What questions should you ask a potential new partner on a first date?

Alison Taylor thinks asking somebody if they binge-watch box sets would be a good way of getting an insight into their character

I've been watching a box set of The Tunnel and doing that thing where you spend an entire Sunday afternoon rolling on to the next episode. And the next. It feels likes a luxury, the idle indulgence of it.

After the first two episodes, when I'd been hooked in, I asked my boyfriend the question you ask in this situation: "Shall we watch another one?"

He said yes, so all was well. And so it went on for all afternoon-into-evening. But what if he'd been one of those weirdos who is able to ration a box set? It got me thinking that it would be a good question to ask somebody on a date to get an insight into their character, and whether they'd be up for languishing for an entire day on the sofa.

What other questions could also prove illuminating without seeming intrusive? I recall on an early date asking him about his weekend, because we met on a Sunday night. It's not exactly a searching question but can actually be very revealing. I learnt that he'd spent Friday night at a work do and managed to fall asleep on the Tube (cool!), then on Saturday his mum came to stay, and on Sunday afternoon they walked the dogs in Epping Forest.

There's a lot to glean there – he is a bit of an idiot who gets too drunk sometimes (tick!), he loves his mum and actually likes spending time with her (tick!), he likes the outdoors and animals (tick!).

Once he'd revealed falling asleep on the Tube it prompted a discussion of the need to get drunk at a works do and then the phenomenon of always being hungover whenever parents are due to visit. I remember us really laughing over that.

For another view, I ask my mum what questions she'd ask. Without hesitation, she offers, "Have you got a job?", then adds, "You could've done with asking that on more than one occasion, couldn't you, love?" She's got a point.

@lovefoolforever