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Big Brother

Big Brother is a reality show shown on Channel 4 in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run. It is based on the Big Brother series produced by Endemol.

Five series have been shown to date, and Davina McCall has been the eviction night host in all the runs. Daily updates are narrated by Marcus Bentley. A second daily show, "Big Brother's Little Brother", presented by Dermot O'Leary, shows news, gossip and behind-the-scenes details. The fifth series saw the start of a talk show about the happenings in the house called Big Brother's EFourum hosted by Russell Brand, shown only on digital channel E4 with late-night repeats aired on Channel 4.

A sixth series of the show is due to start on 27th May 2005.

Series 1 (2000)

The first series was an unexpected summer hit in 2000. The most memorable moment occurred when attempts to influence voting by Nick Bateman (whom the tabloids nicknamed Nasty Nick) were uncovered by other housemates, who confronted him in a house meeting. He denied the allegations until the evidence was presented to him - housemate names, secretly written on scraps of paper hidden in his suitcase. Nick was removed from the house later that day by the show's producers for rule-breaking. A tabloid newspaper attempted to inform the housemates that Nick had been cheating by flying a remote controlled model helicopter into the house garden but the housemates were ordered to stay in doors.

Melanie Hill also became a hate figure for viewers as she was seen to cultivate relationships with two different contestants. Hill avoided nomination until week 8 when all the remaining contestants were put up for eviction and she was voted out by a large margin.

The series first series was solely viewed by the daily highlights programme. As a consequence many of the contestants complained afterwards that the series producers had 'created' characters for them through editing that did not correspond with their true personalities.

The housemate who confronted Nick, Craig Phillips, went on to win the £70,000 prize as last-remaining housemate. He donated the money to a friend who needed a heart and lung transplant.

Since then, Big Brother Craig has appeared on the UKTV Style makeover show Our House and the BBC One daytime show Big Strong Boys as a resident handyman. He has also made many cameo appearances in the Channel 4 sketch show, Bo' Selecta and released a Christmas Single (At This Time of Year) that reached number 14 in the UK charts. Runner-up Anna Nolan has presented several television shows in the UK and in her native Ireland. Two other housemates, Claire Strutton (who replaced Nick) and Tom McDermott, later had a child together but the relationship ended.

Total number of votes in the final week: 7.5 million

Series 2 (2001)

The second series had a much larger budget for the house and its contents, but the same £70,000 prize fund. One housemate, Josh Rafter, was voted into the house by the public after a few weeks. This series saw housemates Paul Clarke and Helen Adams become close over the weeks; newspapers speculated on how their relationship would progress, especially since Helen was already in a relationship on entering the house. Brian Dowling became an instant hit thanks to his quick fire humour. Helen Adams also became popular thanks to her dumb blonde persona and isms such as asking "What are Chick Peas Made out of?" and stating "I love blinking".

Helen eventually finished second to Brian Dowling. Helen and Paul remained together after the show and announced plans to marry. Brian went on to become the first openly gay man to present a children's television show in the UK when he joined SMTV Live.

Total number of votes in the final week: 7.3 million

Series 3 (2002)

The third series saw two early walkouts, by housemates Sunita Sharma and Sandy Cumming; Sandy surprised his fellow housemates as well as the production team by scaling a wall and escaping over a roof. Also this year the house was split into two for a time: those on one side had more luxuries and better food than those on the other. A weekly task, shown live on Saturday nights, determined which housemates lived on which side of the Heaven and Hell divide. Kate Lawler spent more time on the Hell side than any other contestant which made her more popular with the viewers.

Housemate Jade Goody became notorious for believing that East Anglia was "abroad", amongst other Jadeisms. Alex also became a popular figure due to his obsession with cleaning the house.

The eventual winner of the £70,000 prize was Kate Lawler, who went on to co-present Channel 4's breakfast TV show, RI:SE. Two other housemates, Sophie Pritchard and Lee Davey, later got married.

Total number of votes in the final week: 8.6 million

Series 4 (2003)

The fourth series saw several surprises. Anoushka Golebieski was nominated for eviction on the opening night after the housemates were told to make instant nominations based on first impressions. One housemate, Cameron Stout, accepted a challenge from Big Brother and discovered it meant spending a week in the Big Brother Africa house (one of the African housemates, Gaetano, spent some time in the UK house in return). There was a surprise double eviction, a surprise new housemate, and a surprise return by evicted housemate Jon Tickle for the last two weeks (he was not eligible to win). The biggest surprise was unplanned: a bomb scare led to the evacuation of the housemates for several hours.

The £70,000 prize was eventually won by Cameron. Several housemates later had presenting or acting jobs.

Despite the surprises of this series, many felt the format had become stale and that the housemates themselves were too bland.

Total number of votes in the final week: 4.3 million

Series 5 (2004)

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. Big Brother promised tougher challenges as well as surprises to test the minds of housemates. The makers were initially criticised for choosing contestants specifically to boost ratings, opting for people that were openly gay (Marco and Dan), transsexual (Nadia Almada), an asylum seeker (Ahmed), and a person who claimed to be bisexual (Jason, although he later revealed that this had been a fabrication to improve his chances of being selected). This feeling soon dissipated to a large extent as the personalities of the housemates overshadowed these issues.

The housemates were all strong, opinionated characters. Kitten Pinder was evicted in the first week for constant rule-breaking. A fake eviction in the second week saw two of the housemates, Emma and Michelle, confined to the nearby "Big Brother Bedsit" where they could see and hear what was happening in the house without the others knowing. After their return to the house, scenes of aggression and near-violence erupted resulting in on-site security staff having to enter the house for the first time in the show's history. Some viewers of the live feed also called the police; after a short investigation, a joint statement by Hertfordshire police and producers Endemol said that they were satisfied with steps being taken to ensure housemates' safety and well-being. Police were also reportedly questioning each contestant as they left the house. Emma was moved back to the bedsit and later evicted permanently. A psychologist on the show resigned, claiming that his warnings that Endemol's deliberate selection of housemates likely to cause conflict would lead to the fight went unheeded.

A surprise new housemate, Becki Seddiki, was evicted at the first opportunity. The weekly live task was dropped; housemates still competed in a "Saturday Challenge" though, but only highlights were shown. The week after Seddiki's eviction, Ahmed Aghil was evicted. The following week the flamboyant, aggressive Victor Ebuwa was evicted.

The following week Michelle Bass was evicted. The series was notable for her romance with Stuart Wilson. It is widely believed that they were the first couple to have sex on the main Big Brother UK show (this having already taken place on Teen Big Brother in 2003; see below), following two incidents where they made a crude tent and discarded their microphones. However their actions were not visible, and both parties have refused to confirm or deny it. Michelle's self-confessed jealous behaviour gave some viewers the impression that Stuart was an unwilling participant in the affair, but he has stated since that this was not the case. The relationship continued after both had left the house.

Two days before the final day Stuart Wilson received only 7% of the votes to win, the lowest amount of the contestants in the house, and so was evicted. All five remaining housemates were enjoying a party for winning a mini task when Stuart was called into the diary room. He was then told he was to leave immediately, without saying goodbye to the remaining housemates. He was very enthusiastic and well received on leaving the Big Brother house.

Nadia, as expected by all the bookmakers (she was favourite for six weeks) won Big Brother 2004 with 74% of the vote. She was greeted by an adoring crowd who chanted her name.

BB5 was also notable for the introduction by two of the housemates of the 'eviction pose', which could become standard in future series. First Victor struck a 'cool' pose in keeping with his house 'gansta' persona, leaning against the wall sideways on to the waiting audience. Later Dan (who could possibly have seen Victor before the inner doors closed) stood, head bowed, arms out, before lifting his head.

Final vote breakdown:

Nadia: 3,863,696 Jason: 1,335,246 Dan: 685,995 Shell: 347,051 Total number of votes in the final week: 6.3 million

Housemates

Michelle Bass (born February 2, 1981 in Newcastle) was a member of the 'Lipgloss Bitches', also referred to as 'The Harem', along with Marco Sabba, Emma Greenwood and Nadia Almada. She was best known for her relationship in the house with Stuart Wilson, and also the spell in the bedsit with Emma Greenwood.

Victor Ebuwa (born January 17, 1981) was the co-Leader of the 'Jungle Cats', styling himself as 'Slick (Vic)' in the house, and formed a close partnership with Jason Cowan, and also with Ahmed Aghil. He was known for his memorable one-liners and rap-style speech, for speaking his mind and having a game plan. He is also probably the first housemate ever to openly discuss his plan in the Diary Room in the house.

On day 57 he was evicted following an argument with fellow housemate Shell Jubin, after which a deranged fan of Victor's send death threats to Shell's parents house. Previous to this argument Victor was second favourite to win the show.

Many TV critics, including Ally Ross (The Sun TV Critic), have credited Victor for saving the Big Brother UK franchise, thanks to stirring controversy and his 'straight talking' attitude towards housemates. The previous year's show was slammed by critics for being dull, leading to record low viewing figures and a subsequent drop in eviction votes. Viewing figures increased this year to an average of 7 million every night.

Ahmed AghilAhmed Aghil fled to Britain from Somalia during the early 1990s, and is now a successful businessman. He gained a reputation for his eccentricity and his inexplicable outbursts of violence while in the house. He always remained least favourite to win, with odds ranging from 33/1 to 50/1.

Ahmed usually spent time alone in the garden, or asleep. He was fairly sedate, in sharp contrast to most of the house, meaning that he did not bond with anyone in the house much, and indeed was fairly irritated by many of the housemates. Those he did bond with were evicted one by one: Kitten Pinder for rule-breaking, and Becki Seddiki after a public vote.

After a few weeks of participation in the programme, Ahmed began to have spurious violent outbursts, in which he threw plates around, chopped the head of a papier-mâché statue off with a spade and screamed out loud (the first two were in response to the playing into the house of a crying baby, the first time to try to wake the housemates up, the second time to try to get them to talk after they refused to speak for a day in protest at failing a task. He explained his behaviour later on by stating that as a father, he found the sound of a crying baby extremely disturbing). It eventually became clear that he was under enormous psychological pressure in the house, and that he was becoming increasingly deranged-he recognised this himself, but refused to leave the house of his own accord, since he harboured a dream of having an eviction night and interview like all other evictees (he referred to this as "his night"). Eventually, it got to the point where he was asking the other housemates to nominate him for eviction. Even when he did so, he was not evicted.

He became extremely unpopular in the house and with the public after an incident in the house during a weekly "Big Brother Boot Camp" task, in which he was assigned the role of a private (along with 5 other housemates) while two others were assigned the role of sergeant. He refused to do several activities as required by the task, came to blows with (more popular) sergeant Michelle and eventually tried to instigate a military coup. Despite this, the group passed the task: however, in accordance with the rules of the task, the privates were immediately up for eviction. He was evicted with 56% of the vote. In his post-eviction interview, he remarked that he did not expect to remain in the house past the third week.

Vanessa Nimmo (born 12 August 1977) is a former double South African archery champion. She was born in Cape Town but moved to the UK in 1994. Since being on Big Brother, she has been dating Ben Fogle.

Kathryn ("Kat", or "Kitten") Pinder (born October 13, 1979) entered the house on May 28, 2004 and was evicted one week later on June 4 after continuously breaking house rules and receiving three formal warnings. After her eviction, Kitten occasionally appeared on the parallel show Big Brother's Little Brother, also on Channel 4.

Kitten is currently living with her lesbian lover in Brighton, and describes herself as an anarchist, heavily involved in political activism and opposition to war, the class society and capitalism. She also claimed to be a child prostitute when 13.

On entering the Big Brother house, Kitten refused to enter until she had seen her girlfriend and made obscene gestures to the crowd and the media. This action led her to be the first and only housemate to be booed on entry to the house. Her behaviour did not improve once in the house as she refused to obey the rules of Big Brother, leading to three official warnings.

In an effort to get Kitten to toe the line, Big Brother warned the housemates that they would evict any housemate without warning if Kitten continued to break the rules. However Kitten again broke the rules by dubbing anti-war slogans on the wall of the house. On the second week, live on Channel 4, Kitten was finally evicted from the house, initially refusing to leave. She was eventually removed from the house after Big Brother began reducing the £100,000 prize fund by £1,000 for every minute she stayed in the house. On leaving Kitten shouted at the media against the Queen and the Aristocracy.

Some days later she appeared in court regarding her non-payment of parking fines amounting to £225. She blamed it on Tony Blair's education policy, saying she could not pay the fines because of student debts.

Celebrity Big Brother

There have been three Celebrity Big Brother series featuring well-known names as housemates, with a proportion of the profits from eviction votes going to charity.

Series 1 (March 2001)

In aid of Comic Relief six celebrities entered the Big Brother series 1 house for eight days in March 2001. As Comic Relief is shown by the BBC, this was a rare collaboration between two TV channels. The contestants were:

• Jack Dee (winner)
• Claire Sweeney
• Keith Duffy
• Anthea Turner
• Vanessa Feltz
• Chris Eubank

The series is remembered for comedian Jack Dee's escape from the house - he evaded security for an hour before returning ("I got all the way to Stratford") - and Vanessa Feltz angrily scrawling words all over the dining table, apparently feeling the pressure of constant surveillance.

Series 2 (November 2002)

The second celebrity series lasted ten days, from November 20-30, 2002. Proceeds from viewer voting went to four different charities: Centrepoint, National Missing Persons Helpline, Rethink severe mental illness and Samaritans. The six contestants were:

• Mark Owen (winner)
• Les Dennis
• Melinda Messenger
• Sue Perkins
• Anne Diamond
• Goldie

Memorable moments include comedian Les Dennis moping around the house.

Series 3 (January 2005)

The third series began on January 6, 2005, and ran until January 23, 2005. A percentage of phone vote funds went towards helping victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The contestants were:

• Brigitte Nielsen - came third
• Caprice - evicted on Day 16 after receiving 5% of the public vote to win
• Germaine Greer - voluntarily left the house ("Walked") on Day 6
• Lisa I'Anson - evicted on Day 14 after receiving 3% of the public vote to win
• Bez - winner with 54% of the public vote to win
• Jeremy Edwards - evicted on Day 16 after receiving 12% of the public vote to win
• John McCririck - evicted on Day 12
• Kenzie - runner-up

On the fifth day a ninth celebrity entered the house:

• Jackie Stallone - mother to Brigitte's ex-husband Sylvester Stallone - evicted on Day 9

This series features the oldest and youngest ever UK Big Brother contestants (discounting Teen Big Brother, see below): Jackie Stallone (82) and Kenzie (19).

Teen Big Brother

A special version of Big Brother, featuring eight 18-year-old teenagers, was broadcast in October 2003 on Channel 4 and E4 as Teen Big Brother. Trailed as 'The Experiment', Teen Big Brother was originally shot in advance over the course of ten days during July and August 2003, to air in 2003 as an educational item, screened as part of Channel 4's 4Learning programming. The tasks were created so as to promote such values as co-operation and team spirit, and topics like politics and religion were discussed. After editing, however, the footage was felt to be compelling enough for a more mass-market time slot, so the show was moved ahead to October 2003 and formatted to be shown over one week (five episodes).

Teen Big Brother was different from the original UK version of the show in a number of ways. Since it was pre-recorded, the contestants themselves and not the audience decided which housemates were to be voted out. At the end, the eventual winner of a grand prize was decided by group decision. No alcohol or cigarettes were allowed, and Dermot O'Leary served as the show's main presenter. The basic premise of the show, however, remained the same, and no special treatment was made for the housemates.

The eight contestants were:

• Paul Brennan (winner)
• Caroline Cloke
• Shaneen Dawkins
• Jade Dyer
• Tracey Fowler
• James Kelly
• Hasan Shah
• Tommy Wright

On Day Six/Seven, Jade Dyer and Tommy Wright became the first Big Brother UK contestants to have sex on the show in its history. According to The Independent, this was the first real-life sexual act "shown" on British television (although nothing explicit was seen; the two were under bedcovers). This sparked controversy in the British media and comment on teenage safe sex education.

Paul Brennan was voted the winner, and selected Caroline Cloke to accompany him in sharing the prize of a fully-paid three-month round-the-world tour. In addition he won a period of work experience selected for his interests, with a New York fashion designer.

An edited version of Teen Big Brother – The Experiment - was eventually broadcast in January 2004 as part of 4Learning's morning schedule and was designed with formal curriculum teaching in mind. As of 2004 there are no immediate plans for further Teen Big Brother series.

External Links

• Big Brother (http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/B/bigbrother/news/archives.html) - The official website from Channel 4
• DS:BB (http://bigbrother.digitalspy.co.uk/) - A popular unofficial Big Brother site
• TalkBigBrother (http://www.talkbigbrother.com/) - A good Big Brother dicsussion forum

Some or all material in this page has been adapted from the Big Brother entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother), or others, in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), the free encyclopedia.