Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. After a decade on air, having left its first home on Channel 4 on 10 September 2010, Big Brother UK moved to Channel 5 and 5* on 18 August 2011 after the channel signed a 2-year contract with Endemol to screen the show.[1][2] The first series to be broadcast on the channel was the newly re-launched Celebrity Big Brother 2011 which was then followed by Big Brother 2011 with 14 new housemates, all under 30, half male, half female who entered the house on Friday 9 September 2011 at 9pm. A second series of Celebrity Big Brother will be broadcast on Channel 5 from 5th January 2012.
Marcus Bentley is the narrator and Brian Dowling presents the live shows. Emma Willis is hosting the spin-off discussion show Big Brother's Bit On The Side during weekdays, where she is often joined by weekend hosts Jamie East and Alice Levine as reporters.
Contents
|
The series was first broadcast on Channel 4 and E4 from 18 July 2000 (the housemates entered the Big Brother House on 14 July 2000) - 10 September 2010. It currently is being broadcast on Channel 5 and 5* from 18 August 2011 onward. At the end of the Channel 4 run, there had been 11 regular series, 22 series including spin-offs, 275 different housemates, and over 1000 episodes of Big Brother in the UK.
Big Brother is a game show in which a group of contestants, called housemates (in Big Brother 2009, contestants had to earn their housemate status), live in isolation from the outside world in a custom built "house", which includes everyday facilities such as a fully equipped kitchen, garden, bedroom, bathroom and, from 2005, a task room. The house is also a television studio with cameras and microphones in most of the rooms to record the activities of the housemates. The only place where housemates can escape the company of the other contestants is the Diary Room, where they are encouraged to voice their true feelings. Not all Diary Room footage is broadcast due to the privacy of the contestants.
Each week all housemates nominate two of their fellow contestants for potential eviction. Failure to do so may result in a punishment, such as a reduction in the prize fund. The two, or more, housemates with the highest number of nominations face a public vote conducted by phone, with the contestant receiving the most votes being evicted from the house. Occasionally more than one housemate may be evicted in a week. The last contestant remaining in the house is declared the winner and is awarded a cash prize. From 2000 to 2003, the prize fund was £70,000. Since 2004, the prize fund has remained at £100,000.
The main television coverage takes the form of a daily highlights programme.
A daily highlights programme featured the previous day's events condensed into a one hour show. All main series and spin-off series highlights programmes were shown on Channel 4 and E4 were narrated by Marcus Bentley. Bentley also narrated for the Live Eviction and Live Finale shows.
Davina McCall hosted the Live Eviction shows as well as the first and last episodes of each series, the Launch Night and Live Finale respectively. At the end of the Channel 4 broadcast in 2010, McCall had hosted 20 series; every series of Big Brother UK to date, with the exception of the spin-off series Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, Teen Big Brother and Big Brother Panto.
Beginning in 2001, Dermot O'Leary presented Big Brother's Little Brother until the end of Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. O'Leary also took on McCall's role for the Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack and Teen Big Brother series. O'Leary returned on the final night of the Channel 4 broadcasting to host Dermot's Last Supper, which featured him discussing life after Big Brother with former housemates.
George Lamb and Zezi Ifore replaced O'Leary from the start of the 2008 summer series of Big Brother's Little Brother, though Ifore left on 25 July 2008. Lamb remained as the sole presenter until Channel 4's final series in 2010, when he was joined by co-host Emma Willis who had previously presented the Big Brother spin-off show Big Brother's Big i, an online programme featured on the Channel 4 website and Big Brother's Big Mouth whilst McCall went into the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2010. On the final night of the Channel 4 broadcasting, Lamb hosted Davina's Big Sendoff to pay tribute to McCall.
Russell Brand presented Big Brother's Big Mouth from its premier in 2004 until Celebrity Big Brother in 2007. From the 2007 summer series of until the end of Celebrity Big Brother 2009, guest hosts presented the companion show. McCall presented Big Brother's Big Mouth from 2009 until the end of the Channel 4 broadcasting. In 2010, Brand refused to take part in the final night of Channel 4's broadcast of Big Brother, which sparked anger in fans and producers.[3]
On Eviction Night, Big Brother played crowd noise into the house so that housemates were unable to hear chanting from the real crowd in order to protect the concept of housemates having no contact with the outside world. At the end of the live daily highlights programme, or at the beginning of the second live show, McCall informed the Housemates of the results of the public vote via a live link from just outside the house. McCall addressed the house with the following scripted speech:
"Big Brother house, this is Davina. You are live on Channel 4; please do not swear. (Nominated housemates' names), the lines are closed, the votes have been counted and verified, and I can now reveal that the nth person to be evicted from the Big Brother house is... (Evicted housemate's name). (Evicted housemate's name), it's now time for you to say your goodbyes. I'm coming to get you!"
Originally, housemates were informed of the results at the end of the first show. In series one they were given two hours to pack their suitcases and prepare themselves. In series two they were given an hour and a half and then over the course of the following few series' they were given 30 minutes to prepare themselves for their exit whilst the show went on a break. At the start of the second show, McCall would then speak to the house again and ask the evictee to leave. In later years, results of the public vote were announced at the beginning of the second show giving the evicted housemate just 30 seconds to say their goodbyes and leave the house. On leaving the house, the evicted housemate is then greeted by the live crowd and is taken past a bank of photographers and led to a nearby studio by McCall. The housemate is then interviewed by McCall about their time in the house. During series five, McCall interviewed evicted housemates in front of the crowd for the first few weeks. This proved unpopular with viewers which resulted in the remaining interviews to take place in the studio. From series five onwards, all housemates evicted on the final night were interviewed in front of the crowd with the exception of Celebrity Big Brother 5. All Ultimate Big Brother Housemates were also interviewed in this way when they were evicted.
Occasionally, Big Brother bypassed the prescribed eviction process and removed housemates in a variety of other ways. For example, Big Brother has asked housemates to vote to evict their least favourite nominated housemate, has evicted nominated housemates through the Diary Room without other housemates realising that an eviction had taken place and has evicted multiple housemates at the same time. These twists were more common towards the end of a series.
At the beginning of the Live Final, a small number of housemates remained in the house (anywhere from 3 to 7) after surviving numerous evictions. The public were asked to vote for their favourite surviving housemate to win a cash prize and be crowned the winner of Big Brother. Voting lines were suspended at intervals during the show to reveal runners-up. Housemates finishing lower than third place were evicted without delay and interviewed by McCall. Once the second runner-up had been revealed, the show took a break, before returning half an hour later to allow the third place housemate to be evicted and interviewed. The winner was then announced. The first runner-up then left the house and was interviewed, followed by the winner, who was usually treated to a cheering crowd and a fireworks display before their interview.
After Richard Desmond bought Channel 5, he said he was keen to acquire Big Brother. Meanwhile, Endemol had been granted permission to keep the Big Brother house at the Elstree TV Studios until 30 September 2013.[4]
On 2 April 2011, the Daily Star, a newspaper owned by Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell company, which also owns Channel 5, reported that Big Brother would be returning on Channel 5 in August 2011 with a Celebrity edition, followed by a main edition in September.[5] On 6 April 2011, Channel 5 formally confirmed it has signed a £200 million 2-year contract with Endemol to screen Big Brother from 18 August 2011.[1][2] The host of the new series is Brian Dowling,[6][7] who won the second season of the Channel 4 show. Davina McCall declined the offer to host, having said goodbye to the show last year.[8]
On 3 May 2011[9] Endemol and Channel 5 officially opened the process for people to apply to be on the show. Open auditions for the Channel 5 series were held at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester on 10 June 2011 and 11 June 2011. Auditions were also held in London on 18 June 2011 and 19 June 2011 at the Emirates Stadium. All applicants had to attend the open auditions with identification to be considered for the series and had to be a legal resident of the UK or Ireland aged 18 or over by 31 July to audition for the show.[10] Big Brother 11 winner Josie Gibson took part in filming at the London auditions meeting potential housemates.[11]The spin-off show Big Brother's Bit On The Side was presented by Emma Willis.[7] Channel 5 announced that the 24 hour live feed would not be returning, instead incorporating higher integration of social networking sites like Facebook.[12]
Jeff Brazier and Jenny Frost hosted OK! TV When 'Bruv Takes Over from the compound where viewers gained their first glimpse of the new house on Wednesday 17 August.[13][14] However the show was axed due to low ratings [15]
From 23 July 2011, trailers announcing the imminent return of the series were aired on Channel 5 voiced by Marcus Bentley. Former housemates that featured in one of the trailers included Josie Gibson, Brian Dowling and Sam Pepper. This coincided with the launch of the new eye logo for 2011. In the run-up to Celebrity Big Brother, the channel has heavily featured a promotional campaign under the slogan "When Bruv takes over" based on the David Guetta and Kelly Rowland song When Love Takes Over. It features a large cast of past housemates dancing and miming in the streets, finally meeting up in a park with CGI effects adding a fly-past with coloured smoke overhead. Break-bumpers announcing the series arrived in the week running up to the launch along with a countdown to the launch day voiced by Bentley. Idents based on the Big Brother eye Brian Dowling popping out the iris of a Big Brother Eye have also appeared as the Celebrity version's return looms. Channel 5 also took out commercials on other channels, including ITV 1 promoting the launch of the new series. The launch was also trailed heavily in the printed media, including an advertising blitz in the Desmond-owned newspapers and magazines and posters in town centres.
The Celebrity version launched on Channel 5 on 18 August 2011 with a glitzy new look and a bunch of new housemates including Kerry Katona, Jedward and Sally Bercow. Bercow became the first to leave the house on the first eviction night show. Paddy Doherty won the show with Katona as runner-up and Jedward in 3rd.
14 new public housemates entered the house on 9 September with the series lasting 64 days. The series winner was Aaron Allard-Morgan. Glamour model and actress Pamela Anderson featured as a houseguest on launch night and over the first weekend.
On 10 August, Digital Spy published its first look at the new Big Brother house for the new Channel 5 series in readiness for the first intake of celebrity houseguests. It revealed a colourful, opulent look with a return to the luxury feel of the early Channel 4 series. It features a bar, gym, sauna, an open-plan bathroom with see-through shower, the UK series' largest swimming pool thus far. There is also a large outdoor area and a sophisticated range of designer furnishings and fittings. This makes a radical contrast with the shift to an austere, claustrophobic house seen in the later Channel 4 series.[16] For the main series launched on 9 September 2011, a number of adjustments were made. The decorative scheme changed from fish to forest designs. A beach area was installed for the visit of Pamela Anderson. The bathroom was altered with the shower screen becoming semi-frosted. This allowed for the cameras to gain a partial view of housemates' naked bodies when showering. In the first 2 weeks, most of the male housemates were seen showering naked with a blurred view of their penises and butts appearing on the evening highlights programmes.
The Big Brother 2011 diary room chair is in the style of a luxury club chair in deep red with gold trim.[17] In a break with the convention of sanctions against any contact with the outside world, during visits to the diary room, housemates have been invited to answer trivia questions contributed by Facebook members during the spin-off show, Big Brother's Bit on the Side.
Channel 5 confirmed that 24 hour live free-to-air feed of life in the house would not feature in Celebrity Big Brother or Big Brother 2011. The channel is concentrating on the daily highlights shows, the eviction shows and is instead placing updates and clips of the latest action in the house on the show's dedicated pages on Channel5.com, Facebook and Twitter. Facebook credits are now used in addition to the regular telephone vote.
The main presenters are Brian Dowling and Emma Willis, Dowling will present the main show, which includes live evictions, the live launch and live specials. Willis will present Big Brother's Bit On The Side the official companion show that is aired after the main daily highlights show.
To mark the relaunch, Channel 5's flagship magazine show OK! TV has had a makeover and is now OK! TV: When 'Bruv Takes over. The show is broadcast live from the Big Brother house compound and co-hosted by Jeff Brazier and Jenny Frost. This programme can be likened to Big Brother's Little Brother as it is aired in an early evening slot, live from the house with its finger on the pulse of the events in the house.
Open auditions have been held around the UK and Ireland since Big Brother 5. Before this, auditionees had to send audition tapes to the producers. From the tenth series the people who wanted to audition could also audition on YouTube, where people could record their audition and put it on the Big Brother YouTube channel, although a majority of the people chosen for Stage 2 of the auditions are picked from the open auditions.
Launch Night
On the Launch Night, anywhere from upwards of 10 housemates enter the Big Brother house. In the first two series of Big Brother, the housemates entered the house in the morning, with the launch show premiering the next day. However, starting in the third series, a live launch with Davina McCall was implemented, a format that continued throughout until the show's end on Channel 4. Starting with the first celebrity series, an opening night twist was introduced to make the show more interesting from the start.
Launch Night Twists
| Series | Twist |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2001 | Owing to the fact that the series' length was only 8 days, the celebrity housemates were forced to nominate live on their first day in the house. |
| Big Brother 2001 | Phone lines opened for viewers to select one of three potential housemates to move into the Big Brother House after the first eviction. |
| Big Brother 2002 | Eviction lines opened on launch night for viewers to evict a housemate. The two housemates with the most votes would face a shock eviction just one week into their stay (evictions formerly started two weeks into the programme). The housemates would then decide which of those two would be evicted. |
| Big Brother 2003 | On launch night, just mere moments after moving in, housemates were forced to nominate live based on first impressions. Any housemate that received at least one nomination vote faced eviction. |
| Big Brother 2004 | Housemates did not receive their suitcases on Launch Night, as part of the evil twist. They were then asked to vote the next day for the housemate who they felt was least deserving of their suitcase; this housemate would never receive their suitcase for the duration of their stay. |
| Big Brother 2005 | The twist on Launch Night was "Unlucky 13," in reference to the thirteen housemates who entered the house on opening night. The housemate who entered the Diary Room first was given a secret task to get the most nominations; success would mean immunity from the first eviction and the decision as to who would face eviction instead, but failure would mean automatically being up for eviction. |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2006 | The first housemate to enter the house, Chantelle, was not in fact a celebrity and was set the task was to convince her celebrity housemates that she was actually a genuine celebrity herself – failure would have meant that she would have been evicted on Day 4. She was told to play the character of a pop star from the fictitious girl band "Kandy Floss", and that her biggest 'hit' was "I Want It Right Now". |
| Big Brother 2006 | On Launch Night, housemates were not given their suitcases. In order to retrieve them, they had to be chosen to be a member of a special club called the Big Brotherhood. Membership also meant immunity from the first eviction. Failure to join the club would result in facing the public vote and no suitcase for the entire duration of their stay in the house. |
| Big Brother 2007 | An all-female launch kicked off the eighth series; one male entered the house on Day 3, followed by two more on Day 10. |
| Big Brother 2008 | A real-life couple (Mario Marconi and Lisa Appleton) entered the Big Brother House. After being joined by two other housemates, they were called into the Diary Room and were given a secret task of hiding the real relationship, and faking another one. Success would mean immunity and the other housemates would face eviction, while failure would result in the four facing eviction. They failed the task and faced eviction. |
| Big Brother 2009 | After the sixteen original housemates moved into the house on Launch Night, they were informed that they were non-housemates, and to gain housemate status, they had to perform various tasks. Those who did not succeed in the tasks faced a public vote on Day 4. |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2010 | On launch night, Housemates had five minutes to fit inside a Mini. Any housemate not inside the car was "warned". |
| Big Brother 2010 | Eighty one hopefuls comprising the short list stood outside the Big Brother House on Launch Night, hoping to be a housemate. Big Brother then decided which thirteen would enter the house. A fourteenth housemate was chosen at random, and given a secret task to wreak havoc on the house as a mole. |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2011 | Following the housemates' entrance into the house, Big Brother called one housemate to the Diary Room. The housemate who went to the Diary Room had to take up the offer and in the process had been set a secret task to behave like the biggest celebrity diva. Success meant immunity from the first eviction, whilst failure meant automatic nomination. |
| Big Brother 2011 | A special guest, Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson, entered the house on the night before the launch of Big Brother 2011. Anderson was set a series of tasks that she undertook with the housemates, such as speed dating and having VIP parties. After the tasks Anderson had to choose which housemate she felt performed the best, she was unaware that whoever she chose to win the task granted them immunity from the Week 1's nominations. |
Big Brother
The Housemates can be addressed by Big Brother through a PA system located within the house, and when the Housemates are addressed by Big Brother, it always refers to itself in the third person. Big Brother has several voices and is sexless, although its voices can be either male or female, depending on which member of the production crew is taking on the role at that time. Big Brother is also emotionless and will address Housemates with objectivity, although it is sensitive and empathetic in difficult times for Housemates. At all times, Big Brother's decisions are final.
Suitcases
From Big Brother 2000 to Big Brother 2003 housemates had their suitcases delivered to them the day after they arrive, which contained their own clothes and personal items. Housemates are forbidden from taking reading material (since Series 5), religious books (though leeway is often given), branded items (unless covered), writing material (sometimes even cosmetics that can possibly be used to write), and other contraband items into the House. Suitcases are scrutinized by Big Brother before they are delivered. In the past they have been allowed one luxury item, including musical instruments and alcohol, but these have also been banned. Once suitcases have been unpacked, they are then taken away again. However, in some instances Big Brother will not deliver suitcases as punishment for breaking the rules, or may also use them as a reward for completing tasks set by Big Brother.
Life in the House
Over the duration of the series, the Housemates are given a series of tasks by Big Brother which test them in many ways. They are also put to the test by their own ideals, prejudices and opinions against other people from different walks of life; something that has survived from the original "social experiment" of Big Brother 1. They live in the communal House and share cooking and cleaning chores among themselves, which usually provides plenty of tension. Housemates are forbidden to sleep during daylight hours(unless unwell) - Big Brother plays the wake-up call persistently in the morning if housemates do not wake up and will play an alarm clock noise into the house if a housemate falls asleep during the day. Housemates must also live by the fundamental rules of Big Brother; if the rules are broken it can result in formal warnings, various punishments or even a housemate's removal from the House.
The Diary Room
In the Diary Room, Housemates are allowed to privately tell Big Brother about their issues and worries about other Housemates, as well as ask Big Brother for items for the house. The Diary Room is also used by Big Brother when Big Brother needs to speak to individual Housemates alone for any reason. Some of the Housemates are comfortable enough in the Diary Room to discuss personal feelings, issues and even general personal business not relating to the house. The Diary Room is also the only room in the house not shown on live streaming in order to protect the Housemates' privacy. However, some conversations in the Diary Room will appear in highlights shows, especially if they pertain to an event or situation within the house.
When Housemates request items such as cleaning materials, alcohol or extra cigarettes (at the discretion of Big Brother), they are either delivered via the Diary Room, the storage room or a delivery hatch sometimes located in the main House. Instructions and items for tasks are also delivered via the Diary Room.
In the past, notably in Big Brother 5's 'Fight Night' and Big Brother 9's 'Fight Night II' it was necessary for Big Brother to use the Diary Room as a means of removing aggressive Housemates from potentially violent situations.
The Shopping
Each week Big Brother sets the Housemates a task in order to determine the shopping budget for the following week. They must work together to win the tasks in order to win a luxury shopping budget of £5 per head per day. If they lose, they will only receive a basic shopping budget of £1 per head per day. If all food runs out in the House, Big Brother provides emergency rations of chickpeas and rice. Housemates are responsible for their own shopping and decide which items the budget will allow them to have. Only a small percentage of the overall budget can be spent on alcohol, and Big Brother delivers the alcohol separately in increments as a reward for tasks or a treat after Evictions - this rule was introduced after a number of violent altercations between drunken Housemates in earlier series. Shopping is usually delivered on Thursday afternoon after the remainder of the previous week's food has been removed via the Store Room. Big Brother provides packed lunches for the interim period. However, during Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK), a task was set for Jedward to go to a real supermarket (Lidl) and retrieve the shopping for the housemates.
Nominations
Each week, usually on a Monday, the Housemates are individually called to the Diary Room by Big Brother in alphabetical order, where they must nominate two fellow Housemates for eviction privately.
They must provide full and frank reasons for nominating their chosen Housemates and cannot nominate themselves. Once all Housemates (or all Housemates eligible to nominate) have nominated, the two or more Housemates with the most nominations are then put to the public vote, where the Housemate or Housemates with the most votes are evicted in a live Friday night eviction. The nominations are not revealed to the Housemates by Big Brother until the day after the nominations process, usually a Tuesday, when voting has already begun (except with Big Brother 11, when voting did not begin until after nominations had been revealed, due to the 'Save and Replace' task, which allowed a nominated housemate to replace themselves with another housemate). On a Friday afternoon, nominated Housemates have their suitcases delivered to them so they may pack in anticipation of the evening's eviction.
It is a fundamental rule that Housemates are not allowed to discuss with each other who they have nominated or speculate who they may nominate, and they are banned from discussing who might have nominated the Housemates up for eviction - unless given permission by Big Brother (as in Big Brother 9's Nominations Pod and also in Big Brother 10 after continuous rule breaking, Celebrity Big Brother 2011 - Kerry Katona). If a Housemate has broken any of the fundamental rules regarding nominations, Big Brother will impose a punishment on the Housemate or the entire House.
Each highlight show features the events that happened in the previous day in the house. On the Live Eviction Shows, the housemates are evicted the same day as the results are shown, and the highlight show from the next day will often show their eviction again (without the interview.) The highlights show was originally aired in an 11pm half-hour slot when the first series was launched before being moved to 10pm half-way through. The show retained this 10pm half-hour slot until it was extended to fifty minutes during Big Brother 5 and 6. The seventh series saw the launch of hour-long shows at 9pm. During the Channel 4 era, the show was repeated on E4 later in the day during the afternoon. Friday's half-hour live episode was repeated Saturday mornings on Channel 4's T4 and then repeated Saturday evening on E4 and in the T4 and E4 repeats, housemate entrances and exits were generally edited so that they go dark to light, and also they slow down some of the action. This however can cause severe ghosting in the picture. It is possible this was done to lower the risk of flashing cameras to people who sufferer from photosensitive epilepsy, even though Channel 4 does not broadcast with low brightness. Since then the scheduling had been erratic, with 10pm highlights shows extended to seventy minutes and 8pm, 9pm and 9.30pm shows kept to one hour. Each night's show was repeated the next morning on Channel 4, during their breakfast schedule.
The Channel 5 highlights show is generally shown at 10pm, with the Friday night eviction at 9pm, followed by the live eviction show and interview at 11pm. Through the week, the highlights show is repeated at 12.15pm on Channel 5, followed by another repeat on 5* at 4pm. Times vary for the weekend repeats.
In all cases, the repeat showing is a repeat of the previous evening's show that is slightly censored in compliance with the pre-watershed broadcasting regulations.
Channel 4 had made available live pictures and audio from the Big Brother House. However, approximately a 10-minute delay was in place so that audio and/or pictures could be censored to comply with TV regulations. This was also obvious when housemates discussed the time in the Big Brother House and when they did so the time was commonly 10–15 minutes behind than the time of viewing.
During Series 5 in 2004, the live transmission from the house was cut for about an hour after a large fight involving most of the housemates broke out one night. Security guards had to be sent in to calm the situation down before live transmission from the house resumed.
From Big Brother 9, the live Internet streaming was axed due to small uptake of subscriptions in past series.
Channel 5 decided not to bring the live feed back for Celebrity Big Brother 2011 or Big Brother 2011.[18]
A new spin-off show, named Celebrity Big Brother: Live From The House, is listed to be broadcast after every eviction show of Celebrity Big Brother 2012, at 10pm on sister channel 5*.[19] The show itself is likely to feature 'live' streaming from the Big Brother House.
For the first two series, the house was located in Bow, London near to the 3 Mills Studios.[20] After planning permission expired in 2002, Newham London Borough Council ordered the complex to be returned to a natural habitat. The house has been located at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire since Big Brother 3 in 2002.
The house is currently built behind the studios on the site of a large water tank previously used in the production of various films in the past and is overlooked by the studio offices. The house has substantial security in place including fencing, security patrols and dog units to protect the premise of "no contact from the outside world". However people could previously shout to the housemates in the garden via a road located near the house, once Channel 5 took over the show in 2011 they added a sound-proof fence around the house meant to prevent all noise from the outside world entering the house.[21] Whenever such incidents occur, Big Brother will ban the housemates from using the garden and ensure that they are locked in the house to prevent them from hearing what is being shouted. It has been reported that the Big Brother house has higher and better levels of security than Buckingham Palace, after the lobbyist group Fathers 4 Justice gained entry to Buckingham Palace in 2004, but a similar effort to raid the Big Brother House was foiled days later.
The interior design of the house changes each year to suit the theme of the series. For example, the Big Brother 5 house was claustrophobic, with harsh colour schemes to reflect the Evil Big Brother theme, while Big Brother 8 had an "Inside Out" theme with kitchen appliances, washing facilities and dining areas located in the wrong rooms or areas of the House. The Celebrity Big Brother 2010 theme was "Hell lies in others," so aspects of the house revolved around that theme, with red furniture, skulls, and clowns.
The house is situated just metres from The George Lucas Stage where the studio of spin-off shows Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth were located, as well as the eviction studio where evicted housemates are interviewed.
Series 3 of Big Brother introduced the Saturday night "Big Brother: Live Task", which would determine on which side of the Rich/Poor divide individual Housemates would live for the forthcoming week. The Live Tasks were continued throughout Big Brother 4, with winners treated to a hidden "Reward Room" for the evening. Live Saturday evening Tasks were discontinued during Series 5. In the penultimate week of Series 9 there was a live task. Housemates had to nominate face to face using cue cards. The two Housemates nominated then went on to play a game where they could win £50,000. The final series on Channel 4 featured several live tasks that took place during the second eviction show; they were often shopping tasks. Live tasks have not featured in the new Channel 5 series.
The Big Brother logo is an eye that indicates that Big Brother is ‘always watching you’. The first UK series used a live human eye, in particular, that of Big Brother 2000 contestant Melanie Hill. Since Big Brother 2 the logo of every Channel 4 UK series was designed by Daniel Eatock. Since Big Brother 5, the title sequence has left out the title. Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was the first series since the first to use a real eye, and also the first celebrity series not to base its logo on the previous summer's series. The final series of Big Brother used a design with flowers and petals.
The first UK series to be shown on Channel 5 used an eye designed by in-house design house Hello Charlie. This comprises a pared-down, cartoon-like elliptical eye with a colourful iris. The middle of the eye "swipes" to reveal the Channel 5 logo in keeping with the current idents. On the launch night, the logo came to life as a 3D futuristic eye with a planet-like iris and lots of colour and movement.
The theme tune was written and produced by Element Four, a collaboration between Paul Oakenfold and Andy Gray. It was released as a single in September 2000 and got to Number Four in the UK Singles Chart. Two versions of the tune were used for the opening titles. The original tune was used from 2000 to 2004. A newer version of the tune is currently in use since 2005. However, the original version continues to be in use for the intro to the show and some promos for eviction night. A Christmas remix of the theme tune was used for Big Brother Panto in 2004. Two promo variations of the theme were recorded during Channel 4's final year of the show, a symphonic version for Celebrity Big Brother, and a carnival style theme for the funeral promo before Big Brother 2010. Whilst the symphonic version was never used for the series main, the carnival version was used for Ultimate Big Brother, played out at the end of the final episode on Channel 4. It was played by a live band.
Series 1 to 6 of Big Brother (2000–2005) and the four corresponding series of Celebrity Big Brother (except the Big Brother Panto) were among the very few newly made programmes on mainstream British terrestrial television that were broadcast in the old (narrow) 4:3 aspect ratio instead of the by then more common 16:9 widescreen format. From Series 7 (2006) the 16:9 format was adopted.
In 2011, Big Brother began broadcasting in HD after its move to Channel 5.
Big Brother is highly publicised in the UK: most tabloid newspapers and gossip magazines cover the series. The show has also made headlines on television news channels. After leaving the house housemates usually remain newsworthy for only a short time. Endemol gives housemates a choice of agents when leaving the House. Some have gone on to have their own reality TV shows, perfumes, DVDs, singles, columns and more; some appear in magazines, newspapers, radio stations, and television programmes; they may attend film premieres and other red carpet events. For most, fame generally declines shortly after the series finale.
Ex-housemates who remained in the public eye include Jade Goody, who died in 2009; Brian Dowling, who does television presenting and voiceover work; Kate Lawler, who worked as a television presenter on Channel 4 programme RI:SE, and as of 2010[update] was a presenter for Kerrang Radio; Chanelle Hayes, who released her own single, launched her own perfume, had a part in another reality show and had 2008's third-best selling calendar ; Jon Tickle, who went on to present 6 series of the Sky 1 show Brainiac: Science Abuse; and Alison Hammond, who as of 2010[update] was a presenter on ITV1's This Morning.
A number of books have been written about Big Brother, including books about the show itself such as Big Brother: The Inside Story By Narinder Kaur (ISBN 978-0-7535-1294-4) and Big Brother: The Official Unseen Story By Jean Ritchie (ISBN 978-0-7522-1912-7), and books about the psychology of the show, such as The Psychology of Big Brother by Dan Jones (ISBN 978-1-4092-2825-7) and Visible Thought: The New Psychology of Body Language by Geoffrey Beattie (ISBN 978-0-415-30810-6).
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average[22] | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Brother 2000 | 14 July 2000 | 15 September 2000 | 64 | 11 | Craig Phillips | 4.5 million | 52 |
| Big Brother 2001 | 25 May 2001 | 27 July 2001 | 11 | Brian Dowling | 4.5 million | 55 | |
| Big Brother 2002 | 24 May 2002 | 26 July 2002 | 14 | Kate Lawler | 5.8 million | 72 | |
| Big Brother 2003 | 23 May 2003 | 25 July 2003 | 14 | Cameron Stout | 4.6 million | 73 | |
| Big Brother 2004 | 28 May 2004 | 6 August 2004 | 71 | 13 | Nadia Almada | 5.1 million | 82 |
| Big Brother 2005 | 27 May 2005 | 12 August 2005 | 78 | 16 | Anthony Hutton | 4.6 million | 90 |
| Big Brother 2006 | 18 May 2006 | 18 August 2006 | 93 | 22 | Pete Bennett | 4.7 million | 107 |
| Big Brother 2007 | 30 May 2007 | 31 August 2007 | 94 | 23 | Brian Belo | 3.9 million | 96 |
| Big Brother 2008 | 5 June 2008 | 5 September 2008 | 93 | 21 | Rachel Rice | 3.6 million | 108 |
| Big Brother 2009 | 4 June 2009 | 4 September 2009 | 22 | Sophie Reade | 2.5 million | 108 | |
| Big Brother 2010 | 9 June 2010 | 24 August 2010 | 77 | 21 | Josie Gibson | 3.1 million | 87 |
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average[22] | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Big Brother 2001 | 9 March 2001 | 16 March 2001 | 8 | 6 | Jack Dee | 5.2 million | 8 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2002 | 20 November 2002 | 29 November 2002 | 10 | 6 | Mark Owen | 4.4 million | 12 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2005 | 6 January 2005 | 23 January 2005 | 18 | 9 | Mark "Bez" Berry | 4.3 million | 19 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2006 | 5 January 2006 | 27 January 2006 | 23 | 11 | Chantelle Houghton | 4.9 million | 26 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2007 | 3 January 2007 | 28 January 2007 | 26 | 14 | Shilpa Shetty | 4.6 million | 30 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2009 | 2 January 2009 | 23 January 2009 | 22 | 11 | Ulrika Jonsson | 3.3 million | 28 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2010 | 3 January 2010 | 29 January 2010 | 27 | 12 | Alex Reid | 3.7 million | 32 |
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Channel | Series average[22] | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teen Big Brother | 13 October 2003 | 17 October 2003 | 10 | 8 | Paul Brennan | Channel 4 | N/A | 5 |
| Big Brother Panto | 20 December 2004 | 5 January 2005 | 11 | 10 | none | E4 | N/A | 12 |
| Celebrity Hijack | 3 January 2008 | 28 January 2008 | 26 | 12 | John Loughton | 0.7 million | 26 | |
| Ultimate Big Brother | 24 August 2010 | 10 September 2010 | 18 | 14 | Brian Dowling | Channel 4 | 3.2 million | 23 |
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Brother 2011 | 9 September 2011 | 11 November 2011 | 64 | 15 | Aaron Allard-Morgan | 1.6 Million | 71 |
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Big Brother 2011 | 18 August 2011 | 8 September 2011 | 22 | 10 | Paddy Doherty | 2.8 million | 23 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2012 | 5 January 2012[23] | 27 January 2012[24] | 23 | 12 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Series | Sponsor | Slogan | Notes | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Brother 1 | Southern Comfort | N/A | 2000 | |
| Celebrity Big Brother 1 | N/A | 2001 | ||
| Big Brother 2 | BT Cellnet | It's The Buzz | ||
| Big Brother 3 | O2 | Get Connected | See note 1 | 2002 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2 | ||||
| Big Brother 4 | 2003 | |||
| Teen Big Brother | ||||
| Big Brother 5 | TalkTalk | Get Together | 2004 | |
| Big Brother Panto | 2004-05 | |||
| Celebrity Big Brother 3 | 2005 | |||
| Big Brother 6 | ||||
| Celebrity Big Brother 4 | The Carphone Warehouse | Get Star Treatment | See note 2 | 2006 |
| Big Brother 7 | Get Together | |||
| Celebrity Big Brother 5 | Get Star Treatment | See note 3 | 2007 | |
| Big Brother 8 | Virgin Media | For a Happy House | See note 4 | |
| Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack | Virgin Mobile | See note 5 | 2008 | |
| Big Brother 9 | ||||
| Celebrity Big Brother 6 | Dreams | Britain’s leading Bed Specialist | See note 6 | 2009 |
| Big Brother 10 | Lucozade Energy | Little Brother vs. Big Brother | ||
| Celebrity Big Brother 7 | Dreams | Everything For a Great Night's Sleep | 2010 | |
| Big Brother 11 | Freederm | Skincare for Spot-prone skin | ||
| Ultimate Big Brother | ||||
| Celebrity Big Brother 8 | Well worth a closer look | 2011 | ||
| Big Brother 12 | ||||
| Celebrity Big Brother 9 | Plusnet[25] | 2012 |
Originally created as a one-off tie-in series by Channel 4 in association with the BBC's Comic Relief charity telethon, Celebrity Big Brother is now a full spin-off of Big Brother UK, formerly shown on Channel 4, S4C and Internet live streaming and downloading, backed up with email and SMS text news reports to subscribers. The Channel 4 series was broadcast in January, whilst the re-booted version on Channel 5 will now begin every autumn whilst they have the rights to the show. The series features a number of celebrity contestants living in the Big Brother House, trying to avoid eviction by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize to be donated to the winner's nominated charity at the end of the run. The show uses the same house and presenters as the non-celebrity version of the most recent series, but the time length is shorter than a normal Big Brother UK series. The celebrities are normally paid for their appearances, on the proviso that they don't voluntarily leave.
The first Celebrity Big Brother was aired nightly on Channel 4 with the finale broadcast live on BBC One on Comic Relief night in 2001. Subsequent Celebrity Big Brothers have not involved the BBC or Comic Relief in any way, and the charities involved are given far less publicity than in the first series.
The series took a break for Teen Big Brother, which was shown in 2003 and given a revised repeat in 2004, between 2005 and 2007 it was a regular part of Channel 4's winter schedule until in 2008 it was withdrawn due to the previous series' race row and replaced by Celebrity Hijack, the series then returned in 2009 and 2010 for the final time on Channel 4.
The programme returned on 18 August 2011, on Channel 5 with its eighth series. Celebrity Big Brother will return to Channel 5 on 5 January 2012 for its ninth series.
Ultimate Big Brother started on August 24, 2010 immediately following the finale of Big Brother 2010 and ended on September 10, 2010, lasting for 18 days. The series was created as a final 'send off' to Big Brother as it was the final series to be shown on Channel 4. Hosted by Davina McCall, the special edition consisted of the winner of Big Brother 2010 and several housemates from both Celebrity Big Brother and the regular series of Big Brother. As a result, Brian Dowling triumphed and was crowned winner of Ultimate Big Brother with 49.2 % of the public vote. The runner-up was Nikki and third place was awarded to Chantelle.
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was a spin off series that was broadcast on E4 in January 2008. It was hosted by Dermot O'Leary,[28] which was his final Big Brother series, and narrated by Marcus Bentley.[29] Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was launched on 3 January both on Channel 4 and E4. After the launch, all Big Brother programmes were only shown on E4. The series was a twist on the Celebrity Big Brother format. Instead of the celebrities playing the role of Housemates, the celebrities became Big Brother itself.
Teen Big Brother was a special version of Big Brother, where eight 18 year olds lived in the Big Brother House for ten days. The series was aired in October 2003 on Channel 4 and E4 where it was presented by BBLB host Dermot O'Leary and narrated by Marcus Bentley. Unlike all other Big Brother series, Teen Big Brother was pre-recorded and shown some months after the contestants had left the house. During the series' broadcast, it was involved in a scandal over two of the Housemates having sex on television.
E4 and T4 broadcast the special Big Brother Panto series, bringing together ten members of the various Big Brother series to perform a pantomime of Cinderella. It was presented by Jeff Brazier and June Sarpong and narrated by Marcus Bentley. It was broadcast from 20 December 2004 to 5 January 2005.
In the UK, Big Brother has been satirised and spoofed by many comedians including Alan Carr, Justin Lee Collins and Ricky Gervais. Big Brother has also been lampooned on programmes such as The Friday Night Project, the Doctor Who episode "Bad Wolf", and Extras.
Ben Elton's Dead Famous, published in 2001, is a humorous murder mystery novel based in a Big-Brother-like setting.
In July 2008 Revels chocolates started a Big Brother-style eviction campaign where one flavour from the bag would be replaced by a special limited edition flavour not yet announced, with voting on a website. The most-disliked flavour was coffee, with nearly half the votes cast. Raisin received around 25%, with the remaining votes spread fairly evenly among the other flavours; the coffee flavour was replaced by strawberry.
In October 2008, E4 aired Dead Set, a five-part horror series written by Charlie Brooker, and set during a fictional series of Big Brother. It features a zombie outbreak decimating the population of Britain, forcing the housemates and some of the production staff to seek shelter in the Big Brother House, which has seemingly become one of the only safe places left in Britain. The show features a selection of previous Big Brother housemates and host Davina McCall playing themselves. A few of the cast, including McCall, also played cameos as zombies.[30]
Since its beginning in 2000, the concept and implementation of Big Brother has been the subject of controversy and criticism among the British public and media. There have been various investigations by numerous organisations, including TV watchdogs and the police.
| Year | Award Show | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | British Academy Television Awards | Innovation Award | Big Brother 1 | Won |
| National Television Awards 2001 | Most Popular Factual Programme | Big Brother 2 | Won | |
| 2002 | National Television Awards 2002 | Most Popular Factual Programme | Big Brother 3 | Won |
| National Television Awards 2002 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall | Nominated | |
| 2003 | National Television Awards 2003 | Most Popular Factual Programme | Big Brother 4 | Nominated |
| National Television Awards 2003 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall | Nominated | |
| 2004 | National Television Awards 2004 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Big Brother 5 | Won |
| National Television Awards 2004 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall | Nominated | |
| National Television Awards 2004 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Dermot O'Leary | Nominated | |
| 2005 | National Television Awards 2005 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Big Brother 6 | Won |
| National Television Awards 2005 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall | Nominated | |
| 2006 | National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Big Brother 7 | Won |
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Celebrity Big Brother 4 | Nominated | |
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular TV Contender | Nikki Grahame | Won | |
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular TV Contender | Pete Bennett | Nominated | |
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular TV Contender | Chantelle Houghton | Nominated | |
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall | Nominated | |
| 2007 | British Academy Television Awards | Pioneer Audience Award | Celebrity Big Brother 5 | Nominated |
| National Television Awards 2007 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 8 | Nominated | |
| 2008 | National Television Awards 2008 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 9 | Nominated |
| 2009 | Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Sexiest Male | Stuart Pilkington | Nominated |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Sexiest Male | Dale Howard | Won | |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Love To Hate Award | Rex Newmark | Won | |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Best Reality TV Moment | Luke Marsden and Rebeeca Shiner kiss | Nominated | |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Most Memorable Moment | Mohamed and Kathreya | Nominated | |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Best Host | Davina McCall | Won | |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Best Reality Show | Big Brother 9 | Nominated | |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 | Reality TV Legend Award | Davina McCall | Won | |
| 2010 | National Television Awards 2010 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 10 | Nominated |
| 2011 | National Television Awards 2011 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall | Nominated |
| National Television Awards 2011 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 11 | Nominated | |
| 2012 | National Television Awards 2012 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Celebrity Big Brother 8 | Nominated |
On 26 August 2009, Channel 4 announced it would not renew its contract with the show's makers Endemol to broadcast Big Brother after its contract expired in 2010. Therefore Celebrity Big Brother 2010 aired in January 2010 and Big Brother 2010 aired between June and September 2010 (Including the spin-off Ultimate Big Brother) would be the last to be shown on the channel. Channel 4's director of television Kevin Lygo said the show "had reached a natural end point on Channel 4 and it's time to move on" and the decision to axe the show was mostly a "creative one, but the falling viewing ratings were a factor".[31] On 10 September 2010, Channel 4 aired its last episode of Big Brother and ended the show with the words "Big Brother will get back to you", sparking rumours that the show, one day, would return.[32]
On 25 August 2010, it was announced that Richard Desmond had begun talks with Endemol to move Big Brother to Channel 5 from 2011. On 6 April 2011, Channel 5 confirmed it had signed a two year contract for Big Brother's return from 18 August 2011. From 21 May 2011 to 20 June 2011, later extended to 11 July 2011, the Daily Star and OK! Magazine held a "Golden Ticket" competition to win a place in the Big Brother house.[33] Big Brother producers Endemol have been granted permission to keep the Big Brother house at the Elstree TV Studios where it currently is until 30 September 2013.[4]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||