“Why can’t I just have a proper job?” asks Dawn Porter as she embarks on her next investigation into modern-day love and relationships. Ah, Dawn Porter. People can’t get enough of her. They love her. They think she’s a bit saucy. They think she has a glint in her eye at all times. They think all sorts of things about her (check her myspace site for full-on fanboy devotion). But there’s more to Dawn than just a coquettish grin and her serious amounts of sass. Her highly entertaining BBC Three series (Dawn Gets…) proved that she’s an engaging and open host, and it was great to have her back on our screens last night having made the switch to Channel 4. So what kind of mischief would she be getting herself into in this series?

If you want to read more Dawn Porter (reviews and interviews) go here.

There’s no getting around it – this series opener was all about sex. Polyamorous, free sex to be precise. Dawn set out to explore free love communities across the world, and her first stop was San Diego. There she found a couple who were shaman and shawoman, and you’ll be pleased to know that both had the obligatory ponytails associated with such faux-spiritual stupidness. Ponytails in place, they were also, we soon found out, proud members of a group who practised polyamorous relationships, and Dawn got stuck right in from the get-go.

They treated Dawn to her own special workshop, where they laid her down on the floor, sort of breathed on her and made noises with their mouths. Like cosmic sexual vibrations and stuff. They were basically trying to ‘open her up’ with the power of sound. Off camera, Dawn admitted she felt a bit weird during the session and interestingly I noticed she kept her hand guarding to her ladypart at all times. Just in case, like.

The group session was more interesting (yes, of course they invited her back for a group session). The hosts explained the virtues of tantric sex and sexual freedom, and then invited everyone to split off into groups of three. Dawn got a middle-aged chap and another more silent (but no less strokie) partner. The middle-aged chap was very chatty – while stroking her and kissing her forehead, he told her that he loved her. Smooth.

Off camera, Dawn said she felt violated.

Her visit to San Diego ended with a session in the hot tub, and a discussion about whether the whole free love thing was just an opportunity for people just to get laid, or whether there was more love and emotion involved. Not surprisingly, her hosts argued for the latter.

Next, with her bright pink, flowery suitcase in tow, Dawn went to a free love commune in eastern Germany. She was curious to find out (she seemed to prefix every segment with “I was curious to find out…”) whether humans were pre-conditioned to be monogamous or whether we were born to, erm, shag.

She didn’t really find the ultimate answers at the commune, but she did find a group of really lovely people with really real feelings. They grew vegetables, they lived together and, as befitting a free love commune, they loved together. That part was nice and rather utopian, but she did meet a woman who had recently split up with her partner and had to endure him still living him in the commune and shacking up with two new women right in front of her very eyes. She was understandably hurt and Dawn was shocked at their new arrangement.

This is where Dawn comes into her own. She pitches herself in at the deep end, experiences situations and emotions and actually is very empathetic to the people she meets along the way. She could do with losing the recently devloped habit of high-fiving though. Nevertheless, throughout the commune segment she really seemed to bond with the group, which was just as well because there was an extraordinary final scene to get involved with.

Once in a while, the commune holds a ceremony - an oil party – where everyone gets naked and writhes about, their bodies smeared with hot oil. Strangely, there was an oil party planned to coincide with Dawn’s visit. Handy that.

As ever Dawn threw herself into the situation and lost herself in the moment – the relaxed atmosphere, the hot oil, the ambient music and legs, arms, feet and torsos saw her join in and writhe about with the best of them. She couldn’t quite believe she did what she had just done, but the pictures proved it – she did it!

It was an amazing scene – not sexy or saucy, but actually quite beautiful. Trouble is, up to that point I was losing interest. While Dawn Gets… was fresh, fun and genuinely insightful, this kind of subject has been covered on TV before and, with this series opener, she was on definite Louis Theroux territory (ie. meeting people who live outside the norm of society). Of course, part of Dawn’s appeal is that she is Dawn Porter and not Louis Theroux. Her style is open and accessible, and she tackles subjects with enthusiasm and a giggling innocence (although she’s patently not that innocent), but I thought she was on ground that had already been examined before and, ultimately, I didn’t really learn anything new. As Dawn surmised, free love sounds great on paper but when you throw in human feelings and emotions the reality ain’t so great.

And that extends to television shows made about the subject too.