.gif)
Big Brother (UK)
Encyclopedia
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. The first series to be broadcast on the channel was the newly re-launched Celebrity Big Brother 2011
which was then followed immediately 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 in January 2012.
Veteran Big Brother UK housemate, a winner of Big Brother UK and Ultimate Big Brother, TV host Brian Dowling
presents the weekly main eviction show. 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.
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.
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.
. 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.
"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, Davina interviewd 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.
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.
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. 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.
The host of the new series is Brian Dowling
, 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.
On 3 May 2011 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. Big Brother 11
winner Josie Gibson
took part in filming at the London
auditions meeting potential housemates.The spin-off show Big Brother's Bit On The Side was presented by Emma Willis
. Channel 5 announced that the 24 hour live feed would not be returning, instead incorporating higher integration of social networking sites like Facebook
.
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. However the show was axed due to low ratings
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.
, 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.
featured as a houseguest on launch night and over the first weekend.
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. 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.
members during the spin-off show, Big Brother's Bit on the Side.
and Twitter
. Facebook credits are now used in addition to the regular telephone vote.
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.
, 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.
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
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.
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.
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 has decided not to bring the live feed back for Celebrity Big Brother 2011 or Big Brother 2011.
near to the 3 Mills Studios. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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).
BT Cellnet changed its name to O2, the sponsor is therefore the same as the previous seriesThe Carphone Warehouse is the parent company of TalkTalk, the previous sponsor. They also had a deal of £2.5m-a-year to sponsor the Big Brother franchiseDue to the race row the sponsorship was cut off half way through the seriesThe cost of this sponsorship was £2.5 MillionAlthough the change of the name of the sponsor, it is still the same company and the same sponsor adverts were usedThe cost of this sponsorship was £800,000
'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 in 2012 for its ninth series.
was a spin off series that was broadcast on E4 in January 2008. It was hosted by Dermot O'Leary, which was his final Big Brother series, and narrated by Marcus Bentley. 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.
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.
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.
, 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.
, 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.
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". 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.
bought Channel 5, he said he was very keen to acquire Big Brother. On 30 June 2010, it was announced that Endemol will be discussing a new slate of shows with Channel 5.
On 25 August 2010, it was announced that Richard Desmond
had begun talks with Endemol
to move Big Brother with its spin-offs to Channel 5 from 2011 and beyond, However, on 28 September 2010, discussions between Richard Desmond
and Endemol
UK over acquiring the rights to Big Brother were understood to have stalled and yet to be finalised, with the Channel 5 owner rumoured to be looking at alternatives including a new reality format from the hit show's co-creators John De Mol and Frans Verlaan.
On 29 January 2011, industry insiders at Broadcast Now revealed that talks to bring Big Brother to Channel 5 are at "an advanced stage". The publication claims that the agreement could tie Big Brother to the broadcaster for as long as five years, though this could be reduced if performance targets are missed. The new owner of Channel 5 is believed to be interested in relaunching Celebrity Big Brother and extending the main programme's run past the traditional 13-week mark.
On 31 March 2011, it was revealed that Channel 5 were in fact looking for a presenter to host the next series of Big Brother. The series is said to be launching as early as 18 August 2011 as a 3 week Celebrity version, followed by another in January 2012 and then from June 2012 the normal editions of Big Brother will re-launch. This is said to be under a £200million contract over 5 years from 2012, extending the programme until 2017.
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 is returning on Channel 5 on 18 August 2011 with a Celebrity edition and a main edition following in September. It claimed a five year contract is set to be signed extending the series for 5 years from 2012, with Big Brother being run in the Summer and Celebrity Big Brother being run in January
On 6 April 2011, Channel 5 confirmed it had signed a two year contract for Big Brother's return from 18 August 2011. The series will start with a celebrity version in August, with a normal version starting afterwards. Jeff Ford (Channel 5's Director of Programmes) stated that “we’re hugely excited to have secured the return of Big Brother for Channel 5 which will form a key part of this year’s schedule. The series has previously captivated a decade of television viewers and we aim to bring Channel 5’s energy, optimism and vibrancy to the series.”
On 26 April 2011, Channel 5 confirmed that the Big Brother Eye logo will remain on the new series, however, the famous theme tune may not survive. Endemol UK are yet to reveal whether the Paul Oakenfold and Andy Gray - composed music will return to accompany the show when it returns on Channel 5 in the summer.
A spokesman for the programme told the Daily Star: 'Big Brother will return this summer but expect lots of changes. All we can say is – 'watch this space'.
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.
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.
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
. After a decade on air, having left its first home on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
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
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
to screen the show. The first series to be broadcast on the channel was the newly re-launched Celebrity Big Brother 2011
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother...
which was then followed immediately by Big Brother 2011
Big Brother 2011 (UK)
Big Brother 2011 was the twelfth series of the British reality television series of Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 5 for the first time since the show's transfer from Channel 4. It launched on the night of Friday 9 September 2011 with an hour and a half long special launch show, the day...
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 in January 2012.
Veteran Big Brother UK housemate, a winner of Big Brother UK and Ultimate Big Brother, TV host Brian Dowling
Brian Dowling
Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate...
presents the weekly main eviction show. Emma Willis
Emma Willis
Emma Willis is a British television presenter of such shows as Big Brother's Little Brother for its final series in 2010 and co-presenter of the now defunct Live From Studio Five the same year....
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
Alice Levine
Alice Levine is an English television presenter from Nottingham. She currently works for MTV and co-hosts Big Brother's Bit on the Side with Jamie East on Saturday and Sunday; and has worked on Pop Up Pop Quiz and Celebrity Bites. Levine was voted "Best On-Screen Female" at the National Student...
as reporters.
History
The series was first broadcast on Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and E4
E4
E4, E.IV or E-4 may refer to:In entertainment:* E4 , a digital television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland* Every Extend Extra Extreme a video game from Q Entertainment* Entertainment for All video game expo...
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.
Overview
Big Brother is a game showGame show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
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.
Channel 4 series (2000-2010)
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 BentleyMarcus Bentley
Marcus Bentley is a British actor, broadcaster and voice-over artist. Born in Gateshead, he was brought up in Stockton on Tees and attended East 15 Acting School in Essex....
. Bentley also narrated for the Live Eviction and Live Finale shows.
Davina McCall
Davina McCall
Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :...
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
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was an E4 temporary replacement to Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off series of the British reality television programme Big Brother, airing on E4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on the same channel...
, Teen Big Brother
Teen Big Brother
Teen Big Brother may refer to:* Teen Big Brother UK* Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition...
and Big Brother Panto
Big Brother Panto
Big Brother Panto is a special series of Big Brother that brought together ten housemates from previous Big Brothers to produce the pantomime Cinderella. It aired from 20 December 2004 to 5 January 2005 on the Channel 4 network....
.
Beginning in 2001, Dermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary is an English television and radio presenter. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2...
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
George Lamb (presenter)
George Martin Lamb is a Scottish-born British radio and TV presenter. He is the son of actor Larry Lamb.-Career:Lamb's radio career peaked with presenting his own daytime show on BBC Radio 6 Music for two years from October 2007 to November 2009, before being moved the early weekend mornings for 6...
and Zezi Ifore
Zezi Ifore
Zezi Ifore , is an English DJ, dancer, television presenter, magazine editor and fashion designer of African descent.-Early life:...
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
Emma Willis
Emma Willis is a British television presenter of such shows as Big Brother's Little Brother for its final series in 2010 and co-presenter of the now defunct Live From Studio Five the same year....
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
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinians...
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.
Live Eviction
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, Davina interviewd 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.
Live Final and the Winner
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.History
After Richard DesmondRichard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
bought Channel 5, he said he was keen to acquire Big Brother. Meanwhile, Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
had been granted permission to keep the Big Brother house at the Elstree TV Studios until 30 September 2013.
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. On 6 April 2011, Channel 5 formally confirmed it has signed a £200 million 2-year contract with Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
to screen Big Brother from 18 August 2011.
The host of the new series is Brian Dowling
Brian Dowling
Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate...
, who won the second season of the Channel 4 show. Davina McCall
Davina McCall
Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :...
declined the offer to host, having said goodbye to the show last year.
On 3 May 2011 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
Old Trafford
Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
stadium in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
on 10 June 2011 and 11 June 2011. Auditions were also held in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 18 June 2011 and 19 June 2011 at the Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
. 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
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
aged 18 or over by 31 July to audition for the show. Big Brother 11
Big Brother 2010 (UK)
Big Brother 2010 was the eleventh regular series of the British reality television series, Big Brother and the final series to be broadcast on Channel 4. The series was launched on Wednesday 9 June 2010, and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 77 days with the finale on 24 August 2010, where Josie...
winner Josie Gibson
Josie Gibson
Josie Diane Shirley Gibson is a British media personality, and former financial sales rep from Bristol. She rose to prominence after winning Big Brother 2010, and entered Ultimate Big Brother...
took part in filming at the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
auditions meeting potential housemates.The spin-off show Big Brother's Bit On The Side was presented by Emma Willis
Emma Willis
Emma Willis is a British television presenter of such shows as Big Brother's Little Brother for its final series in 2010 and co-presenter of the now defunct Live From Studio Five the same year....
. Channel 5 announced that the 24 hour live feed would not be returning, instead incorporating higher integration of social networking sites like Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
Jeff Brazier
Jeff Brazier
Jeffrey Carl Brazier is a British television presenter and reality TV star. Before becoming a television personality, he was a footballer on the books of Leyton Orient for three years, although he never played for the first team and quit the game due to injury.-Career:In 2001, Brazier took part in...
and Jenny Frost
Jenny Frost
Jennifer "Jenny" Frost is an English singer, dancer, television presenter and model. She was a member of girl group Precious before replacing Kerry Katona in chart topping band Atomic Kitten from 2001 until they split in 2008. Frost presented makeunder show Snog Marry Avoid? from 2008 to 2011...
hosted OK! TV
OK! TV
OK! TV is an early evening magazine programme, broadcast on Channel 5 as a brand extension of celebrity title OK! Magazine. It replaced Live from Studio Five on 14 February 2011, and was presented by Kate Walsh and Matt Johnson, both of which have since left the programme. Jeff Brazier and Jenny...
When 'Bruv Takes Over from the compound where viewers gained their first glimpse of the new house on Wednesday 17 August. However the show was axed due to low ratings
Trailers
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 GuettaDavid Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...
and Kelly Rowland
Kelly Rowland
Kelendria Trene "Kelly" Rowland is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, and television personality. She rose to fame as one of the founding members of the American girl group Destiny's Child...
song When Love Takes Over
When Love Takes Over
"When Love Takes Over" is a song by French disc jockey -music producer David Guetta from his fourth studio album, One Love. It was released as the lead single from the album on 21 April 2009 by Virgin Records...
. 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.
Celebrity housemates
The Celebrity version launched on Channel 5 on 18 August 2011 with a glitzy new look and a bunch of new housemates including Kerry KatonaKerry Katona
Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona is an English media personality and singer best known for her television work, predominantly in light entertainment and reality shows. She has also been a pop singer with girl group Atomic Kitten, a magazine columnist, an actress, and the author of ghostwritten books...
, Jedward
Jedward
John Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes and Edward Peter Anthony Kevin Patrick Grimes are an Irish hip pop duo. They are identical twins and perform under the name Jedward...
and Sally Bercow
Sally Bercow
Sally Bercow is the wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. She was a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother and was evicted from the house on 26 August 2011.-Early life:...
. Bercow became the first to leave the house on the first eviction night show. Paddy Doherty
Paddy Doherty
Patrick Doherty is a former activist in Derry, Northern Ireland.As vice-chairman of the Derry Citizens Defence Association Doherty played a major role in the events of August 1969 which culminated in the Battle of the Bogside, and was a leading figure in Free Derry in the years following its...
won the show with Katona as runner-up and Jedward in 3rd.
Housemates
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 AndersonPamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990...
featured as a houseguest on launch night and over the first weekend.
The New House
On 10 August, Digital SpyDigital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
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. 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
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990...
. 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 Diary Room
The Big Brother 2011 diary room chair is in the style of a luxury club chair in deep red with gold trim. 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 FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
members during the spin-off show, Big Brother's Bit on the Side.
Web and social media 2011
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, FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Facebook credits are now used in addition to the regular telephone vote.
Presenters
The main presenters are Brian DowlingBrian Dowling
Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate...
and Emma Willis
Emma Willis
Emma Willis is a British television presenter of such shows as Big Brother's Little Brother for its final series in 2010 and co-presenter of the now defunct Live From Studio Five the same year....
, 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
Channel 5
-In the Americas:*Channel 5 – Rosario, Argentine television station, founded in 1964, which broadcasts from the city of Rosario*Great Belize Television, Belize television station, known as "Channel 5", founded in 1991 and broadcasting from Belize City...
's flagship magazine show OK! TV
OK! TV
OK! TV is an early evening magazine programme, broadcast on Channel 5 as a brand extension of celebrity title OK! Magazine. It replaced Live from Studio Five on 14 February 2011, and was presented by Kate Walsh and Matt Johnson, both of which have since left the programme. Jeff Brazier and Jenny...
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
Jeff Brazier
Jeffrey Carl Brazier is a British television presenter and reality TV star. Before becoming a television personality, he was a footballer on the books of Leyton Orient for three years, although he never played for the first team and quit the game due to injury.-Career:In 2001, Brazier took part in...
and Jenny Frost
Jenny Frost
Jennifer "Jenny" Frost is an English singer, dancer, television presenter and model. She was a member of girl group Precious before replacing Kerry Katona in chart topping band Atomic Kitten from 2001 until they split in 2008. Frost presented makeunder show Snog Marry Avoid? from 2008 to 2011...
. 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.
Auditions
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 YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, 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.
Format
Launch NightOn 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 Big Brother 2002 (UK) Big Brother 3 was the third series of Big Brother UK. The series started on 24 May 2002, ending on 26 July 2002 and the final of this series drew 10.0 million viewers. Votes in the final week totalled 8.6 million... |
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 Chantelle Houghton Chantelle Vivien Houghton is an English glamour model and television personality. She was the first 'non-celebrity' to feature in the Channel 4 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.... , 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 Big Brother 2007 (UK) Big Brother 2007 was the eighth series of the United Kingdom reality television programme Big Brother, airing on Channel 4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on E4.... |
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 Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
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 Big Brother 2009 (UK) Big Brother 2009, occasionally referred to as Big Brother 10, was the tenth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. It began on 4 June 2009 and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 93 days, concluding on 4 September when Sophie "Dogface" Reade was crowned the winner with 74.4% of... |
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 Celebrity Big Brother 2010 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was the seventh and final series of Celebrity Big Brother to air on Channel 4 and E4. It began on Sunday 3 January 2010 and aired for 27 days until the final on 29 January 2010, the longest ever celebrity series in the UK... |
On launch night, Housemates had five minutes to fit inside a Mini. Any housemate not inside the car was "warned". |
| Big Brother 2010 Big Brother 2010 (UK) Big Brother 2010 was the eleventh regular series of the British reality television series, Big Brother and the final series to be broadcast on Channel 4. The series was launched on Wednesday 9 June 2010, and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 77 days with the finale on 24 August 2010, where Josie... |
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 Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother... |
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 Big Brother 2011 (UK) Big Brother 2011 was the twelfth series of the British reality television series of Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 5 for the first time since the show's transfer from Channel 4. It launched on the night of Friday 9 September 2011 with an hour and a half long special launch show, the day... |
A special guest, Baywatch Baywatch Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production... actress Pamela Anderson Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990... , 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 Speed dating Speed dating is a formalized matchmaking process or dating system whose purpose is to encourage people to meet a large number of new people. Its origins are credited to Rabbi Yaacov Deyo of Aish HaTorah, originally as a way to help Jewish singles meet and marry. "SpeedDating", as a single word, is... 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)
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother...
, a task was set for Jedward
Jedward
John Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes and Edward Peter Anthony Kevin Patrick Grimes are an Irish hip pop duo. They are identical twins and perform under the name Jedward...
to go to a real supermarket (Lidl
Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...
) 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
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother...
- Kerry Katona
Kerry Katona
Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona is an English media personality and singer best known for her television work, predominantly in light entertainment and reality shows. She has also been a pop singer with girl group Atomic Kitten, a magazine columnist, an actress, and the author of ghostwritten books...
). 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.
Schedule
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
T4 (Channel 4)
T4 is a scheduling slot on Channel 4 from about 09:00 until 14:00 on Saturdays and 17:00 on Sundays. It also airs on weekdays in the school holidays. The slot has a separate station identification on screen graphic from Channel 4 and E4. The logo of T4 is noticeably the top right segment of the...
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
Ghosting (television)
In television, a ghost is a replica of the transmitted image, offset in position, that is super-imposed on top of the main image on an analogue broadcast.-Common causes:Common causes of ghosts are:...
in the picture. It is possible this was done to lower the risk of flashing cameras to people who sufferer from photosensitive epilepsy
Photosensitive epilepsy
Photosensitive epilepsy is a form of epilepsy in which seizures are triggered by visual stimuli that form patterns in time or space, such as flashing lights, bold, regular patterns, or regular moving patterns.-Symptoms:...
, 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
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
. 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.
Live streaming
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
Big Brother 2008 (UK)
Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes...
, the live Internet streaming was axed due to small uptake of subscriptions in past series.
Channel 5 has decided not to bring the live feed back for Celebrity Big Brother 2011 or Big Brother 2011.
House
For the first two series, the house was located in Bow, LondonBow, London
Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...
near to the 3 Mills Studios. After planning permission expired in 2002, Newham London Borough Council
Newham London Borough Council
Newham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of...
ordered the complex to be returned to a natural habitat. The house has been located at Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
, 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. 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
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, after the lobbyist group Fathers 4 Justice
Fathers 4 Justice
Fathers 4 Justice began as a fathers’ rights organisation in the United Kingdom. It became prominent and frequently discussed in the media following a series of high-visibility stunts and protests often in costume. It was temporarily disbanded in January 2006, following allegations of a plot by...
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
Celebrity Big Brother 2010 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was the seventh and final series of Celebrity Big Brother to air on Channel 4 and E4. It began on Sunday 3 January 2010 and aired for 27 days until the final on 29 January 2010, the longest ever celebrity series in the UK...
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.
Live tasks
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.Channel 4
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 2010Celebrity Big Brother 2010 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was the seventh and final series of Celebrity Big Brother to air on Channel 4 and E4. It began on Sunday 3 January 2010 and aired for 27 days until the final on 29 January 2010, the longest ever celebrity series in the UK...
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.
Channel 5
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.Theme tune
The theme tune was written and produced by Element Four, a collaboration between Paul OakenfoldPaul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
and Andy Gray. It was released as a single in September 2000 and got to Number Four in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. 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
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
remix of the theme tune was used for Big Brother Panto
Big Brother Panto
Big Brother Panto is a special series of Big Brother that brought together ten housemates from previous Big Brothers to produce the pantomime Cinderella. It aired from 20 December 2004 to 5 January 2005 on the Channel 4 network....
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.
Technical Details
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 ratioAspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
instead of the by then more common 16:9 widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
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.
Media interest
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. EndemolEndemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
gives housemates a choice of agents when leaving the House. Some have gone on to have their own reality TV shows, perfumes, DVDs, singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, 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
Jade Goody
Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody was an English celebrity. She came into the public spotlight while appearing on the third series of the Channel 4 reality TV programme Big Brother in 2002, an appearance which led to her own television programmes and the launch of her own products after her eviction from...
, who died in 2009; Brian Dowling
Brian Dowling
Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate...
, who does television presenting and voiceover work; Kate Lawler
Kate Lawler
Kate Louise Lawler is an English reality TV personality, DJ, and model. She was the first female winner of Big Brother UK, winning the third season of the reality television show. Since leaving Big Brother, she has worked as a television presenter and personality, a model and as a disc jockey...
, who worked as a television presenter on Channel 4 programme RI:SE
RI:SE
RI:SE was a breakfast television show made by Princess Productions in collaboration with BSkyB for Channel 4 in the UK. It was scheduled to replace The Big Breakfast after declining ratings. It launched on 29 April 2002...
, and was a presenter for Kerrang Radio; Chanelle Hayes
Chanelle Hayes
Chanelle Jade Hayes is an English television personality, singer and model. She was a student at NEW College, Pontefract, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, studying Spanish, Music & English before becoming well known by appearing on the Channel 4 reality show Big Brother in 2007 when she was 19 years...
, who released her own single, launched her own perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
, had a part in another reality show and had 2008's third-best selling calendar ; Jon Tickle
Jon Tickle
Jonathan "Jon" Tickle is a television presenter in the UK, who initially rose to fame as a contestant on the fourth series of the British Big Brother. He appeared before this, however, as a contestant on the gameshow Blockbusters in 1991. He is also a co-presenter on the Sky Digital television...
, who went on to present 6 series of the Sky 1
SKY 1
The Box is an entertainment channel in New Zealand available on SKY Network Television.The channel shows are a variety of the most recent shows such as from the United States, for example CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Simpsons, Family Guy, World Wrestling Entertainments hit shows, and...
show Brainiac: Science Abuse
Brainiac: Science Abuse
Brainiac: Science Abuse is a British entertainment TV show with a science motif. Numerous experiments are carried out in each show, often to verify whether common conceptions are true or simply to create impressive explosions...
; and Alison Hammond
Alison Hammond
Alison Hammond is a British television presenter who became famous after appearing on the third series of Big Brother in 2002. The former child actress, holiday representative and cinema usherette was the second housemate to be evicted when she left on day 15...
, who was a presenter on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
's This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
.
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
Geoffrey Beattie
Geoffrey Beattie is in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Manchester and is a Professorial Research Fellow in the established at the university in 2008. A Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Beattie was awarded the Spearman Medal by the BPS in 1984...
(ISBN 978-0-415-30810-6).
Big Brother
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Brother 2000 | 14 July 2000 | 15 September 2000 | 64 | 11 | Craig Phillips Craig Phillips Craig Phillips is an English builder, DIY expert, television personality and presenter, best known for winning the first series of the British reality television show Big Brother... |
4.5 million | 52 |
| Big Brother 2001 | 25 May 2001 | 27 July 2001 | 64 | 11 | Brian Dowling Brian Dowling Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate... |
4.5 million | 55 |
| Big Brother 2002 Big Brother 2002 (UK) Big Brother 3 was the third series of Big Brother UK. The series started on 24 May 2002, ending on 26 July 2002 and the final of this series drew 10.0 million viewers. Votes in the final week totalled 8.6 million... |
24 May 2002 | 26 July 2002 | 64 | 14 | Kate Lawler Kate Lawler Kate Louise Lawler is an English reality TV personality, DJ, and model. She was the first female winner of Big Brother UK, winning the third season of the reality television show. Since leaving Big Brother, she has worked as a television presenter and personality, a model and as a disc jockey... |
5.8 million | 72 |
| Big Brother 2003 | 23 May 2003 | 25 July 2003 | 64 | 14 | Cameron Stout Cameron Stout Cameron Stout was the winner of Big Brother 4 UK in 2003. He received 1.9 million votes, 500,000 more than runner-up Ray Shah. Cameron is the elder brother of television and radio presenter Julyan Sinclair.... |
4.6 million | 73 |
| Big Brother 2004 | 28 May 2004 | 6 August 2004 | 71 | 13 | Nadia Almada Nadia Almada Nadia Conceicao Almada is a Madeiran-born UK reality television star, best known for being the first transsexual winner of Big Brother in series 5 in 2004.-Big Brother:... |
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 Pete Bennett Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett is an English singer, author and media personality, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006. He has Tourette's syndrome... |
4.7 million | 107 |
| Big Brother 2007 Big Brother 2007 (UK) Big Brother 2007 was the eighth series of the United Kingdom reality television programme Big Brother, airing on Channel 4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on E4.... |
30 May 2007 | 31 August 2007 | 94 | 23 | Brian Belo Brian Belo Olawale Mohammed "Brian" Belo is a Nigerian entertainer, raised in Basildon, Essex. He first came to the public's attention by winning the eighth series of the British version of Big Brother. Since the programme, he has become an internet columnist for Heat magazine, a TV segment entertainer for... |
3.9 million | 96 |
| Big Brother 2008 Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
5 June 2008 | 5 September 2008 | 93 | 21 | Rachel Rice Rachel Rice Rachel Rice is a Welsh actress and model. She is most well known for competing in and later winning the television series Big Brother 9 in the United Kingdom. She has a degree in English and Drama, and is now a fully qualified teacher.... |
3.6 million | 108 |
| Big Brother 2009 Big Brother 2009 (UK) Big Brother 2009, occasionally referred to as Big Brother 10, was the tenth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. It began on 4 June 2009 and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 93 days, concluding on 4 September when Sophie "Dogface" Reade was crowned the winner with 74.4% of... |
4 June 2009 | 4 September 2009 | 93 | 22 | Sophie Reade | 2.5 million | 108 |
| Big Brother 2010 Big Brother 2010 (UK) Big Brother 2010 was the eleventh regular series of the British reality television series, Big Brother and the final series to be broadcast on Channel 4. The series was launched on Wednesday 9 June 2010, and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 77 days with the finale on 24 August 2010, where Josie... |
9 June 2010 | 24 August 2010 | 77 | 21 | Josie Gibson Josie Gibson Josie Diane Shirley Gibson is a British media personality, and former financial sales rep from Bristol. She rose to prominence after winning Big Brother 2010, and entered Ultimate Big Brother... |
3.1 million | 87 |
Celebrity Big Brother
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Big Brother 2001 | 9 March 2001 | 16 March 2001 | 8 | 6 | Jack Dee Jack Dee James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer known for his sardonic, curmudgeonly, and deadpan style.-Early life:... |
5.2 million | 8 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2002 | 20 November 2002 | 29 November 2002 | 10 | 6 | Mark Owen Mark Owen Mark Anthony Patrick Owen , is an English singer-songwriter. He is a member of pop band Take That. The band were hugely successful during the 1990s and have enjoyed even more success since their reunion in 2005... |
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 Chantelle Houghton Chantelle Vivien Houghton is an English glamour model and television personality. She was the first 'non-celebrity' to feature in the Channel 4 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.... |
4.9 million | 26 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2007 Celebrity Big Brother 2007 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2007 was the highly controversial fifth series of the United Kingdom reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off of Big Brother. The series was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK , and involved a number of celebrities referred to as 'housemates', who live in the... |
3 January 2007 | 28 January 2007 | 26 | 14 | Shilpa Shetty Shilpa Shetty Shilpa Shetty is an Indian film actress and model. Since making her debut in the film Baazigar , she has appeared in nearly 40 Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, her first leading role being in the 1994 Aag. Although she has been through years of decline during her career, Shetty has been... |
4.6 million | 30 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2009 Celebrity Big Brother 2009 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2009 was the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother. It began on 2 January 2009 and ran for 22 days until 23 January 2009. It was broadcast on Channel 4. The launch show was watched by approximately 6.4 million people... |
2 January 2009 | 23 January 2009 | 22 | 11 | Ulrika Jonsson Ulrika Jonsson Eva Ulrika Jonsson is a Swedish television presenter in the UK, who became famous as a TV-am weather presenter and moved on to present Gladiators and became a team captain of the show Shooting Stars.-Early life:... |
3.3 million | 28 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2010 Celebrity Big Brother 2010 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was the seventh and final series of Celebrity Big Brother to air on Channel 4 and E4. It began on Sunday 3 January 2010 and aired for 27 days until the final on 29 January 2010, the longest ever celebrity series in the UK... |
3 January 2010 | 29 January 2010 | 27 | 12 | Alex Reid Alex Reid (MMA) Alexander Aristides Reid is an English mixed martial artist, kickboxer and actor who used the nickname The Reidernator. Reid has fought for Cage Rage, BAMMA and Cage Rage UK... |
3.7 million | 32 |
Spin-Off series
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Channel | Series average | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teen Big Brother | 13 October 2003 | 17 October 2003 | 10 | 8 | Paul Brennan | Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel... |
5 | |
| Big Brother Panto Big Brother Panto Big Brother Panto is a special series of Big Brother that brought together ten housemates from previous Big Brothers to produce the pantomime Cinderella. It aired from 20 December 2004 to 5 January 2005 on the Channel 4 network.... |
20 December 2004 | 5 January 2005 | 11 | 10 | none | E4 | 12 | |
| Celebrity Hijack Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was an E4 temporary replacement to Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off series of the British reality television programme Big Brother, airing on E4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on the same channel... |
3 January 2008 | 28 January 2008 | 26 | 12 | John Loughton John Loughton John Loughton is a youth worker, community activist, charity supporter and a former chairperson of the Scottish Youth Parliament who became prominent when he appeared on and won the British reality show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack in 2008.- Biography :Loughton comes from North Edinburgh... |
0.7 million | 26 | |
| Ultimate Big Brother | 24 August 2010 | 10 September 2010 | 18 | 14 | Brian Dowling Brian Dowling Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate... |
Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel... |
3.2 million | 23 |
Big Brother
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Brother 2011 Big Brother 2011 (UK) Big Brother 2011 was the twelfth series of the British reality television series of Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 5 for the first time since the show's transfer from Channel 4. It launched on the night of Friday 9 September 2011 with an hour and a half long special launch show, the day... |
9 September 2011 | 11 November 2011 | 64 | 15 | Aaron Allard-Morgan | 1.6 Million | 71 |
Celebrity Big Brother
| Series | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Series average | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Big Brother 2011 Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother... |
18 August 2011 | 8 September 2011 | 22 | 10 | Paddy Doherty Paddy Doherty (television personality) Patrick "Paddy" Doherty is an Irish Traveller and a former bare-knuckle boxer. He is best known as one of the interviewed 'gypsies' in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and as one of Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men... |
2.8 million | 23 |
| Celebrity Big Brother 2012 Celebrity Big Brother 2012 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2012 is the upcoming ninth series of British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother UK and will be the second to air on Channel 5 as part of the channel's current two year contract with the show... |
TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Sponsorships
| Series | Sponsor | Slogan | Notes | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Brother 1 | Southern Comfort Southern Comfort Southern Comfort is an American liqueur made from neutral spirits with fruit, spice and whiskey flavourings. The brand was originally created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874, and is now owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation... |
N/A | 2000 | |
| Celebrity Big Brother 1 | N/A | 2001 | ||
| Big Brother 2 | BT Cellnet | It's The Buzz | ||
| Big Brother 3 Big Brother 2002 (UK) Big Brother 3 was the third series of Big Brother UK. The series started on 24 May 2002, ending on 26 July 2002 and the final of this series drew 10.0 million viewers. Votes in the final week totalled 8.6 million... |
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 Big Brother Panto Big Brother Panto is a special series of Big Brother that brought together ten housemates from previous Big Brothers to produce the pantomime Cinderella. It aired from 20 December 2004 to 5 January 2005 on the Channel 4 network.... |
2004-05 | |||
| Celebrity Big Brother 3 | 2005 | |||
| Big Brother 6 | ||||
| Celebrity Big Brother 4 | The Carphone Warehouse The Carphone Warehouse Carphone Warehouse Group PLC , known as The Carphone Warehouse, is Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, with over 1,700 stores across Europe. It is based in the United Kingdom and is a 50% subsidiary of Best Buy... |
Get Star Treatment | See note 2 | 2006 |
| Big Brother 7 | Get Together | |||
| Celebrity Big Brother 5 Celebrity Big Brother 2007 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2007 was the highly controversial fifth series of the United Kingdom reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off of Big Brother. The series was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK , and involved a number of celebrities referred to as 'housemates', who live in the... |
Get Star Treatment | See note 3 | 2007 | |
| Big Brother 8 Big Brother 2007 (UK) Big Brother 2007 was the eighth series of the United Kingdom reality television programme Big Brother, airing on Channel 4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on E4.... |
Virgin Media Virgin Media Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom... |
For a Happy House | See note 4 | |
| Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was an E4 temporary replacement to Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off series of the British reality television programme Big Brother, airing on E4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on the same channel... |
Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile is a brand used by many mobile phone service providers across the globe; its headquarters are based in the United Kingdom. Virgin Mobile has local operations in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, Greece, United Kingdom and the United States. It briefly also had operations... |
See note 5 | 2008 | |
| Big Brother 9 Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
||||
| Celebrity Big Brother 6 Celebrity Big Brother 2009 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2009 was the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother. It began on 2 January 2009 and ran for 22 days until 23 January 2009. It was broadcast on Channel 4. The launch show was watched by approximately 6.4 million people... |
Dreams Dreams (bed retailer) Dreams is a UK bed retailer and manufacturer with over 200 stores throughout the United Kingdom. Its head office is located in Loudwater, High Wycombe.-1980s:In 1985 Mike Clare opened the 'Sofa-bed' shop in Uxbridge... |
Britain’s leading Bed Specialist | See note 6 | 2009 |
| Big Brother 10 Big Brother 2009 (UK) Big Brother 2009, occasionally referred to as Big Brother 10, was the tenth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. It began on 4 June 2009 and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 93 days, concluding on 4 September when Sophie "Dogface" Reade was crowned the winner with 74.4% of... |
Lucozade Energy Lucozade Lucozade is an umbrella name for a 6 series of energy and sports drinks, produced by GlaxoSmithKline in Gloucestershire. The former company became part of Beecham and, after the mergers of SmithKline and Beecham in 2000, GlaxoSmithKline.... |
Little Brother vs. Big Brother | ||
| Celebrity Big Brother 7 Celebrity Big Brother 2010 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was the seventh and final series of Celebrity Big Brother to air on Channel 4 and E4. It began on Sunday 3 January 2010 and aired for 27 days until the final on 29 January 2010, the longest ever celebrity series in the UK... |
Dreams Dreams (bed retailer) Dreams is a UK bed retailer and manufacturer with over 200 stores throughout the United Kingdom. Its head office is located in Loudwater, High Wycombe.-1980s:In 1985 Mike Clare opened the 'Sofa-bed' shop in Uxbridge... |
Everything For a Great Night's Sleep | 2010 | |
| Big Brother 11 Big Brother 2010 (UK) Big Brother 2010 was the eleventh regular series of the British reality television series, Big Brother and the final series to be broadcast on Channel 4. The series was launched on Wednesday 9 June 2010, and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 77 days with the finale on 24 August 2010, where Josie... |
Freederm | Skincare for Spot-prone skin | ||
| Ultimate Big Brother | ||||
| Celebrity Big Brother 8 Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother... |
Well worth a closer look | 2011 | ||
| Big Brother 12 Big Brother 2011 (UK) Big Brother 2011 was the twelfth series of the British reality television series of Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 5 for the first time since the show's transfer from Channel 4. It launched on the night of Friday 9 September 2011 with an hour and a half long special launch show, the day... |
BT Cellnet changed its name to O2, the sponsor is therefore the same as the previous seriesThe Carphone Warehouse is the parent company of TalkTalk, the previous sponsor. They also had a deal of £2.5m-a-year to sponsor the Big Brother franchiseDue to the race row the sponsorship was cut off half way through the seriesThe cost of this sponsorship was £2.5 MillionAlthough the change of the name of the sponsor, it is still the same company and the same sponsor adverts were usedThe cost of this sponsorship was £800,000
Celebrity Big Brother
Originally created as a one-off tie-in series by Channel 4 in association with the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
'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
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
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
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
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
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was an E4 temporary replacement to Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off series of the British reality television programme Big Brother, airing on E4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on the same channel...
, 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 in 2012 for its ninth series.
Ultimate Big Brother
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
Big Brother: Celebrity HijackBig Brother: Celebrity Hijack
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was an E4 temporary replacement to Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off series of the British reality television programme Big Brother, airing on E4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on the same channel...
was a spin off series that was broadcast on E4 in January 2008. It was hosted by Dermot O'Leary, which was his final Big Brother series, and narrated by Marcus Bentley. Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was an E4 temporary replacement to Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off series of the British reality television programme Big Brother, airing on E4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on the same channel...
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
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'LearyDermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary is an English television and radio presenter. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2...
and narrated by Marcus Bentley
Marcus Bentley
Marcus Bentley is a British actor, broadcaster and voice-over artist. Born in Gateshead, he was brought up in Stockton on Tees and attended East 15 Acting School in Essex....
.
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.
Big Brother Panto
E4 and T4T4 (Channel 4)
T4 is a scheduling slot on Channel 4 from about 09:00 until 14:00 on Saturdays and 17:00 on Sundays. It also airs on weekdays in the school holidays. The slot has a separate station identification on screen graphic from Channel 4 and E4. The logo of T4 is noticeably the top right segment of the...
broadcast the special Big Brother Panto series, bringing together ten members of the various Big Brother series to perform a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
. It was presented by Jeff Brazier
Jeff Brazier
Jeffrey Carl Brazier is a British television presenter and reality TV star. Before becoming a television personality, he was a footballer on the books of Leyton Orient for three years, although he never played for the first team and quit the game due to injury.-Career:In 2001, Brazier took part in...
and June Sarpong
June Sarpong
June Sarpong MBE is an English television presenter of Ghanaian descent.-Education:Sarpong was born in London to Ghanaian parents. She was educated at Connaught Girls School in Leytonstone and Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow....
and narrated by Marcus Bentley
Marcus Bentley
Marcus Bentley is a British actor, broadcaster and voice-over artist. Born in Gateshead, he was brought up in Stockton on Tees and attended East 15 Acting School in Essex....
. It was broadcast from 20 December 2004 to 5 January 2005.
Spoofs, parodies and cultural references
In the UK, Big Brother has been satirised and spoofed by many comedians including Alan CarrAlan Carr
Alan Carr is an English comedian and television personality. Born in Weymouth, he was raised in Northampton before moving to Manchester during his early 20's....
, Justin Lee Collins
Justin Lee Collins
Justin Lee Collins, commonly known as JLC, is an award-winning English comedian and television presenter.A Bristolian, he's well known for his strong West Country accent, shaggy appearance and colourful shirts....
and Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
. Big Brother has also been lampooned on programmes such as The Friday Night Project
The Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
, the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode "Bad Wolf
Bad Wolf
"Bad Wolf" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on June 11, 2005. The TARDIS crew find themselves trapped in the Gamestation, also known as Satellite 5, where they must battle to survive the cruel games...
", and Extras
Extras (TV series)
Extras is a British sitcom about extras working on TV and film sets and in theatre. The series was co-produced by the BBC and HBO, and is created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom also star in it...
.
Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
's Dead Famous
Dead Famous (novel)
Dead Famous is a comedy/whodunit novel by Ben Elton in which ratings for a reality TV show, very similar to Big Brother, rocket when a housemate is murdered...
, published in 2001, is a humorous murder mystery novel based in a Big-Brother-like setting.
In July 2008 Revels
Revels (confectionery)
Revels are a chocolate coated confectionery with assorted centres made in Slough by Mars, Inc.Originally, Revels had orange creme, coconut, toffee, or peanut centres, along with Galaxy Counters and Maltesers...
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.
Dead Set
In October 2008, E4 aired Dead Set, a five-part horror series written by Charlie BrookerCharlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
, and set during a fictional series of Big Brother. It features a zombie outbreak
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
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
Davina McCall
Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :...
playing themselves. A few of the cast, including McCall, also played cameos as zombies.
Controversy and criticism
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.Awards and nominations
| Year | Award Show | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | British Academy Television Awards British Academy Television Awards The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:... |
Innovation Award | Big Brother 1 | |
| National Television Awards 2001 | Most Popular Factual Programme | Big Brother 2 | ||
| 2002 | National Television Awards 2002 | Most Popular Factual Programme | Big Brother 3 Big Brother 2002 (UK) Big Brother 3 was the third series of Big Brother UK. The series started on 24 May 2002, ending on 26 July 2002 and the final of this series drew 10.0 million viewers. Votes in the final week totalled 8.6 million... |
|
| National Television Awards 2002 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
||
| 2003 | National Television Awards 2003 | Most Popular Factual Programme | Big Brother 4 | |
| National Television Awards 2003 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
||
| 2004 | National Television Awards 2004 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Big Brother 5 | |
| National Television Awards 2004 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
||
| National Television Awards 2004 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Dermot O'Leary Dermot O'Leary Dermot O'Leary is an English television and radio presenter. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2... |
||
| 2005 | National Television Awards 2005 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Big Brother 6 | |
| National Television Awards 2005 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
||
| 2006 | National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Big Brother 7 | |
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Celebrity Big Brother 4 | ||
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular TV Contender | Nikki Grahame Nikki Grahame Nicola Rachele-Beth Grahame is an English model, columnist and television personality, who rose to fame in the UK when she was chosen to be a housemate on Big Brother 7 in 2006... |
||
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular TV Contender | Pete Bennett Pete Bennett Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett is an English singer, author and media personality, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006. He has Tourette's syndrome... |
||
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular TV Contender | Chantelle Houghton Chantelle Houghton Chantelle Vivien Houghton is an English glamour model and television personality. She was the first 'non-celebrity' to feature in the Channel 4 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.... |
||
| National Television Awards 2006 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
||
| 2007 | British Academy Television Awards British Academy Television Awards The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:... |
Pioneer Audience Award | Celebrity Big Brother 5 Celebrity Big Brother 2007 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2007 was the highly controversial fifth series of the United Kingdom reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off of Big Brother. The series was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK , and involved a number of celebrities referred to as 'housemates', who live in the... |
|
| National Television Awards 2007 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 8 Big Brother 2007 (UK) Big Brother 2007 was the eighth series of the United Kingdom reality television programme Big Brother, airing on Channel 4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on E4.... |
||
| 2008 | National Television Awards 2008 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 9 Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
|
| 2009 | Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Sexiest Male | Stuart Pilkington Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
|
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Sexiest Male | Dale Howard Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
||
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Love To Hate Award | Rex Newmark Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
||
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Best Reality TV Moment | Luke Marsden and Rebeeca Shiner kiss Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
||
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Most Memorable Moment | Mohamed and Kathreya Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
||
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Best Host | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
||
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Best Reality Show | Big Brother 9 Big Brother 2008 (UK) Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes... |
||
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 Digital Spy Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088.... |
Reality TV Legend Award | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
||
| 2010 | National Television Awards 2010 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 10 Big Brother 2009 (UK) Big Brother 2009, occasionally referred to as Big Brother 10, was the tenth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. It began on 4 June 2009 and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 93 days, concluding on 4 September when Sophie "Dogface" Reade was crowned the winner with 74.4% of... |
|
| 2011 | National Television Awards 2011 | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Davina McCall Davina McCall Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :... |
|
| National Television Awards 2011 | Most Popular Entertainment Programme | Big Brother 11 Big Brother 2010 (UK) Big Brother 2010 was the eleventh regular series of the British reality television series, Big Brother and the final series to be broadcast on Channel 4. The series was launched on Wednesday 9 June 2010, and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 77 days with the finale on 24 August 2010, where Josie... |
||
| 2012 | National Television Awards 2012 | Most Popular Reality Programme | Celebrity Big Brother 8 Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother... |
Cancellation by Channel 4
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 2010Celebrity Big Brother 2010 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was the seventh and final series of Celebrity Big Brother to air on Channel 4 and E4. It began on Sunday 3 January 2010 and aired for 27 days until the final on 29 January 2010, the longest ever celebrity series in the UK...
aired in January 2010 and Big Brother 2010
Big Brother 2010 (UK)
Big Brother 2010 was the eleventh regular series of the British reality television series, Big Brother and the final series to be broadcast on Channel 4. The series was launched on Wednesday 9 June 2010, and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 77 days with the finale on 24 August 2010, where Josie...
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". 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.
Move to Channel 5
After Richard DesmondRichard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
bought Channel 5, he said he was very keen to acquire Big Brother. On 30 June 2010, it was announced that Endemol will be discussing a new slate of shows with Channel 5.
On 25 August 2010, it was announced that Richard Desmond
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
had begun talks with Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
to move Big Brother with its spin-offs to Channel 5 from 2011 and beyond, However, on 28 September 2010, discussions between Richard Desmond
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
and Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
UK over acquiring the rights to Big Brother were understood to have stalled and yet to be finalised, with the Channel 5 owner rumoured to be looking at alternatives including a new reality format from the hit show's co-creators John De Mol and Frans Verlaan.
On 29 January 2011, industry insiders at Broadcast Now revealed that talks to bring Big Brother to Channel 5 are at "an advanced stage". The publication claims that the agreement could tie Big Brother to the broadcaster for as long as five years, though this could be reduced if performance targets are missed. The new owner of Channel 5 is believed to be interested in relaunching Celebrity Big Brother and extending the main programme's run past the traditional 13-week mark.
On 31 March 2011, it was revealed that Channel 5 were in fact looking for a presenter to host the next series of Big Brother. The series is said to be launching as early as 18 August 2011 as a 3 week Celebrity version, followed by another in January 2012 and then from June 2012 the normal editions of Big Brother will re-launch. This is said to be under a £200million contract over 5 years from 2012, extending the programme until 2017.
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 is returning on Channel 5 on 18 August 2011 with a Celebrity edition and a main edition following in September. It claimed a five year contract is set to be signed extending the series for 5 years from 2012, with Big Brother being run in the Summer and Celebrity Big Brother being run in January
On 6 April 2011, Channel 5 confirmed it had signed a two year contract for Big Brother's return from 18 August 2011. The series will start with a celebrity version in August, with a normal version starting afterwards. Jeff Ford (Channel 5's Director of Programmes) stated that “we’re hugely excited to have secured the return of Big Brother for Channel 5 which will form a key part of this year’s schedule. The series has previously captivated a decade of television viewers and we aim to bring Channel 5’s energy, optimism and vibrancy to the series.”
On 26 April 2011, Channel 5 confirmed that the Big Brother Eye logo will remain on the new series, however, the famous theme tune may not survive. Endemol UK are yet to reveal whether the Paul Oakenfold and Andy Gray - composed music will return to accompany the show when it returns on Channel 5 in the summer.
A spokesman for the programme told the Daily Star: 'Big Brother will return this summer but expect lots of changes. All we can say is – 'watch this space'.
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.
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.
See also
- Big Brother FranchiseBig Brother (TV series)Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
- Big Brother Housemate List
- Celebrity Big Brother Housemate List
Channel 5 series links
- Big Brother at Channel5.com
- Big Brother on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
Channel 4 series links
- Big Brother at Channel4.com (inactive)