Big Brother (British TV series)

For the current series, see Big Brother 14 (UK).

Template:Big Brother sidebar Big Brother is a BAFTA Award-winning British reality television game show in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house for several weeks, 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 the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Big Brother, along with its spin-off series Celebrity Big Brother, was originally broadcast on Channel 4 from 18 July 2000 (and its subsidiary channel E4, beginning in 2001) until 10 September 2010, after it was dropped from Channel 4's schedules due to declining ratings. The rights to the programme were acquired by Channel 5 in a two-year contract with Endemol to air on the main channel and subsidiary channel 5*. The re-launched version premiered on 18 August 2011 with a back-to-back series of Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother.

The host of Big Brother for the duration of its run on Channel 4 was Davina McCall, who was replaced by Brian Dowling when the show moved to Channel 5. Marcus Bentley has narrated the show since its inception on Channel 4. Spin-off shows that co-existed with the Channel 4 series were presented by Dermot O'Leary, Russell Brand, George Lamb and Emma Willis, who returned to present the only spin-off show Big Brother's Bit on the Side alongside Jamie East and Alice Levine when the show began on Channel 5. On 2 April 2013, it was announced that Willis would be the main Big Brother presenter.

Over the course of its run, there have been a total of 29 series of Big Brother: fourteen regular series, eleven celebrity series and four special series. Big Brother was filmed at Three Mills Studios in Bow, East London for the first two series, until it moved to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire in 2002. Currently, Big Brother UK is the third-longest running version of Big Brother, running slightly shorter than the currently-airing Spanish and American versions of the show.

History

Main series

Channel 4 (2000–2010)

The final Channel 4 eye logo used for Big Brother 11 and Ultimate Big Brother

Big Brother was first broadcast on Channel 4 and E4 from 18 July 2000 – 10 September 2010.

When the show first began in 2000, the program was hosted by Davina McCall. McCall hosted the live eviction shows as well as the first and last episodes of each series, the launch night and live final respectively. At the end of the Channel 4 broadcast in 2010, Davina had presented every single Channel 4 edition of Big Brother (apart from Teen Big Brother, Big Brother Panto and Celebrity Hijack).

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 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 regular 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 premiere 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.

On 26 August 2009, Channel 4 confirmed that they had axed Big Brother, with the 2010 celebrity series and regular series (including Ultimate Big Brother) the last to air on the channel.

Channel 5 (2011–present)

Since 18 August 2011, Big Brother has been broadcast on Channel 5 and 5*.

After Richard Desmond bought Channel 5 in 2010, 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 Desmond's Northern & Shell company, reported that Big Brother would be returning on Channel 5 in August 2011 with a Celebrity edition, followed by a main edition in September. Four days later, Channel 5 formally confirmed that they had signed a £200 million two-year contract with Endemol to screen Big Brother from 18 August 2011. Big Brother 2 winner Brian Dowling was announced as the new host. McCall declined the offer to host, having said goodbye to the show in 2010.

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 new series were held at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester on 10 and 11 June 2011. Auditions were also held in London on 18 and 19 June 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 and 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.

Spin-off show Big Brother's Bit on the Side is presented by Emma Willis. Jamie East and Alice Levine presented the weekend editions of the show through 2011-13.

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.

On 2 April 2013, Dowling was removed as Big Brother host with Bit on the Side presenter Emma Willis replacing him from the fourteenth series onward.

On 14 May 2013, Channel 5 announced a partial reinstatement of the live feed - two hours per day will air during the fourteenth series from 7pm - 9pm on 5*. In addition, a new live show Big Brother's Bit on the Psych will be broadcast on Saturday Nights which will feature Psychologists analysing the week's house action. Big Brother's Bit on the Side will also be broadcast on a Sunday Lunchtime show, hosted by Rylan Clark.

Celebrity Big Brother

Main article: Celebrity Big Brother (UK)

Channel 4's final eye logo used for Celebrity Big Brother 7

File:The eye logo for the eleventh season of Celebrity Big Brother (UK).jpg

Channel 5's most recent eye logo used for Celebrity Big Brother 11

Originally created as a one-off tie-in series by Channel 4 in association with the BBC's Comic Relief charity telethon, Celebrity Big Brother is now a full spin-off of Big Brother, 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 air every January and 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 series. The celebrities are normally paid for their appearances, on the proviso that they do not voluntarily leave.

The first Celebrity Big Brother was aired nightly on Channel 4 from 9 March 2001 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: The Experiment, 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' racism controversy and replaced by Celebrity Hijack, the series then returned in 2009 and 2010 for the seventh and final time on Channel 4 ending on 29 January 2010.

The series returned on 18 August 2011, this time on Channel 5 with its eighth series. The series then returned in January and August 2012 with its ninth and tenth series, and again in January 2013 with its eleventh series, a twelfth series is planned for Autumn 2013.

Format

Big Brother is a game show in which a group of contestants, called housemates (in Big Brother 10, 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 dozens of 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. From 2004 until 2010 the prize fund increased to £100,000. Since the show has been on Channel 5 the prize fund changed for both the 2011 (£50,900 won by Aaron) and 2012 (£50,000 won by Luke A as Conor McIntyre walked with the other 50k) series.

The main television coverage takes the form of a daily highlights programme.

Live Eviction

On eviction night, Big Brother plays crowd noise into the house so that housemates are unable to hear the outside crowd; this is done in order to enforce the rule of "no contact with the outside world." During its run on Channel 4, Davina would reveal the results to the housemates at the end of the first show. Starting with the third eviction of Big Brother 10, the results were revealed at the beginning of the second show.

Whilst on Channel 4, Davina 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 n^th person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is...(evicted housemate's name). you have 30 seconds to say your goodbyes; I'm coming to get you!

When the results were revealed to the housemates in the first show, the evicted housemate then had a certain amount of time to prepare themselves to leave the house. Big Brother 1 allotted two hours for the evicted housemate to pack their suitcase and prepare to leave. Big Brother 2, 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; however, starting in Big Brother 5, nominated housemates packed their suitcases before the live eviction show aired, and unlike previous series, they did not leave with their luggage. Thus, the 30 minutes were merely just conversation amongst the housemates.

At the start of the second show, Davina would then speak to the house again – or for the first time in the last few series on Channel 4; revealing the results first – and ask the evicted housemate to leave. The housemate then has only a few moments (more or less thirty seconds) to say their goodbyes and leave. Upon leaving the house, the evicted housemate is greeted by the crowd (who either boos or cheers for them depending on their popularity), taken past a bank of paparazzos, and led to a nearby studio to be interviewed about their time in the house.

During series 5, Davina interviewed evicted housemates in front of the crowd for the first few weeks. The noisy and rambunctious crowd made it difficult at times for housemates to hear McCall, and this also proved unpopular with viewers; since then, all interviews have been held indoors. From series 5 onwards, all housemates evicted on the final night were interviewed in front of the crowd with the exception of Celebrity Big Brother 5 (due to the heightened tension around the controversial events that took place). The final series of Big Brother on Channel 4 had all eviction interviews done outside amongst the crowd.

When the show moved to Channel 5, the eviction studio was relocated outside in a purpose-built eye shaped portable just at the end of the stage. This was done because Endemol was not able to gain access to the George Lucas Stage, where interviews were previously held, in time for the show's relaunch.

Brian used an altered spiel to reveal the results to the housemates:

Big Brother House, this is Brian. (Nominated housemates' names), your time has come. For the last (time since voting lines opened), the Great British public have been voting to save. I can now reveal that the housemate with the fewest/least votes, and who's the n^th to be evicted is...(evicted housemate's name). (Evicted housemate's name), you've lost your place in(side) the Big Brother House. You have 30 seconds to say your goodbyes.

Emma has been using a shorter, but altered spiel to reveal the eviction result:

Big Brother House, this is Emma. (Nominated housemates' names); the viewers have spoken, your fate is sealed. For the last (time since voting lines opened, the British public have been voting to evict; And I can now reveal the housemate with the most votes, and the n^th to be evicted is...(evicted housemate's name). (Evicted housemate's name), you've lost your place in the Big Brother House. You have 30 seconds to say your goodbyes.

The current Channel 5 series has constantly altered its eviction shows. During Celebrity Big Brother 8, there was only a sole one-hour eviction show, in which the results were revealed and the evicted housemate left immediately. During Big Brother 12, the first few evictions had two shows, with Brian revealing the results in the first show, and the evicted housemate being asked to leave in the second show one hour later. In successive weeks (and in Celebrity Big Brother 9), the one-show eviction was reinstated (albeit a little longer than one hour), with Brian revealing the results, and the evicted housemate leaving immediately or after five minutes' time.

Occasionally, Big Brother will bypass the prescribed eviction process and remove housemates in a variety of other ways. For example, Big Brother will ask housemates to vote to evict their least favourite nominated housemate, evict nominated housemates through the Diary Room without other housemates realising that an eviction had taken place, and evict multiple housemates at the same time. These twists are 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 the presenter. 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 and greeted to a cheering crowd and a firework display before their interview.

The Diary Room

Over the years, the Big Brother Diary Room chair has evolved from simplicity in Big Brother 1 up until an alpine-style chair in the 'Celebrity Big Brother 9. The Diary Room is used as a room of confession where the housemates can talk to Big Brother about any issues in the house, or something that is worrying that particular housemate. The Diary Room is also used once a week for the housemates weekly nominations.

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 YouTube, 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.

Launch night

On the launch night, anywhere from upwards of 10 housemates enter the Big Brother house. In the first two series, 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
Two	Phone lines opened for viewers to select one of three potential housemates who would move into the Big Brother House the day after the first eviction took place.
Three	As opposed to housemates nominating, and the public voting to evict, the roles were reversed in Week 1. After the housemates moved in, voting lines opened for viewers to nominate a housemate. The two housemates with the most votes would face an eviction vote by their fellow housemates, who would then decide which one to evict.
Four	On launch night, a mere hour after moving in, the housemates were forced to nominate one housemate based on first impressions. Any housemate that received at least one nomination vote faced eviction.
Five	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.
Six	The twist on launch night was Unlucky 13, in reference to the number of housemates who entered the house on Launch 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.
Seven	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.
Eight	Eleven female housemates entered the house on launch night; one male entered the house on Day 3, followed by two more on Day 10.
Nine	A real-life couple 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, whilst failure would result in the four facing eviction.
Ten	The sixteen people chosen by Big Brother to move into the house on launch night 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.
Eleven	Eighty-one hopefuls constituting 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 in order to guarantee his stay in the house.
Twelve	A special guest, Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson, entered the house on the night before the live launch. Anderson was set a series of tasks that she undertook with the housemates, such as speed dating and having VIP parties. After the tasks, Anderson had to choose which housemate she felt performed the best, but was unaware that whoever she chose to win the task granted them immunity from the first eviction.
Thirteen	The first housemate – selected at random to enter the house – was granted immunity from the first eviction, but was forced to nominate three housemates face-to-face based solely on first impressions, still giving full and frank reasons for their nominations. Those three housemates would face a public vote, where one of them would be evicted on Day 4.
Fourteen	One 'housemate' was revealed as a non-housemate, who would be entering the house as "The People's Puppet", an actor hired by Big Brother to be controlled by the viewers, as part of the series' Secrets and Lies theme.

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 series 1 to series 4, housemates had their suitcases, which contained their own clothes and personal items, delivered to them the day after they arrived. Since series 5, housemates are forbidden from taking reading material, 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 scrutinised by Big Brother before they are delivered. In the past, housemates 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.

A strictly enforced rule is that housemates are not to discuss nominations. This includes telling other housemates who they have nominated, who they will or might nominate in future weeks, or speculating as to who will nominate who. Violation of this rule will result in a punishment on the offending housemate, or on the entire House; such examples include a probationary warning, a ban on nominating that week, automatically facing the public vote, or the entire House except the offending housemate facing the public vote. This rule has been relaxed in certain series: in series 9, a Nominations Pod was installed in the garden and was the only place where housemates could discuss nominations with each other; anywhere else resulted in severe punishment. In Series 10, after numerous violations, Big Brother temporarily removed the rule regarding nominations, but reinstated it for the final celebrity and civilian series on Channel 4. Celebrity Big Brother 8, the first celebrity series on Channel 5, had housemates given permission by Big Brother to discuss nominations for the first week only. This was continued in Big Brother 12 from the fifth week onwards and into Celebrity Big Brother 9. For two weeks of series 13, the rule was completely removed, but after numerous complaints by viewers, it was reinstated in the second week.

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 halfway 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. For Big Brother 8 only, there was no Saturday show. Instead Sunday's episode was split in half to show highlights from Friday and Saturday. 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 10 pm highlights shows extended to seventy minutes and 8 pm, 9pm and 9.30 pm 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 10 pm, with the Friday night eviction at 9 pm, followed by the live eviction show and interview at 11 pm. Through the week, the highlights show is repeated at 12.15 pm on Channel 5, followed by another repeat on 5* at 4 pm. 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 Big Brother 5, 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 10, the live Internet streaming was axed due to small uptake of subscriptions in past series.

In 2010, fans were required to pay for Live Feed as a subcription.

In 2011, Channel 5 decided not to bring the live feed back for Celebrity Big Brother 8 or Big Brother 12.

In January 2012, Channel 5 introduced a new spin-off show, named Celebrity Big Brother: Live from the House, is listed to be broadcast after every eviction show of Celebrity Big Brother 9, at 10pm on sister channel 5*. The show featured 30-minute live streaming from the Big Brother House, but it was actually a 60-minute show. It returned for Big Brother 13, renamed Big Brother: Live from the House, as a 30-minute show on 6 July 2012 (four weeks into the series). An episode, featuring live nominations, on 17 August 2012 pulled in 2.22 million viewers at 10pm on Channel 5. This slightly outrated the nights highlights show which took 2.18 million viewers. These two episodes were broadcast during the Celebrity Big Brother 10 series.

In May 2013, Channel 5 announced the Live Feed would return partially in the form of daily shows lasting for two hours. They will air on 5* each day from 7pm - 9pm.

House

For the first two series, the house was located in Bow, London 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 7 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 it was previously used for the eviction studio and the reality gallery for all of the series from Big Brother 3 onwards until Celebrity Big Brother 8.

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. On Day 60 of Series 13, the conclusion of the White Room task was broadcast live on Channel 5 during the eviction show. This saw Conor McIntyre leave the house with £50,000.

Logo

Big Brother UK has one of the most known logos in the world. 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 1 contestant Melanie Hill. Since Big Brother 2 the logo of every Channel 4 series was designed by Daniel Eatock. Since Big Brother 5, the title sequence has left out the title. Celebrity Big Brother 2010 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. Big Brother 2010 used a design with flowers and petals to mark the end of Big Brother on Channel 4.

In the programs twelfth series and onwards 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. A new updated version of the 2011 Big Brother eye is being used for Celebrity Big Brother 2012 with a star implemented in the middle with dashes of lightning. On 7 May 2012, Channel 5 previewed a revamped Big Brother eye for the 13th series which is the same shape as the 2011 eye but a multicoloured version. The Celebrity Big Brother 2013 eye was the same shape but had a winter style to match the theme of the series.

Theme tune

The theme tune was written and produced by Elementfour, a collaboration between Paul Oakenfold 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. The single was also the lead single from the double album soundtrack, released in 2000. The longest version of the theme tune lasts 10 minutes and 2 seconds (10:02), the 12" mix.

Technical details

Series 1–6 of Big Brother (2000–2005) and 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 ratio instead of the by then more common 16:9 widescreen format. From Big Brother 7 (2006) the 16:9 format was adopted.

In 2011, Big Brother began broadcasting in HD after its move to Channel 5. Big Brother can also be viewed on Demand 5, Channel 5's catchup service.

Media interest

Big Brother used to be highly publicised in the United Kingdom: most tabloid newspapers and gossip magazines covered 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. Endemol 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 as of 2010 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 as of 2010 was a presenter on ITV'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).

Jade Goody: Ultimate Housemate

Ultimate Big Brother final, a 15-minute documentary entitled Jade Goody: Ultimate Housemate was shown in memory of Big Brother contestant Jade Goody, who died on 22 March 2009 following a short battle with cervical cancer. Goody first appeared in Big Brother 3 in 2002, Celebrity Big Brother 5 and Big Brother Panto and the second season of Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother.

Series details and viewership

Channel 4 (2000–2010)

Series	Launch date	Finale date	Days	Housemates	Winner	Prize money	Average viewers (millions)	Episodes
Big Brother 1	14 July 2000	15 September 2000	64	11	Craig Phillips	£70,000	4.5	52
Big Brother 2	25 May 2001	27 July 2001			Brian Dowling			55
Big Brother 3	24 May 2002	26 July 2002		14	Kate Lawler		5.8	72
Big Brother 4	23 May 2003	25 July 2003		13	Cameron Stout		4.6	73
Big Brother 5	28 May 2004	6 August 2004	71		Nadia Almada	£63,500	5.1	82
Big Brother 6	27 May 2005	12 August 2005	78	16	Anthony Hutton	£50,000	4.6	90
Big Brother 7	18 May 2006	18 August 2006	93	22	Pete Bennett	£100,000	4.7	107
Big Brother 8	30 May 2007	31 August 2007	94	23	Brian Belo		3.9	96
Big Brother 9	5 June 2008	5 September 2008	93	21	Rachel Rice		3.6	108
Big Brother 10	4 June 2009	4 September 2009		22	Sophie Reade	£71,320	2.5
Big Brother 11	9 June 2010	24 August 2010	77	21	Josie Gibson	£100,000	3.0	86

Channel 5 (2011–present)

Series	Launch date	Finale date	Days	Housemates	Winner	Prize money	Average viewers (millions)	Episodes
Big Brother 12	9 September 2011	11 November 2011	64	15	Aaron Allard-Morgan	£50,990	1.6	71
Big Brother 13	5 June 2012	13 August 2012	70	17	Luke Anderson	£50,000	1.8	73
Big Brother 14	13 June 2013			14

Other spin-offs

Series	Launch date	Finale date	Days	Housemates	Winner	Channel	Average viewers (millions)	Episodes
Teen Big Brother	13 October 2003	17 October 2003	10	8	Paul Brennan	Channel 4	2.6	5
Big Brother Panto	20 December 2004	5 January 2005	11	10	none	E4	—	12
Ultimate Big Brother	24 August 2010	10 September 2010	18	14	Brian Dowling	Channel 4	3.1	22

Sponsorships

Channel 4 (2000–2010)

Series	Sponsor	Slogan	Notes	Years
Big Brother 1	Southern Comfort	N/A		2000
Celebrity Big Brother 1	N/A			2001
Big Brother 2	BT Cellnet	It's The Buzz
Big Brother 3	O 2	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				2004–05
Celebrity Big Brother 3				2005
Big Brother 6
Celebrity Big Brother 4	The Carphone Warehouse	Get Star Treatment	See note 2	2006
Big Brother 7		Get Together
Celebrity Big Brother 5		Get Star Treatment	See note 3	2007
Big Brother 8	Virgin Media	For a Happy House	See note 4
Celebrity Hijack	Virgin Mobile		See note 5	2008
Big Brother 9
Celebrity Big Brother 6	Dreams	Britain’s leading Bed Specialist	See note 6	2009
Big Brother 10	Lucozade Energy	Little Brother vs. Big Brother
Celebrity Big Brother 7	Dreams	Everything for a Great Night's Sleep		2010
Big Brother 11	Freederm	Skincare for Spot-prone skin
Ultimate Big Brother

Channel 5 (2011–present)

Series	Sponsor	Slogan	Notes	Years
Celebrity Big Brother 8	Freederm	Well worth a closer look		2011
Big Brother 12
Celebrity Big Brother 9	Plusnet	N/A		2012
Big Brother 13	Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL	If you've got the attitude we've got the colour
Celebrity Big Brother 10
Celebrity Big Brother 11	Dreams	Britain's favourite Bed Specialist		2013
Big Brother 14	SuperCasino	Feel it for real	See note 7
Celebrity Big Brother 12

• ^1 BT Cellnet changed its name to O2, the sponsor is therefore the same as the previous series
• ^2 The 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 franchise
• ^3 Due to the race row the sponsorship was cut off halfway through the series
• ^4 The cost of this sponsorship was £2.5 million
• ^5 Although the change of the name of the sponsor, it is still the same company and the same sponsor adverts were used
• ^6 The cost of this sponsorship was £800,000

• ^7 This sponsorship is only shown after 9.00pm

Shows

Main article: List of Big Brother (UK) shows

Other spin-offs

Teen Big Brother

Teen Big Brother was a special version of Big Brother where eight 18-year olds live in the Big Brother House for ten days. Presented by Big Brother's Little Brother host Dermot O'Leary and narrated by Marcus Bentley, the series aired in October 2003 on Channel 4 and E4. Unlike all other Big Brother series, Teen Big Brother was pre-recorded and shown some months after the contestants had left the house.

Big Brother Panto

E4 and T4 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.

Ultimate Big Brother

Ultimate Big Brother was the final series of Big Brother to air on Channel 4. It started on 24 August 2010, immediately following the finale of Big Brother 11, and ended on 10 September 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 Grahame and third place was awarded to Chantelle Houghton.

Spoofs, parodies and cultural references

In the UK, Big Brother has been satirised and spoofed by many comedians including Alan Carr, 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.

Dead Set

Main article: Dead Set

In October 2008, E4 aired Dead Set, a five-part horror series written by Charlie Brooker, 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.

Controversy and criticism

Main article: Controversy and criticism of Big Brother (UK)

Since it began 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

Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother were nominated for and won several awards during its time on Channel 4. However the series hasn't been nominated for any major awards since its move to Channel 5 in 2011. Celebrity Big Brother and host Brian Dowling have been longlisted for the National Television Awards in 2012 and 2013 however both never made the final shortlist of nominations on the night.

Year	Award Show	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2001	British Academy Television Awards	Innovation Award	Big Brother 1	Won
	National Television Awards 2001	Most Popular Factual Programme	Big Brother 2	Won
2002	National Television Awards 2002	Most Popular Factual Programme	Big Brother 3	Won
	National Television Awards 2002	Most Popular Entertainment Presenter	Davina McCall	Nominated
2003	National Television Awards 2003	Most Popular Factual Programme	Big Brother 4	Nominated
	National Television Awards 2003	Most Popular Entertainment Presenter	Davina McCall	Nominated
2004	National Television Awards 2004	Most Popular Reality Programme	Big Brother 5	Won
	National Television Awards 2004	Most Popular Entertainment Presenter	Davina McCall	Nominated
	National Television Awards 2004	Most Popular Entertainment Presenter	Dermot O'Leary	Nominated
2005	National Television Awards 2005	Most Popular Reality Programme	Big Brother 6	Won
	National Television Awards 2005	Most Popular Entertainment Presenter	Davina McCall	Nominated
2006	National Television Awards 2006	Most Popular Reality Programme	Big Brother 7	Won
	National Television Awards 2006	Most Popular Reality Programme	Celebrity Big Brother 4	Nominated
	National Television Awards 2006	Most Popular TV Contender	Nikki Grahame	Won
	National Television Awards 2006	Most Popular TV Contender	Pete Bennett	Nominated
	National Television Awards 2006	Most Popular TV Contender	Chantelle Houghton	Nominated
	National Television Awards 2006	Most Popular Entertainment Presenter	Davina McCall	Nominated
2007	British Academy Television Awards	Pioneer Audience Award	Celebrity Big Brother 5	Nominated
	National Television Awards 2007	Most Popular Entertainment Programme	Big Brother 8	Nominated
2008	National Television Awards 2008	Most Popular Entertainment Programme	Big Brother 9	Nominated
2009	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Sexiest Male	Stuart Pilkington	Nominated
	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Sexiest Male	Dale Howard	Won
	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Love to Hate Award	Rex Newmark	Won
	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Best Reality TV Moment	Luke Marsden and Rebecca Shiner kiss	Nominated
	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Most Memorable Moment	Mohamed and Kathreya's eviction	Nominated
	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Best Host	Davina McCall	Won
	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Best Reality Show	Big Brother 9	Nominated
	Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009	Reality TV Legend Award	Davina McCall	Won
2010	National Television Awards 2010	Most Popular Entertainment Programme	Big Brother 10	Nominated
2011	National Television Awards 2011	Most Popular Entertainment Presenter	Davina McCall	Nominated
	National Television Awards 2011	Most Popular Entertainment Programme	Big Brother 11	Nominated

See also

• Big Brother Franchise
• Big Brother housemate list
• Celebrity Big Brother housemate list

External links

Channel 5 series links

• Big Brother at Channel5.com
• Big Brother on Twitter
• Big Brother on Facebook

Channel 4 series links

• Big Brother at Channel4.com (inactive)
• Big Brother at IMDb