The Show
| Big Brother 12000 | ||
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Well, quite a bit actually. It was the first series and so was something that British audiences had never really seen before. But its most notorious moment occurred when attempts to influence voting by Nick Bateman (later nicknamed Nasty Nick) were uncovered by other housemates, who dramatically confronted him in a house meeting. Craig, who led the confrontation, later went on to win the series with a narrow 51% of the vote and ended up donating his £70,000 prize to Joanne Harris, a close personal friend who needed a heart and lunglant, due to having Down’s Syndrome. |
| Big Brother 22001 | ||
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Twists, conflict and romance were some of the highlights of the second series which had a much bigger budget after the success of the first series. The show began with a twist, when the public were allowed to choose from three housemates to join the rest of the house. The public chose Josh who was gay, something which managed to irritate the previously only gay housemate Brian. The first Big Brother romance blossomed between Helen and Paul, whilst Brian’s shenanigans endeared him to the public which caused him to become the winner at the end of the series. Tasks included dancing (which caused Bubble to smash his knee into a chair), training dogs and learning first-aid techniques. |
| Big Brother 32002 | ||
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Escapes, fights and the mother of all twists helped make BB3 the most popular series of all time. The show had barely started before Sunita had had enough and packed her bags, exiting through the backdoor. Sandy followed not long after, but chose the less conventional route of across the garden wall and over the roof. Sophie and Tim joined as replacements, whilst the house was split in two. The poor/rich divide dominated the show for weeks as housemates completed tasks to ensure they got to live a life of luxury as opposed to poverty. Despite Kate winning the show, the most notorious housemate, and arguable most successful BB housemate of all time was Jade Goody, who shocked and entertained viewers with her behaviour. BB3 was seen as the wildest series yet, and the producers decided to calm things down for the next run – little did they know that this would backfire on them spectacularly… |
| Big Brother 42003 | ||
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Not a lot. Despite surprises including first night nominations and a reward room, plus many twists including a swap with an African housemate, the first ever double eviction and a return by an old one, the housemates failed to make much an impression on viewers and as a result, the series was critically derided and blasted for being too dull. Gos even went on to be voted the least popular housemate of all time. All in all, a rather disastrous series to follow what was - and still is - the highest rating of all time. As a result, Big Brother producers decided to make some major changes… |
| Big Brother 52004 | ||
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Absolutely everything! Trailed as “Big Brother turns evil”, it was controversial from the start. The house was smaller and more claustrophobic; there was one bedroom; and the prize money of £100,000 was reduced if housemates failed their tasks. Tougher challenges were promised and more extreme characters including a homophobic asylum seeker, three gay contestants and a transsexual helped make up the wildest, most diverse line-up yet. What followed would form the most memorable series to date. Housemates refusing to be evicted, a fake eviction, betrayal, conflict, bitching, silent protests, secrets and lies, weddings, boot camps, surprise evictions and of course that infamous fight night. Nadia went on to win the series, but more importantly, Big Brother had just experienced a rebirth and was once again the biggest show on television. |
| Big Brother 62005 | ||
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Makosi dominated the series from the start when she was randomly picked to be the unlucky thirteenth housemate. Makosi was told she would automatically be up for eviction that week unless she managed to get the most nominations from her housemates, in which case she had to nominate two people for eviction. Soon after, secret missions and tasks followed. This series was notable for the amount of arguments the housemates had, causing many of the contestants to be given a negative reaction. This series also had the secret garden, where Makosi had to pick two of the three secret contestants join the rest of the housemates in the main house. It is also remembered for allowing one housemate, Eugene, to take half of the prize fund all for themselves. Lovely jubbly. |
| Big Brother 72006 | ||
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Quite a lively series, it was controversial from the start with Shahbaz kicking off the most watched first week in Big Brother history. Hiding the food, causing arguments and generally being a pain, he ended up leaving after the house turned against him. The series was also famous for the golden ticket twist, which allowed one member of the public to find a golden ticket for the chance to become an actual housemate – the winner, Susie, was later slammed for being too dull. Other twists included the house next door, where Aisleyne was fake evicted and then forced to pick some housemates to return with her to the main house. During the later stages, the producers took the decision to bring back ex-housemates and put them in the house next door, before allowing the main house to pick one, eventually Nikki, to join them for the final week. |
| Big Brother 82007 | ||
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Airing after the controversial CBB5, it was always going to be a hard sell. But viewers didn’t take to this series like previous runs, with a mixture of unpopular housemates and lack of activity causing viewers to flee. The show still had its moments. The show kicked off with an all-female start, before males began joining sporadically. Another racism controversy hit the show when Emily was removed for using a racially offensive term. This caused controversy as viewers complained producers had overreacted and it was later revealed that Charley and Ziggy had also used the term, but it had never aired. The show had a few twists including the halfway house, and fake week which saw a fake housemate and fake eviction, but this wasn’t enough to endear viewers to the ill-fated Big Brother 8. |