Davina and Rylan to front Big Brother show for E4

Thanks for that condescending tone. I think you'll find I didn't say they would immediately start production on a new series and throw money into it without question. What I said was that if these (yes, cheap filler) shows do well then Channel 4 will be looking at the Big Brother brand again. I don't for one second underestimate the work and money involved in bringing it back, but if these repeats prove there's still an audience out there for it, nostalgic or otherwise, I would be surprised if they didn't give it some consideration.

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I watched probably every episode from the second half of Series 1 (when Nasty Nick-Gate propelled the show into the stratosphere) right up to the Series 8 final in 2007, even genuinely considering applying for that series as I'd just turned 18 and assumed I had a perfect knowledge of How to Win the Show, which basically consisted of A) Be nice to everyone, B) Don't cheat, and, of course, C) Don't be a nasty racist.

It absolutely peaked at BB5 for me in 2004, which had a ton of unforgettable moments - the opening episode following the finale of 'Friends' which was proper end-of-an-era-beginning-of-a-new-one stuff, Kitten's eviction which had no live audience and she refused to leave until they started decreasing the prize money live on air (and subsequently swearing at the press, which made 15 year old me immediately hail her as my new revolutionary hero), Nadia's triumphant win which felt like a huge victory for LGBT awareness, and, of course, "Fight Night" - an absolutely fascinating evening where the live feed was cut for hours and in the absence of any modern social media I stayed up all night trawling through various BB message boards, trying to decipher what was real and what was rumour. That's the number 1 episode I'd be interested to see again (from memory a genius director ended the episode on the words "NO MORE WAR" scrawled on the wall by Kitten several weeks earlier) - not for entertainment purposes, but instead to see how an older me views what teenage me saw as a fun night's telly without really understanding whatever issues the housemates themselves were going through.

While BB8 was watchable in that almost all the housemates were my age (late teens/early twenties) it was viewing several of them in the house happily admitting they were in it "for the exposure" that put me off coming back in 2008. I know a fair few friends and family who stayed on for BB9 but by BB10 absolutely no one I knew was watching it anymore and focus had moved to shows like The X Factor instead. I still don't fully trust that it really did end as I remember a huge deal about it ending ten years ago only for Ch5 to pick it up almost immediately after - I feel like it's one of those formats that'll be back eventually, even if heavily modified.

The more I think about the Nasty Nick 'moment' the more I wonder, not that it was staged as such, but did Nick decide to write notes almost as a homage to Orwell's 1984? The original series was very much billed as an 'experiment' and radically different to how it developed and became the basis for reality TV as we know it.
It all felt a rather neat tribute to the books original themes looking back.

I think he’s given too much credit to be honest, seen almost as a mastermind for deceiving producers. If you watch it back and the small signs of it unfolding, the way he did it was all pretty amateur and sloppy and I’ve always suspected producers knew what was going on but saw potential in the drama unfolding. The most shocking thing looking back was the lie he told the other housemates about his family being killed!

That first series really was groundbreaking. When we return to some sense of normality I’d welcome a proper documentary looking back at that first series in detail - its cultural impact, its affect on the first 10 contestants, its legacy. The TV landscape changed a lot that summer.

Agree re. a documentary. Great idea for the 20th anniversary.

I wouldn't be against the first series being rerun, or at least (and more realistically) put on All4. The early series with half hour episodes and a 9 week run, which for the first series only had two episodes in the first week, could be aired over a 4 week period (even 3 weeks). Would love a (zoom) reunion of the first series cast with Davina.

Broadcast are suggesting they'll only be using C4 episodes which I suppose is to be expected.

Don't know why they need Rylan there then, seeing as he was only presenting during the C5 days.

Perhaps Dermot turned it down?

I think Rylan makes perfect sense to be honest, C5 or not. He's a mega fan, a popular current presenter and instantly associated with the BB brand, even if they're not showing anything from his era.

Seems odd they would mention that the show, which is to celebrate BB's 20th anniversary, is only going to show clips from its first 10 years.

They're showing 10 of the best episodes - one or two C5 episode might sneak into the top 20, but no way do they get in the top 10. If a revival happens soon on C4 and is somewhat successful I think the C5 years will be largely lost to history.