I think it was either the surprise eviction the night before the final of BB2 or the surprise first eviction of BB3. It then just stuck.
Must say as much as I loved Big Brother I hated that catchphrase, mainly because when it was true it wasn't necessary, and when it was necessary it wasn't true. If she spoke to the house pre-watershed it was almost always on a delay (perhaps except for those surprise evictions I just mentioned), and if she spoke to them post-watershed we'd generally just watched a chunk of highlights of them swearing away anyway.
It was the end of BB2 (the surprise eviction), it was in response to someone actually swearing in shock when Davina’s voice suddenly boomed out of nowhere.
Discussion of Bo Selecta on another thread has reminded me of the episode shown straight after the BB5 final, starting with the ‘Davina’ character saying “So, Nadia won!” which impressed me at the time given it had only happened minutes earlier and it didn’t look like a live programme. Presumably they recorded several takes of the sketch with the character naming each housemate still in the show at the time of recording, and edited the right one onto the start just before transmission? Or something more simple than that?
Don't forget the episode of Bo Selecta which had a fake breakdown and a supposed link to the Big Brother studio... with the real Davina saying that line.
Don't forget the episode of Bo Selecta which had a fake breakdown and a supposed link to the Big Brother studio... with the real Davina saying that line.
Jump to 2:37 for those so inclined. It had me hook, line and sinker at the time. I was very naive during my earlier years.
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.
Nice summary. I do remember watching BB and BB2, but BB3 was appointment-to-view TV in my house. I still remember Alison jumping and breaking the table (whatever happened to her?) and Sandy escaping ("Sandy, be careful!"). I lost interest by BB6.
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.
Yep, memorable summer for Channel 4. Nigella Lawson's cookery series also debuted, who knew ham goes well with coke and deep fried bounty bars were a thing.
I too remember that 'Black Friday' night with the first episode of Friends, last episode of Friends, and BB5 launch. (Channel 4 also ran a genius billboard ad for the Friends finale, with the logotype on a black background rearranged to say 'Ends Fri').
In hindsight BB5 was the beginning of the end, the overreaction to the muted response to BB4. Extreme manipulation by getting housemates that are the polar opposite to each other. And the whole bedsit thing, whilst extremely exciting at the time, now seems really horrible to me. Imagine being put in a small room for five days, with a TV screen and headphones, being able to watch 24/7 all the other housemates saying terrible things about you and each other behind their backs. It's no wonder it ended the way it did.
Looking forward to seeing this tonight. Used to avidly watch the show when it was on Channel 4. Main series lost it's way more than ever when it went over to Channel 5 and was your usual wannabe youngsters but the CBB was just as good, perhaps better, when it moved to C5 - some absolute gold!
I'm not fussed if the show comes back or not, I think The Circle is a good reality show and I think the format could be tweaked to make it have some more gameplay.
Don't forget the episode of Bo Selecta which had a fake breakdown and a supposed link to the Big Brother studio... with the real Davina saying that line.
Jump to 2:37 for those so inclined. It had me hook, line and sinker at the time. I was very naive during my earlier years.
I'm not fussed if the show comes back or not, I think The Circle is a good reality show and I think the format could be tweaked to make it have some more gameplay.
I get the impression Studio Lambert are pissing C4 around a bit when it comes to The Circle considering they've probably got a big carrot dangling from Netflix, and as such Big Brother may be coming back into play if they can make it work financially.
For me though for it to really work it needs the 24/7 live stream - they'll win over much of the old fans instantly with that and I think it would be a far more effective way to get people to subscribe to All4+ than selling it as an ad free catch up service.
i think if BB did return there'd have to be a massive attention to 'after-care' and a toning down of any perceived stirring up of confrontation. I say this just because that seems to be the current trend and the direction that reality TV is going in at the moment.
