did with that dial.
Oh I forgot to.
The speed date has nearly run its course.
Beth has been unimpressed with almost all of her suitors and the feeling is mutual.
At last she meets Dave.
The one man the scientists think is compatible with her.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm Beth.
- I'm Dave.
Hi Dave.
So tell me about you.
How old are you.
You're far too young for me.
- How old are you? - I'm thirty-one.
Are you.
God you look so young.
- How old are you? - I'm older than you.
- Course you are.
- Only joking.
Excuse me.
Yeah.
Yeah you don't make jokes like that.
Hello - a little bit of action here.
He's actually turning up on her.
So.
So how old are you then? You don't ask a lady that.
- I'm thirty-two.
- Thirty-two.
Ooops uh.
Uh.
Uh - she's put her foot wrong and she's plunged in his estimation.
Yes.
According to the perception analyser.
- Now let's get off this age thing.
- Oh OK.
What do you do? Um I am a director of a software company.
- OH OK.
The boss.
- Oh yeah.
Dave originally gave Beth sixty.
Now he turns the dial down and so does she.
The men and women retire to their respective bars.
And the data processing team springs into action.
OK.
Twenty-three date.
Thirty-eight friend.
Fifty-two friend.
In a few minutes everyone will find out who has date matches.
Who has friendship matches and who has nothing.
Peter has adopted a carpet bombing strategy.
I think I ticked nearly every box basically just to increase my chances.
Um I'm the type of person I kind of like people when I meet them so.
I think that's desperation basically.
Meanwhile the women are comparing notes.
He was um.
He's very stylish.
- He was wearing ajacket and.
- Who was? The finance manager yeah he was gorgeous.
- He was an arse.
- He knew it.
I'm sorry darling he was an arse.
The matches have been counted and the results are in.
It's the moment of truth for all concerned.
Well guys this is your mutual matches.
Everyone receives an envelope containing photographs of successful date matches.
Or news that they don't have any.
Beth made an offer on just one man.
But unfortunately he has chosen someone else.
I liked him.
I got him.
Has Peter's strategy been any more successful? Uh result.
She was lovely yeah.
Yeah I liked her a lot.
Can't remember her name which is a dis but um but she was - Tracey.
Bet everyone's got Tracey but that's.
You've got Tracey.
You've got Tracey.
We've all got the.
The same women.
Clearly for two of the girls carpet bombing has worked.
But it's AJ who's the winner with a total of ten dates.
Oh uh never mind.
Share and share alike.
My tip is to um listen to guys and compliment them 'cos there's always something good about a guy.
Normally.
There's always.
There's always something.
Oh bollocks to that.
We've got three minutes.
That's all we've got three minutes.
Have to give them something for three minutes.
They should kiss our fucking feet.
So how successful were the three members of the London Seduction Society? Hi.
The.
The last guy that I saw I seriously have a pathological hatred for him.
Never in a million years would I go out with him.
I wouldn't care if he put me as a zero on his rating.
If me and him were the last people alive there is no way I would go there.
The guy is a chauvinist arsehole.
He loves himself.
Have their techniques worked on anyone? I didn't tick many girls.
I suppose.
That's uh already sort of like a bit of a you know you already reduce your number of matches.
Um.
It would be interesting to see how many girls in all ticked me.
At the end of the day.
Man two oh one three.
Emir received one offer of a date.
He was the only one of the seducers to have done so.
Well uh results are pathetic.
Out of about sixty encounters they get about one offer and that's no great surprise they way they're messing about there.
But it's the moment of reckoning for the scientists themselves.
Peter has been handed an envelope identifying his predicted match.
And the winner is.
Oh and she was my favourite as well that one.
But she picked everybody apparently.
Karl Grammer thought that facial similarity would predict sexual attraction.
Sarah was Peter's best match facially and for personality.
I would go for a.
So we're really onto something.
Unfortunately it wasnt enough.
I thought he seemed a really.
Really nice guy.
But I don't think I was initially attracted to him.
And for me I need to have physical attraction to be with somebody.
This reaction was shared by all of the couples who were informed of their face match.
- You might possibly think he was your brother.
- Yeah.
It would be quite weird for you to date him.
I don't want to date my brother that's the thing.
You don't want to date him.
No you can do better than that.
- Yeah.
I see you with a tall dark guy.
- Yes.
In the beginning we thought on the basis that uh - people who are married are looking alike.
That sameness or likeness would predict sexual attraction.
This was uh.
Uh apparently not the case in the data.
Actually the other uh - the opposite came around that dissimilar people uh make their dates together.
So we have to revise our theory.
This facial prediction has failed spectacularly but first impressions were decisive.
The perception analysers who that men and women who decided to date had made up their minds within seconds.
With few exceptions the three minute conversation made no difference at all.
Clearly looks are all important but its not the face.
It's the body that counts.
In terms of physical attractiveness there were two very important physical factors that made all the difference.
They were different for men than for women.
For men the factor that blew all the others out of the water was waist to hip ratio.
Waist to hip ratio is the size of the waist in relation to the hips and is a reliable indicator of fertility.
Well let's go for the curvaceous women.
On the software the men had created women with hourglass figures.
A caricature of the female form.
And at the speed date women whose figures most closely resembled this ideal got the most offers of dates.
So how much did male physique matter to women? So this.
This is muscle.
To about there yeah.
Yeah quite a lot to about there.
Yeah.
The women also went to considerable lengths to specify their ideal body types.
They're actually a bit bigger.
That's nice so that big.
Yeah I'm happy he looks nice.
And this is what they found optimally attractive.
But at the speed date there was no relationship between this figure and the body shapes of the most popular men.
For women it was height.
Women wanted tall men.
They were less interested in all the other possibilities of male shape.
It was height that was the most important physical attractiveness feature for men.
The two most popular men.
Both over five foot eleven.
Got thirty offers of dates between them.
Tall is good.
Tall is healthy.
Tall is successful.
So don't bother about going to the gym.
Don't bother about putting on new flashy clothes.
Be tall.
With the speed date over the men now come to the women's bar to meet them informally.
Do you look like those two? The experiment has shown that attraction is driven by physical attributes.
Which have little to do with similarity or compatibility.
But there is one scientist who did succeed in predicting facial attraction.
Uh here we are concerned um with your facial preferences for male faces.
And uh.
Dr Fink's morphing device replicate the effect of sex hormones on the face.
Moving from extreme female to extreme male.
Everyone in the agency was asked to select the most sexually attractive face.
So there.
Right OK.
This is frame number two hundred and eighty-seven.
I think this face tells me that he's not good looking enough to be unapproachable.
But he is good looking so I would approach him.
Right.
This kind of face you have selected uh is rather the so-called the father face.
Um.
Someone who is bringing resources to your children.
Uh rather uh long-term way but not a short-term way.
Then everyone's face was matched to the face morph.
And given a masculinity or femininity rating.
Beth was matched to frame ten ninety-six.
What Dr Fink found was a clear attraction of opposites.
Males with very masculine faces preferred females with very feminine faces and vice versa.
Uh are we going to kiss? Pretty soon yeah.
- Well maybe.
- You only ever say no.
Really.
Simon and AJ are an obvious example.
Sex hormones have pushed their faces in very different directions.
But the morphing device also predicted attraction between another couple.
Match found.
Beth and Dave matched for facial similarity.
But unlike most similar couples they also had reciprocal preferences according to the face morph.
OK I've two faces here.
Uh one is Beth's and the other one is Dave.
It's going to be interesting um to look at her preferences.
When I look at the frame numbers this was quite closely together.
This was two hundred and eight-seven.
And two hundred-fifty five.
So I do think there is a great chance that she will find him sexually attractive.
If I compare her face with regard to her femininity uh she has been given the number uh ten ninety-six.
What he likes is ten ninety-eight.
So I would say.
Just from the femininity calls this is exactly his woman.
Uh.
And I think there is a chance uh for him uh to get her.
I do really think so yeah.
By now everyone has been informed of the scientific predictions.
And Beth and Dave are discussing theirs.
In the compatibility ratings we're a hundred and twenty-seven - a married couple on average is a hundred and sixteen.
- So we match.
- What are you saying? We match scientifically.
Facially and mentally.
Really.
- Yeah.
So I'm suggesting we elope and just try it out.
- OK.
I mean I think.
I think you're an arse and I did write that on my paper but now I've spoken to you again you're actually quite nice.
- I mean I think you're attractive.
- And I find you attractive.
Well I think I was quite right with my prediction.
I'm only surprised.
I'm really happy.
I think they should pay me a lot of money yeah.
- So I'm an arse.
- You're not an arse.
I'm retracting my statement.
Look this is why we're compatible because we're having an argument like we're married.
Its two weeks after the experiment and Peter is preparing for a date.
But not with Tracey.
Well it turns out I got two matches um that night but on the night I thought I only had one.
Later I found out that there was actually a clerical error and Leanne had matched me and I had matched her.
And.
And I get up for this evening.
At the speed date he wasn't Leanne top choice.
She's only agreed to meet up because her favourite.
Steve.
Is dating someone else.
As a hobby I do stand up comedy and.
- As a hobby.
- Yes a hobby.
I think that's really.
Really amazing to be able to do that.
I'm really into comedy.
I always go to stand up.
It's good fun actually and everybody shakes your hand and.
Yeah.
Yeah completely.
I've been a hand shaker in my time.
And it's great fun.
It's clear that Peter and Leanne have lots in common.
Let me write it down for you.
I liked him.
I liked him and um we've been having a good old chat about what he does and what I do and I think that um he and I - regardless of anything that happens I think we could be friends.
And that's.
That's just the way I feel.
For Peter the scientists have failed.
But several other couples from the dating agency have also had follow up dates.
And there's been no shortage of sexual chemistry.
This was interesting.
We've got some couples here who are known to have ended up kissing.
Huh.
After the speed date.
But have there been any enduring relationships? The second time I saw her.
Sort of realised that no it's not.
It.
It's um.
No.
Basically.
I really.
Really don't know what went wrong.
I'd like to know.
She's a lovely girl but I just think we would really run out of things.
Or.
Or common points of uh of.
Of interest.
At the last minute she had a.
A meeting that - a work commitment that she couldn't get out of.
That's why he was too young for me.
It just.
Its.
It just didn't work.
Just didn't work that's all I can say.
What we know from the study and.
In fact.
All our experience is that uh the immediate chemical attraction is of priority for most people.
Uh they're not necessarily interested in their CQ scores with other people at all.
That's way too far in the future for them even to consider but it's a little bit like taking out pension plans.
Maybe it's something you ought to think about.
Because uh the long-term does matter.
Unlike the others Beth came away from the speed date empty handed.
But she and Dave were intrigued enough by their scientific match to arrange to meet for dinner and give the dating agency another chance.
Yeah I did give him a hard time.
Um at the speed dating.
But when I got to speak to him afterwards I realised that he was actually quite a nice chap and we had a really good laugh.
I'd be interested to see how he feels really.
'Cos I think he probably thinks I'm a bit of a bitch.
Huh.
I'm.
I'm surprised he's even turning up but um yeah let's see.
- Oh hello how are you? - Hello Dave.
- How's it going? - Very good.
Huh huh.
Nice to see you again.
Uh French thing.
If Beth and Dave hit it off it will be the scientists one successful match.
On the CQ test they shared identical answers on at least fifty percent of the questions.
There was a slight tendency for her to be uh higher in.
In libido or sexuality which might suggest that she would make the play in this situation.
And what would you like my dear? Can I have the lobster.
Served extra cool.
Can you poke its eyes out before um you kill it? Come on you must be able to do that.
Oh he wants to give it a good seeing to.
She is so different in these clips that I barely recognised her as a matter of fact.
Uh she's no longer putting the heat on the guy and asking him to give an account of himself.
And uh she's no.
She's evaluating his humour in a completely different way.
The date went well enough for Beth and Dave to meet up again.
A week later.
I said.
Uh you know.
Will there ever.
Will there be something between us? Where do you see that this is.
You know.
What is the purpose of this? And he said that um it wouldnt be going any further.
It.
There wouldn't be a relationship because um he.
You know he found me attractive um but there was no.
There was not going to be anything.
Anything further.
The way she spoke.
It reminded me of a member of my family that - I grew up years and years ago and that the association was too strong for me to find it.
Find her attractive I guess.
Silly thing really but.
Well um yes he wasn't interested in a relationship but um I more than got the impression that if I wanted to go home with him then that would have been OK.
But that's guys for you.
What do I expect.
The world's first scientific dating agency has ended in failure.
These scientists hoped that their combined efforts could achieve a revolution in dating.
But not one relationship has been forthcoming.
Could it ever have succeeded? We know that many of the people who saw each other haven't really liked each other and they haven't maintained a long-term relationship.
So the question is why? And the answer I think lies in the fact of too many variables.
And I think there are idiosyncratic and they come from often from earlier childhood and they have a very powerful impact early on in the relationship.
And so we've got a lot out of this study.
There will be a lot of scientific papers with this wonderful database we have.
But to say that the uh ability to design a scientific dating agency is just around the corner is.
I'm afraid not true.
As a hundred men and women return to conventional dating at least some of them are in a positive frame of mind.
OK thank you very much.
Yes now I do politics jokes.
Here's a thing now.
Do you know that more people voted it the last uh in Big Brother than voted in the last election.
Do you know that? At the speed dating event I didn't expect to get any matches and I was really pleased I actually got two.
And date came out of it.
And that gave me a bit of you know uh confidence.
I mean if I'd come away without any matches and without any date I would have been.
Yeah I would have been feeling pretty bad but two out of twenty I reckon is a good ratio.
And I actually feel quite confident coming out of this and I know a bit more about myself.
I think science has shown me that I don't need to change.
I think that's one of the good things that's come out of it.
If you'd come back to me and said "Beth you're a washout" then fine.
I'd start thinking there's something seriously wrong and I need to go and see some kind of shrink.
Um but as I have been matched then no I don't think it's necessary to change and I.
I think that.
That you can compromise with somebody in a relationship but not change.
No.