Big Brother’s Big Bye Bye

As an announcement, “You have been evicted, please leave the Big Brother house’’ has been bellowed to the nation for a decade through our television sets, this proclamation is now being referred to Big Brother as an entity, as it is being evicted from our screens forever. A moment that for many could not have come sooner, yet equally some have dreaded. A TV show that seemingly splits public opinion, much in the same fashion that it systematically divides its residents from the house each week during the course of a series. However, with the show drawn to a close, how will the programme be remembered?

I was a college student when Big Brother was a little lad in its own right, as it burst on to the scene and communal consciousness back in the year 2000. So in some perverse way it has been my big brother during my adult years. Yet very few thought it would snowball into the juggernaut it became when ‘Nasty’ Nick Bateman was unraveled for his treachery and deceit during the show’s original run. This for me and probably for many others it is what triggered attention to watch the programme in its first instance. Dubbed primarily as a social experiment backed then, for some reason or another that element of the show had been well and truly lost over the years, and was seen to provide tense and edgy entertainment. Elements that ultimately will define the show’s existence during its ten year stretch, and probably contributed to its final demise. Bringing storms and controversy, one could see it as a hot potato to the powers that be at Channel 4 which they no longer wanted to handle. We have seen live fights, tantrums, sex, police and political involvement, and even international incidents, along with a steady gathering of detractors that have longed and championed a campaign for its end. I’m partially am one of these hecklers during its later years after being a long time fan after being disillusioned from the show’s sense of direction. However, after watching its ultimate series and recapping on past housemates and moments, it is easy harp on the negatives but even easier to forget and overlook its achievements.

Despite its weirdness and oddities Big Brother has compelled us throughout its term. Seen as the epicenter of what has become the mainstay era of reality television, its success has helped generate a plethora of established reality TV shows. Programming like X Factor, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Strictly Come Dancing, Popstars, Britain’s Got Talent, and Pop Idol just to name a few that all owe a debt of gratitude to the Channel 4 show for paving the way. Changing the face of British television as we know it, in opposition, yes it has helped dilute the quality and variety of programming that is on offer. TV stations seemingly look for any avenue to produce sometimes cheap and tacky reality shows to attract any kind of interest and lucrative phone voting and advertising revenue, based to some degree of the back of Big Brother. There is a place for all types of programming and undoubtedly reality television has its niche, just perhaps not so oversaturated. Maybe in time a more balanced assortment of programming can be availed to viewers, but this perhaps is set for another discussed point in time.

Aside from this and what became circus freak showings, Big Brother has given a discussion platform to important topical issues that effect people and British society as a whole. Clashes in culture as well as cultural exchanges and understandings have occurred during differing series, whilst bringing to light sexual gender and sexuality, bullying, tourettes, anorexia, physical disabilities, class diversions, political views, human privacy intrusion and what is socially tolerant in a 21st century Britain. It has helped redefine the status of racism within a multicultural nation and religious beliefs, and at the same time giving birth to what is a celebrity culture in the UK. Housemates enter as relative nonentities, to overnight personalities being plastered on glossy magazines, being the subject of TV interviews, and model shots. Who can forget Chantelle Houghton ‘Living the Dream’ and viewing the life of sassy Bermondsey girl in Jade Goody. Names that roll of the tongue, and when they left the house we wanted to know everything about them. Thus proving that dreams can come true and even the unknown can make it, and have their time in the sun no matter how short-lived it may be.

Additionally what cannot be unnoticed is its sense of emotional attachment. As a show that lasted for so long, it naturally provided attachment as it meant so much to many and cannot fathom living through a summer without it, and a sporadic celebrity edition during the winter months. Some have come to live, eat, drink, breathe, and even sleep Big Brother as fans sample every last ounce of the round the clock coverage it outputs. With its departure, a hole will be left as it fanatics look for this void to be filled. Though gone, what can be assured is that Big Brother has forever cemented its place in the annuals of British television history. It was ground breaking, revolutionary, and an innovator in many different fields both on and off screen. So as the dust settles and although no more, it presence will still resonate through related programmes and the genre it helped stem, as well as the legacy that it leaves behind as an occurrence. Big Brother will you ever return, well I guess like your motto states, “You decide”.