After three entertaining programmes, Dawn Porter’s exploration into the most important issues facing females in the 21st century came to an end last night. After looking a body image, sexuality and childbirth, it was time for Dawn to tackle the art of bagging a bloke. Dawn, being Dawn, didn’t do this lightly and she undertook the usual challenges, put herself on the line and explore scientific techniques to find her perfect partner.

I’ve enjoyed her series on the whole, admired the way in which she has thrown herself into everything with abandon and courage, and enjoyed her cheeky humour. Last night it was all starting to wear a bit thin and I actually started to find her a bit annoying.

Dawn has, in the past, written a saucy memoir about meeting guys off the internet, so I was interested to see what her approach was to long-term, monogamous relationships. In her opening monologue, she explained that she is a busy career girl living in London, and loving her life in the media. She asked whether her idea of the perfect man was out there, and wanted to set about finding him. And whether she had time to fit a man into her busy schedule.

She got together some of her very busy career media girlfriends and asked, over a cocktail or two, what their perfect man would be. They all produced huge lists of things, ranging from looks to personality to… well, all sorts of things.

None the wiser, she met up for lunch with a 41-year-old friend who is still single. This friend explained that her only regret was that she has never had children and that the grief from this situation is like being hit by a train. Suddenly Dawn looked very worried indeed, so she flung herself into her Operation Bag-A-Bloke with gusto.

She wrote a big list, containing what she wanted in her perfect man, she tracked down Mr England in a male-only spa and went on a date with him (he turned out to be a vacuous, Beckhamesque heap of vanity), she went to an astrologist, she visited a polyamorous family in Wales, became a member of a dating website that only accepted ‘beautiful people’ (despite saying that looks aren’t the most important thing, she seemed pretty pleased when she was accepted on to the site) and put together an e-fit of her perfect man using fancy software. She left no stone unturned to investigate these different techniques and approaches and it was clear she was getting nowhere fast, so she decided to stage a Mr Dawn Porter contest, inviting men to take a number of compatibility tests. Some Aussie bloke won, then said he had to go to the pub with his mates.

I didn’t enjoy this end-of-series ep so much. Dawn was her usual bubbly, slightly naughty self, but I could have told her that all these lists and tests and techniques would come to nothing much.

She surmised at the end of the programme that it’s all about good, old-fashioned chemistry. She’s damn right. It’s a sorry by-product of our society that people buy into the ‘perfect partner’ syndrome. Of course blokes make lists too, but with magazines pushing this perfect look thing all the time, I have found (after trying the whole internet dating thing in the past) that people who have been single for a while tend to rely on checklists far too often when looking for a partner. Surely the best way is to not look at all, build friendships and grow things organically. People just want everything now, now, now and to be perfect, perfect, perfect.

So to me Dawn Gets Her Man (she didn’t) was a bit disappointing. I actually thought she came over, for the first time, as a little bit vain, which was a shame because this series has otherwise been refreshing, interesting and fun.