Big Brother (UK series 7)
The show format is unchanged from previous years. A number of
contestants (known as "housemates") live in a
purpose-built House at
Elstree Studios, totally isolated from the rest of the world. Each week, one is evicted from the House, usually by way of a public
vote from housemates' nominations, but there are exceptions. The final housemate to leave wins £100,000. There is no runner up prize.
Companion shows
Big Brother's Big Mouth and
Big Brother's Little Brother are retained this series, with the addition of
Big Brother's Big Brain (a
psychology show), hosted by
Dermot O'Leary. Live action is available online through the official Channel 4 website;
NTL BroadbandPlus; and by pressing the
red button on E4 via
Sky Digital (
UK, not
ROI subscribers) and
cable. At the start of the series live action was also available by pressing the
red button on E4 via
Freeview, however the service was removed a few days prior to the launch of
Film4 on Freeview.
Of the twenty-two housemates introduced into the House, fourteen entered on the launch night. This is greater than previous years of the show. Due to the departures of Shahbaz and Dawn, two new housemates, Sam and Aisleyne, were introduced as part of the Meal or No Meal task (see
Week 2). George walked from the House on Day 13 as he didn't want to be famous. On Day 23, Susie entered the House as Big Brother's lucky Golden Ticket winner. Five more housemates entered on Day 44 (Jonathan, Spiral, Jennie, Michael & Jayne) to the House Next Door, totalling 22 housemates.
This series overall has seen the largest number of housemates to leave without eviction with three so far exiting the House. This beats
the third series, where there were a total of fourteen housemates and two walk outs; and
the fifth series, in which two were ejected and the series had a total of thirteen housemates. Series seven's housemate numbers also top
the sixth series of the show, in which even after the "Secret Garden" twist, there were only a total of sixteen contestants. At one point there were more additional housemates than original housemates in series seven. During Week 9 following Nikki's eviction there was a total of 6 additional housemates and five original housemates having entered the House on launch night.
On Day 79 it was revealed that the public would be voting four former housemates (Grace, Jayne, Lea, Lisa, Michael, Mikey, Nikki, Sam, Spiral or Susie) back into the House Next Door with one housemate moving back into the main House on Day 86. Davina revealed during the live show that Bonnie and Sezer have not been invited back "due to legal reasons". Dawn, George, Jonathan and Shahbaz were not invited back because they left without the public voting them out. The returning housemate will be eligible to win the £100,000 prize. On Day 83, Davina revealed on a special live show that Grace, Lea, Mikey and Nikki would be moving into the House Next Door, and this was also shown to the remaining housemates.
Week 1
During week one, "The Big Brotherhood" task was introduced, in which some housemates were elected to "The Big Brotherhood" and hence received their
suitcases and were immune from eviction that week.
["Big Brother Strikes", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.] Lisa and Shahbaz, as leaders of "The Big Brotherhood", chose the housemates who would enter this group.
On Day 5, Shahbaz hid the housemates' food in the garden. After it was uncovered, Shahbaz admitted this to the other housemates and, feeling increasingly ignored and bullied, left the show voluntarily on Day 6.
["Shahbaz Has Left the Building", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.] Mikey became the new "Big Brotherhood" leader alongside Lisa and chose George to join "The Big Brotherhood" with him.
On Day 6 all the housemates (with the exception of: Bonnie, Dawn, Glyn, Imogen and Nikki) were members of "The Big Brotherhood" and therefore all received their suitcases and were immune from eviction. The members of "The Big Brotherhood" were told to choose the last two members of "The Big Brotherhood" out of the remaining five housemates. Nikki and Imogen were chosen and Big Brother revealed that therefore Bonnie, Dawn and Glyn were to face the public vote that week. As Bonnie, Dawn and Glyn were not chosen to join "The Big Brotherhood" this also meant that all three would never receive their suitcases for their entire stay in the Big Brother House.
On Day 7, Dawn asked to leave the Big Brother House after receiving a message from her family that her sister was ill. Dawn admitted to the other housemates that this was
code that "things (such as press coverage) were getting too heavy". As a result, the next day, Dawn was ejected from the House for rule-breaking.
["Big Brother Cracks the Code", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.] This therefore meant that now only Bonnie and Glyn faced the public vote. Bonnie was evicted on Day 9, receiving 78% of the public vote against Glyn's 22%.
["Bonnie Has Been Evicted", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.]Week 2
The second task introduced to the housemates was that of "Meal or No Meal" (a pun on the title of another
Endemol television series,
Deal or No Deal). The task entailed the housemates answering various questions, in order to win a luxury food budget. At the climax of the task (on Day 12), Pete was asked questions answered wrongly in previous rounds. Getting three out of four right, Pete won the House two new housemates, Sam and Aisleyne.
["NEWSFLASH: New Housemates Arrive", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.]George left voluntarily on Day 13.
["Goodbye, George", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.] That same day, both Sezer and Imogen were banned from nominating due to their discussion of tactics the previous night. In this round of nominations, Richard, Lea and Sezer were voted to face the public vote.
["Nominations Revealed", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.]On Day 16, Sezer became the second person to be evicted from the House with a record 91.6% of the vote against Lea and Richard; this was the highest eviction percentage in the history of
Big Brother UK.
["Sezer evicted", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-06-13.]Week 3
On Day 20, it was revealed that Nikki and Sam were to face the public vote that week.
On Day 23, Sam became the third housemate to be evicted, having received 53.7% of the vote to Nikki's 46.3%, making it the closest eviction during the series so far.
["Sam, you have been evicted!", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.] Susie, having bought a
golden ticket from
eBay, entered the House later after Sam had left. She was to be the "Golden Housemate", thereby having to wear only gold at all times for the duration of the week, and being the only Housemate to nominate the next week.
["Golden Girl", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.].
Week 4
On Day 26, Susie nominated Grace and Nikki for eviction; as she was the "Golden Housemate" she was the only housemate to nominate that week and therefore Grace and Nikki automatically faced the public vote.
During Week 4, the housemates were set "The State of Susie" task. This entailed the House being adorned with images and statues of Susie, making Susie the leader of the
dictatorship and the other housemates her followers.
["The State of Susie", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.] They failed the task four hours after it began and, overall, thirty-three fails were recorded, thirty more than were allowed, a record for the show.
["Record Breakers", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]On Day 30, Grace was evicted, receiving 87.9% of the public vote over Nikki's 12.1%.
["Grace is Evicted", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.] Moments before she left, she threw water at Susie. When Aisleyne lost her temper, she was told to "shut up" and was insulted by Grace.
["Parting Shot", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]Week 5
On Day 33, Glyn, Imogen, Lea, Lisa and Nikki were punished for discussing nominations that week. Big Brother told them that they would all be banned from normal nominations and instructed them to each nominate one of the other rule breakers, in front of the other housemates. Nikki gained the most votes and therefore automatically faced the public vote. After the other housemates nominated, Nikki was joined for eviction by Imogen, Lisa and Mikey.
["Shock and Awe", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]During Week 5, the task was to perform a baton routine, dressed as
Majorettes. Glyn was appointed leader and led the housemates to pass the task.
["Give Us a Twirl", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]On Day 37, Lisa was evicted from the House with roughly 60% of the vote.
["Lisa, You Have Been Evicted!", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]Week 6
On Day 38, the housemates were set a task to rub another person with soap until all of the soap was gone. Imogen, Glyn and Susie did not complete the task first, but won through the other teams being disqualified, winning the use of a luxury
spa, during which, Glyn got very drunk and vomited repeatedly.
["Scrubbed Up Badly", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]["Champagne Supernova", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.] |
House plan with the House Next Door highlighted |
On Day 41, Big Brother announced that Aisleyne and Susie would face the public vote, however, contrary to what the housemates believed, the public would be voting for which housemate they wanted to move into the 'House Next Door', which was two rooms and a garden that functioned as a self contained House (although it shared the diary room with the main House) and was kept secret from the main House.
["On the Move", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.] The next task, announced that day, was for Imogen to empty more than half of the milk in a tank containing 796
pints of
milk, without the other housemates' knowledge (who had been told the opposite).
["Secret Saboteur revealed", ''Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.] She succeeded, after eight of the forty-eight possible hours.
On Day 44, Aisleyne was voted to move to the House Next Door, receiving 67.3% over Susie's 32.3%. She was then joined by five new housemates: Jayne, Jennie, Jonathan, Michael and Spiral.
The new housemates had been in seclusion for nine days prior to entering the House, and had therefore had the opportunity to see some of the previous action in the House but were unaware of the twist they were about to become part of. Aisleyne was informed that, while she would return to the House, she would have to evict four of the new housemates. In fact, three of these housemates would actually be moved into the Big Brother House, while the fourth would be evicted for real. The remaining housemate would also move into the Big Brother House with Aisleyne after the eviction.
Week 7
During Day 45, housemates were given a "Silent dance-a-thon" task, where they had to wear dance outfits, blindfolds and listen to an
MP3 Player, continuing to dance on a platform for as long as possible. The winner would open a "box of good things" to receive their prize.
["Don't Stop Moving", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.] Glyn was the last housemate dancing and the prize was a miniature trophy, engraved with "Big Brother Dancing Champion 2006".
["Glyn's Mystery Prize revealed", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]On Days 46 and 48, Aisleyne sent Jayne, Michael and Jennie to the main House, believing that she was evicting them. On Day 49, during a special, live episode of Big Brother, Aisleyne was told to evict either Jonathan or Spiral (having been told about her task that week). She evicted Jonathan, for whom, for the second time in
Big Brother in the United Kingdom's history, there was no audience outside.
["Jonathan, You Have Been Evicted!", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-18.]On Day 51, Lea became the sixth person to be evicted from the main House by a public vote, with 53.8% of the vote against Richard's 46.2%.
["Lea, You Have Been Evicted", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.]Week 8
On Day 54, Big Brother told Jayne that she had broken one of the fundamental rules of Big Brother, since she had relayed her impressions of the other housemates before she had entered the House. As a punishment, all of the housemates except her were to face the public vote.
["Mass Nomination Shocker", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-07-14.] Over the next few days, Jayne continued to break the rules, culminating in the group only being provided with basic rations of food for that week.
["Uh-Oh, Jayne's in Trouble", Big Brother Channel 4 Website. URL last accessed on 2006-07-14.]On Day 58, Nikki became the seventh housemate to be evicted from the House, with 37.2% of the votes.
["Nikki Evicted: The Reaction", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.]Week 9
On Day 59, to remind the group of the rules, housemates sat an
examination based on the House rules. Since several housemates didn't answer all questions correctly, they failed the task, so Big Brother banned use of the
swimming pool.
["Must Try Harder", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.]On Day 63, Big Brother set a task relating to fitness. The frst part consisted of housemates devising and carrying out a training programme. Aisleyne, Pete and Mikey were elected as the leaders of the task, each in charge of separate domains.
["Leader of the Pack", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.] The housemates successfully passed the task and regained access to the swimming pool.
["Water Treat", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.]The next day, the rest of the task was revealed: housemates were to complete an assault course in a set time, incurring penalties when stations weren't completed satisfactorily.
[":Unfair Funfair", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.] The housemates passed the task and were rewarded with an
eighties-theme party, along with a luxury shopping budget for the following week.
On Day 65, Jayne became the eighth to be evicted from the House, with 67.1% of the public vote against Richard's 32.8%.
["Jayne, You Have Been Evicted", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.]Week 10
On Day 66, the "Best Friends" task was announced with housemates paired up for the week's activities. This included nominations (when choosing their partners, the housemates didn't know this). Each pair chose a single fellow housemate for eviction and Big Brother later announced that the nominated housemates, along with their "Best Friends", would be up for eviction. The housemates nominated were Susie, Michael, Spiral and Richard. Imogen & Pete had to face eviction along with their "Best Friend". The pair with the lowest share of the public vote would be evicted.
[Nominations Revealed",Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.]On Day 69, the "Prison" task was announced and "The House Next Door" had become a prison. Housemate pairs chose which was to be an officer, and which a prisoner.
["Crime Doesn't Pay", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.] The officers lived off the luxury shopping budget while remaining in the main House, whereas the prisoners were permitted to return to the main House just twice a day. A hatch behind the middle bed in the prison led to a hidden luxurious bathroom and a beach garden, with a well stocked bar and several other luxuries.
["Newsflash: Jail House Shock", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.] In order to pass the task, the guards had to not discover that the prisoners were enjoying the luxuries.
The next day, Pete was chosen by the prison guards to be freed from prison.
["Guilty Pleasures", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-07-29.] As Pete returned to the main House, Big Brother announced that Richard was to take his place.
["Jail House Swap", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-07-29.] On Day 71, the results of the task were revealed; the housemates passed and the prisoners were rewarded with letters from home, along with the luxury food budget.
["Shady Passed", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-07-29.]Richard celebrated his 34th birthday on Day 72 (
28 July). Pete, as Richard's best friend, had a choose a theme for a party. Pete chose
Madonna.
Later that day, Michael and Spiral became the ninth and tenth housemates to be evicted, after only 9.7% of the public voted to save them. This was the first time in the history of the United Kingdom Big Brother where two housemates were evicted from the House and interviewed together.
["You Have Been Evicted!", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-07-29.]Week 11
On Day 73, the housemates were given a task by Big Brother; each of the housemates were told that together they must work out their success rate of the psychological tests they took before entering the House. Each of the housemates must rank themselves in order to decipher who they believed to have scored the highest and who they believe to have scored the lowest. The housemates must estimate their success rate in: Emotional stability, intelligence and
Machiavellianism. Each section of the task, if completed successfully, won them different rewards and if the housemates were to pass all three sections of the task they would receive an extra mystery prize.
["Task: Getting to Know You", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-07-30.]Housemates passed
parts of the emotional stability and Machiavellianism sections of the task but failed to correctly identify the success rate in the intelligence test
["Just Who Do You Think You Are?", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-10.]; this therefore supplied the housemates with alcohol and music but no snacks or special prize.
On Day 74, housemates awoke to find a giant postcard placed under the diary room door; the postcard informed the housemates that Big Brother had gone on holiday to
Margate and will return later in the week. In order to talk to Big Brother housemates must use the "Automated Big Brother" system, which is similar to that of a touch pad telephone.
["Answer on a Postcard", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-07-30.] Housemates were told to make postcards for Big Brother and were rewarded with a sleepover and PJ party.
On Day 75, Each member of the group made their nominations to Automated Big Brother, pressing 1 on the keypad to make their first nomination, 2 for the second and 3 to confirm. If a housemate's reasons for their nominations were not valid, they were told that their explanation had not been recognised by the system. Big Brother played a trick on Susie by pretending she was in a queue and that "Automated Big Brother" was currently "busy" dealing with other problems. Susie was "put on hold" for half an hour, causing housemates to think she had been evicted.
[Queue Must Be Joking, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-07-31.]On Day 76, housemates gathered, earlier than usual, for the week's nominations to be announced. As Automated Big Brother was announcing "Imogen" it began to say "And...." but a malfunctioning noise, followed by a 'bleep' was all that followed. Housemates were left confused, speculating all sorts of theories as to what happened or will be happening. That afternoon, Big Brother returned from holidaying in
Margate and it was revealed that Imogen, Jennie, Mikey and Susie faced eviction this week. However, the housemates are unaware that the eviction would be a double one.
[Nominations Announced, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-01.][Four Play, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-04.]On Day 77, housemates were given a task by Big Brother called 'Big Brother University', where they had to become students and learn five different subjects. In order to pass the week's shopping task, six out of the eight "students" had to pass their degrees. The House had been decorated like a university hall, with a BBU shield and a pool table in the seating area (although its use was restricted to between the hours of 1-2pm, 6-7pm and 12-6am). Degrees were split into four sections. Aisleyne and Glyn studied
Communication Studies, Imogen and Mikey studied
Anatomy, Jennie and Pete studied
English Literature and
Drama by performing a scene from
A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Richard and Susie studied a new language - Welsh. Housemates were given study material and told that although they had to study in pairs.
On Day 78, the eight housemates were tested individually. Pete and Richard failed but as the six others passed the group were given a luxury shopping budget for week 12. The graduation was celebrated with a party.
On Day 79 Mikey and Susie became the 11th and 12th housemates to be evicted with 48.5% and 59.4% of the public vote respectively. The eviction show was attended by past evicted housemates Sam, Lea, Lisa, Grace, Nikki, Spiral, Jayne and Michael. They were joined by Mikey and Susie after their interviews. Davina then announced that viewers could vote for four evicted housemates to move into the House Next Door on Tuesday's nightly show. Six housemates are not eligible for the vote. George, Dawn, Shahbaz and Jonathan are not eligible because they left the show without a public vote. Both Bonnie and Sezer are not allowed due to legal reasons.
Week 12
On Day 80, housemates were given their task 'Big Brother Board Game' where the House had been transformed into a giant board game and the housemates competed to win a special prize - a non-transferrable ticket to the final. The squares were numbered 1-80 (the number of days so far) and the housemate who reached Day 80 first will win their place in the final. Jennie won the board game task and went to the Diary Room where she was presented with a board game, her ticket and a bottle of champagne.
[Pawn Stars, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-05.] She would also be immune from the next eviction.
On Day 81, housemates were given the task to clean the Big Brother House. They were given music to motivate them whilst they cleaned and when they finished they were rewarded with wine. Later the housemates had a question each to discuss with the rest of the House and they were to report their findings back to Big Brother after. Questions such as 'Why do people have eyebrows?' and 'What would happen to Earth if an alien spaceship stole the
moon?' were asked. As they successfully discussed their questions, they were awarded a Chinese takeaway.
On Day 82, the housemates made their final nominations. Also on that day, housemates were given the last task by Big Brother called "Big Brother FM". They had to pretend to be DJs and invite special guests, and play music. There were eight shows, and the task lasted for 90 minutes. The radio shows were available to download by the public, who would decide if the housemates should pass or fail the task. They were awarded a luxury shopping budget, after the show proved popular with the public.
[You Let Them Eat Cake, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-10.]On Day 83, four evictees (Grace, Lea, Nikki and Mikey) entered the "House Next Door". After Friday's eviction, one of these four will be chosen by the remaining housemates to return to the
Big Brother House, and will be eligible to win the £100,000 prize. Nikki was the public's overwhelming choice: she received 63% of the 10 way vote, with Grace getting 8.4%, and Lea and Mikey 7.3% each. Upon entering the Big Brother House, the former evictees arrived via the diary room and their presence was revealed to the remaining housemates via the plasma screen in the living room. On hearing the news that four ex-housemates are living Next Door, Glyn attempted to get into the House Next Door by climbing on the roof and therefore breaking the rules. He was called down from the roof by Big Brother and eventually came down. He was then called to the Diary Room where he was given a warning by Big Brother. Halfway through the warning he heard noises from the House Next Door. Glyn then attempted to communicate with the House Next Door. He was given the silent treatment before Big Brother ordered him out of the Diary Room. Glyn was called to the Diary Room the day after and was told he will receive his punishment on Friday. Big Brother has told Glyn that his punishment will be severe, however, what this will be is unknown at this point in time.
[Detention!, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-10.] It was also revealed to the public that Imogen and Richard face the public vote, however, housemates did not find out the results of the nomination until Day 84.
On Day 84, directly after Imogen and Richard were called to the Diary Room to reveal that they face eviction this week, they were both moved into the House Next Door to join Grace, Lea, Nikki and Mikey. They will both stay there until Friday when one of them will be evicted from the House Next Door. Together with their fellow ex-housemates they are only allowed to talk about life inside the Big Brother House or face being severely punished. All housemates and ex-housemates are aware of this, as this was shown by Big Brother on the plasma screens in both the main house and the "House Next Door".
[Meet the Neighbours, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-10.] After the eviction the remaining housemates in the main House will choose from one of the four ex-housemates to return (along with either Imogen or Richard) to the Big Brother House.
On Day 85,
Big Brother had a birthday surprise for Grace, as she celebrates her 21st birthday the next day. At midnight, she was called to the Diary Room, and was given a "key" to the main house, and was told that it expired 21 minutes later, i.e. she only had 21 minutes in the main house. Grace, her fellow ex-housemates and current housemates, were unaware of the surprise before the event, but housemates and ex-housemates saw Grace receive her key on the plasma screens.
[Grace's Birthday Surprise, Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on 2006-08-10.]On Day 86, one of the ex-housemates in the House Next Door will eventually return to the Big Brother
house, and will become eligible to win the series, and therefore the prize money. [Blasts From the Past],
Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL: last accessed on
2006-08-10.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
|---|
Against
Public Vote | Bonnie,
Glyn | Lea,
Richard,
Sezer | Nikki,
Sam | Grace,
Nikki | Imogen,
Lisa,
Mikey,
Nikki | Aisleyne,
Susie | Lea,
Richard | All but
Jayne | Jayne,
Richard | Imogen & Susie;
Michael & Spiral;
Pete & Richard | Imogen,
Jennie,
Mikey,
Susie | Imogen,
Richard |
|---|
| Evicted | Bonnie | Sezer | Sam | Grace | Lisa | Aisleyne | Jonathan
Lea| Nikki | Jayne | Michael &
Spiral | Mikey
Susie |
|---|
| % Vote | 78.0%
to evict | 91.6%
to evict | 53.7%
to evict | 87.9%
to evict | 60.3%
to evict | 67.3%
to move | Aisleyne's Choice
to evict
53.8%
to evict| 37.2%
to evict | 67.1%
to evict | 9.7%
to save | 48.5%
(out of 4)
to evict
59.4%
(out of 3)
to evict |
|---|
|
A screenshot of the title sequence |
The title sequence this year contains hidden words, which are clearer when watched in slow motion. At the start is a red screen (teal, purple and orange for
BBLB,
BBBM and
BBBB respectively), containing phrases such as "This is the title sequence for Big Brother", "Not for transmission", and a copyright year of 1903 (written MCMIII), the birth year of
George Orwell. Other words flashed on screen include "You are being observed", and, in sequence the text "cam 01", "cam 09", "cam 08" and "cam 04" is shown at the top of the screen, making 1984, another reference to
Nineteen Eighty-Four.
[Opening Titles The Big Brother Show 2006 URL last accessed on 2006-07-01.]More than years previously,
Big Brother has been criticised in the
media for both its choice of housemates and its practice once the housemates are inside. Initially the programme faced accusations of exploiting a man with
Tourette syndrome, by accepting him as a housemate. The Tourette Syndrome Association of the U.K. (TSA UK) "claimed the broadcaster had deliberately cast someone with relatively strong symptoms in order to make him a 'figure of fun'."
[Born, Matt. Tourette's man 'exploited by Big Brother' Daily Mail. Accessed 22 May 2006.] The TSA UK claimed that this year's contestant, Pete Bennett, could suffer in the House, and also stated that parents were concerned that their children could be subjected to bullying as a consequence of Pete's behaviour inside the House.
Channel 4 said Pete's inclusion could educate people about the
syndrome.
["Tourette's housemate 'exploited'", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.] His condition was reported to have been aggravated by drug use.
[Parr, Charlotte. BB's Tourette lad has "fried his mind". Accessed 22 May 2006.] Pete's mum said "I'm angry when people say Pete shouldn't be on the show - that it is in someway exploitative. It's ridiculous. Do we want people with Tourette's to be accepted or marginalised?"
["He's not being exploited, says Pete's mum", Daily Mail. URL last accessed on 2006-06-10.] In
The Guardian of
July 11, Rebbecca Atkinson remarked "At last, in series seven, and not a day too soon, there is a disabled housemate"
[Big Brother's 'freak show' has produced the first warts-and-all disabled person on TV - when will the soaps follow?, The Guardian. URL last accessed on 2006-07-11.]Further criticism arose when contestant Glyn Wise was reprimanded for communicating in his first language,
Welsh, to housemate Imogen Thomas. Big Brother deemed this a form of '
code' and issued a warning to Glyn, who retorted "But Welsh is British". Following the incident, the
Welsh Language Society complained to
Channel 4,
Ofcom and
S4C, asking "are we moving towards a state where 'big brother' is watching over us and deciding what language we can and cannot speak?" Since this incident, however, there have been numerous occasions on which Glyn and Imogen have been aired speaking Welsh, with the language subtitled for English-speaking viewers. Clearly, there is no longer the problem of the prohibition of Welsh language in the House as Glyn and Imogen have continued to converse in Welsh. Such discussions are broadcast with English subtitles. Indeed, Big Brother has gone to the lengths of communicating with Glyn in Welsh in the Diary Room for humorous effect, much to the delight of Glyn and Spiral.
["Big Brother's warning over Welsh", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.]The programme attracted more criticism on
May 31 for putting a total of five "vulnerable" people in the Big Brother House. As well as Pete, Shahbaz was revealed to be mentally and emotionally unstable and threatened to commit
suicide on live television; Lea suffers from
Body dysmorphic disorder; Sam has admitted to being shunned by family members because of
homosexuality, and possible
gender identity disorder; and Nikki has suffered from
anorexia and been
sectioned in the past due to the condition. A spokeswoman for mental health charity
SANE claimed that producers are "playing fast and loose with people's lives." A spokesperson for
Rethink commented "The programme should not profit from people having a breakdown." A spokesman defended the show saying that a
psychologist is always available for housemates.
["Big Brother TV's evil eye", The Sun Online. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.]The decision to allow one evicted housemate, who would be eligible to win the £100,000 prize money, to return to the House was also criticised. Media watchdog
Ofcom confirmed that it had received over 1000 complaints from viewers about this matter and Channel 4 had received 500. Ofcom quickly advised viewers that the matter should be taken up with
ICSTIS.
["Concerns about voting for previously evicted housemates", Ofcom. URL last accessed on 2006-08-09.] On the day after the four ex-housemates entered the House Next Door, ICSTIS released a statement confirming that it was dealing with over 2,500 complaints and that a "full, formal investigation" was possible.
["Big Brother - A statement from ICSTIS", ICSTIS. URL last accessed on 2006-08-09.] One day later, ICSTIS followed up its claims and confirmed that it would be launching an official investigation.
["ICSTIS begins formal Big Brother investigation", ICSTIS. URL last accessed on 2006-08-10.] On the day prior to the results being announced,
Channel 4 had stated that it still considered the vote to be as a success as they had already recieved 400,000 votes, making it the most sucessful of the series. 36p from each call and 26p from each text also went to charity.
["Anger over Big Brother 'comeback'", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-08-07.]. Channel 4 raised over £250,000 for charity on the vote alone and the money will be split between three charities: Shelter, The Teenage Cancer Trust and the winning housemate's chosen charity.
["Returning Housemates Raise £250,000", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-08-09.]
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Channel4.com - Big Brother
