Big Brother (III) (2000– ) User Reviews

They've dragged it out yet again, and it's worse than ever.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 3/10 · 8 October 2023]

I honestly cannot believe that this has been dragged out for another year. Foolishly I washed the first episode of 2023's grand opening, and I won't be watching anymore.

Originally it was a social experiment, to see how people would love and work together in a confined space, now it's......just a desperate excuse for people to show off. They really have gone for a diverse bunch of quirky individuals, not sure I can put myself through it again.

It used to be watchable years back, and there were some characters, and some tragedies, at times it went too far, at times the producers had a lot to answer for.

It had its day in the sun, about twenty years ago, why couldn't they just leave this thing in the past, where it belonged.

3/10.

an idea that's limped past its sell-by date

[didi-5 · 6 January 2005]

'Big Brother' has now run for five seasons with 'real' people (i.e. ordinary Joes and Janes who were not celebrities) and has just begun a third season 'celebrity' version.

The trouble is that what was originally an idea of some originality and promise - shut a few contrasting personalities in a house with no contact with the outside world, intrusive cameras, and unusual tasks, for a few weeks and see what happens - after season 1 had passed future house-mates knew what to expect.

Subsequent seasons have seen the house-mates exploit their new-found 'fame' (for doing what, exactly?) not only after leaving the house, but while they are in there. So the challenges get ever more tedious, the tabloid and gossip mag column inches get longer, and the nation for some reason continues to watch.

Another nail in the coffin of British TV, an indication that poor taste and high ratings go hand in hand (that or the TV-viewing public at large really will watch anything and they get what they deserve).

There is no god...

[DanRaccoon · 1/10 · 10 June 2007]

What the hell is going on here? Is this someone's response for the demand of better programmes on the TV? Is this the revolution of the morons? Am I gonna run out of sentences here? NO I WON'T!!! I could go on forever pondering why this pile of utter crud has made it onto TV but it's a sure sign that England is surely losing brain cells and humanity. Being someone who was born here it makes me sad and furious that England could create something so foul, so unwatchable that it makes people want to die. The only thing that doesn't surprise me about this program is the fact that it is on Channel 4, I mean it seems to be the one where it shows all the idiotic, talentless celebs who couldn't tell a pile of sand from a glass window. What's ironic about this is that channel 4 once hosted a programme about the death of celebrity, and this is the same channel that hosts Big Brother which gives these morons the attention they do not deserve. GROW A BRAIN CHANNEL 4!!

What makes this programme so bad? Well first it's absolutely boring. I mean in the words of Billy Connely "People are sitting in a house, watching people sit in a house!". I mean tell me if I've missed something but what is the attraction of watching a bunch of people with the I.Q. of a sandwich sit in a house? The sex? GROW UP!! I mean it is better to stare out of a window than watch this, that's reality TV too, and far more interesting.

If you ask me this is what is causing the death of celebrity. It's just proof that the standards of British TV is going down the drain. And the fact that it has gone on for now a 8th series just backs up the fact that TV is rotting.

The word to describe this hasn't been invented yet in my opinion.

Incredibly Boring

[p-gammie · 1/10 · 1 January 2007]

To be honest I would much rather be having my teeth pulled out at the dentist than watching this rubbish. There seems to be no entertainment value at all, it's a load of people sat in a house for 24 hours doing nothing but argue and bitch about everything all day long. I would find it much more interesting if they actually did something interesting Even making them kill each other in horrific death matches would be more interesting. The only people I feel sorry for are the ordinary people who occasionally show up they get treated like escaped asylum patients. Finally there's the diary room the perfect chance for the contestants to bitch and moan what a bunch of assholes.

Cheap, lazy and evil television

[freemantle_uk · 1/10 · 27 May 2008]

Big Brother should not be allow on televisions and be boycotted by the viewing public. Unfortunately they are morons out there who enjoys this rubbish and because its cheap and easy to make Channel Four will not stop until there is no one left watching. This is a show based on hatred, conflict and humiliation. It degrades people in the most horrible ways possible. It looks for people who are desperate for fame and looks for the biggest freaks possible. The producers also looks for people who would end up fighting with each other, for example a homophobic and the most camp homosexual alive. Some of the people who end up on the show are really in need of psychiatric help. Big Brother is based on causing controversy and gives us a lot of z-list celebrates like the horrible Jane Goody who under normal circumstances would never been given any fame. It also looks for ways to get break the 9 o'clock watershed. I just can't watch Big Brother for more then a minute and always tries to avoid watching it. This is a show that needs to die and people should boycott watching this programme and force Channel Four to use the timeslot in a more productive manner!

It's a long way down to the bottom,but UK TV(and society) has finally arrived there

[BJJManchester · 1/10 · 10 June 2007]

Tony Hancock,Dennis Potter,Monty Python,Upstairs Downstairs,The Saint,Callan,Richard Dimbleby,Fawlty Towers,Morecambe and Wise,The Two Ronnies,Dad's Army,Only Fools and Horses,The Prisoner,Ronnie Barker,Steptoe and Son,John Cleese,Porridge,David Frost,Rising Damp,One Foot In The Grave..........yes,just some of the programmes and names that have been associated with British TV over the last fifty years or so which has given the country a justified reputation for the best TV in the world.But it was perhaps sadly inevitable with the natural demise of all and more of similar above individuals and TV shows that new replacements would have to be found in future generations.At the beginning of the 21st Century,some bright spark thought that a new and exciting concept called "Reality TV" was the answer to all these problems;it would be cheap to produce,featuring members of the public with secretly placed cameras around a specially built set,picking up all the various interactions and conversations,with the added bonus of assigned tasks and games,plus a public phone vote to evict various people until the last one left,who would be deemed the "winner".

To be fair,this was a mildly interesting idea at it's inception,and would've been just about acceptable for one series.But such has been the dumbing down of UK TV,and indeed seemingly British society as a whole in the new millennium,that the powers that be at CHANNEL FOUR have elongated this woefully thin concept to at the time of writing,an eighth series.What is disturbing is that this has led on to other tawdry reality shows springing up on other UK TV channels (I'M A CELEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE,LOVE ISLAND,THE FARM,CELEBRITY WRESTLING,even CELEBRITY DETOX,CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER,etc,etc,etc...)like unplanned illegitimate sprogs,with the British viewing public acting as unprepared,unwilling parents.The aforementioned programmes are virtually as tedious,dreary,lazy,banal and pointless as this one,but BIG BROTHER is wholly deserving of the lowest possible vote because it is possibly the main cause of the shallow brainlessness pervading most of UK popular culture in contemporary Britain.For example,the only so-called "celebrity magazines" at the turn of the century were the highly resistible OK and HELLO!,whose sickly,ghastly and vomit-inducing sycophancy to various public figures (most with very minor talents) was initially mocked by comedians,satirists and journalists,but even this mickey-taking soon became passé as it didn't seem funny to mock something which was already too unintentionally amusing to begin with anyway.

Since then,there has been an explosion of similar publications,perhaps not quite as cringingly oily to the so-called famous as the aforementioned terrible twins,but if anything even less intelligent and brainless,with similarly garishly coloured photos thrown in for good measure.I am sure there are still plenty of talented writers,actors,singers,comedians,dancers,etc. that are still out there in Britain,but the TV executives today do not seem to agree,or they are not bothered at finding and encouraging new talent.They are happy now to let talent-free non-entities appear on this show,and others,to create,Frankenstein-like "celebrities",which is rapidly becoming the dirtiest,most foul word for disgruntled UK citizens like myself in this day and age.This word "celebrity" has almost taken on a new meaning from previous generations;it was usually tagged on in the past to famous people,but those who had mostly obtained their fame through talent,sheer hard work and years of struggle."Celebrity" now is synonymous in describing those who have no talent at anything accept appearing on shows like BIG BROTHER.The amount of people who have earned a career,and a lucrative one at that,from this programme since it's debut has been astonishing.Brian Dowling and Kate Lawler are just two examples,but the most remarkable was that of Jade Goody,who didn't even win the series she appeared in.She came a cropper in 2007's CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER after her misguided behaviour towards Shilpa Shetty.Now having sadly passed away after a battle against cancer,it is arguable that unscrupulous media types exploited her naivety and inarticulacy (which was in no way particularly her fault) when she was not especially conscious of such events.

It seems not to matter,however,as others will take her equally dismal place as long as the top brass in British TV keep providing money to produce BIG BROTHER and it's various imitations.The house guests this year,if it really matters,consist mainly of young attractive women,with a few assorted males (apparently mostly homosexuals) added for the ride.But they seem as uninteresting,inarticulate,stupid,dull,self centered,unpleasant,egotistical and hopelessly fame seeking as most other house guests have been in previous years.It is the ultimate indictment that the most interesting parts of the programme are when we see everybody asleep in the house's bedroom!

BIG BROTHER has been the main reason why the UK has gone downhill in it's popular and artistic culture in the 21st Century;there have been other factors,but those seem themselves to have been inspired by this odious,interminable,offensive,shallow and exploitative programme. If this and other programmes of it's ilk are allowed to continue,then we can well and truly say that the great days of British TV will be gone forever,and that if you have no talent whatsoever,rather than vice versa,you'll become famous thanks to the brain free writings in UK tabloid newspapers and magazines,describing the numbingly unexciting events in these "reality TV shows",the most unwelcome media development in history.A disturbing trend that has to stop sooner rather than later.

Rating:1 out of 10.(Lower than that really.0 if it was allowed!)

The detritus of television

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 1/10 · 26 July 2005]

If there was ever any iron-clad proof that Britain is the most uncultured and TV-addicted society in the world then the dredge that is Big Brother is it. The basic idea of this show tanked in other countries where the people are more intelligent but somehow, five years after the rank original, the people of Britain still buy into this crap. They still fall for the same old, same old rubbish that was boring first time around. It boggles the mind. Are we really all that stupid? I blame the Sun newspaper.

Big Brother is a wasteland of coma-inducing boredom consistently starring a deliberately PC and multi-ethnic group of people (with an absolute MAX of 1 token Scottish person) with no personality outside of the stereotyped image they were 'cast' to present. There MUST be one (if not many) gay person. One arguer. One sexist. One extrovert party animal. Etc, etc. They are caricatures of real people. Thus nullifying any genuine sense of 'reality' TV.

And, 'at the end of the day', 'no offence to anyone', 'I don't mean to be funny but', 'correct me if I am wrong', 'you know what I'm saying', they NEVER ever speak outside of clichés. And whenever they DO say something interesting it's edited out for 'legal' reasons. Whatever happened to free speech. I don't believe it really exists my good fellow. I know I'm not unveiling a sacrilegious revelation when I say this trash is edited and directed to the Nth degree. Thus nullifying any genuine sense of 'reality' TV. It's a saga of nothingness. And when something DOES actually happen (they call it 'Fight Night' as there is THE such night every year) the screens go black and we don't get to REALLY see what happened until Channel 4 okays it and edits their way around the truth. Thus nullifying any genuine sense of 'reality' TV.

Every Friday night is 'eviction night' in which the people of this once mighty and powerful land spend money phoning in who they want evicted from the house (and trust me, Channel 4 REALLY likes it when you phone many times in one night 'just to make sure'). That fame-grabbing, wannabe, desperate individual then begins their definite, inevitable, inexorable descent into well deserved obscurity. Davina McCall, who apparently has nothing better to do with her life as she's 'hosted' this mince since the very beginning, interviews that person with eyes and attitude that loudly suggest 'Who the hell are you and why are you taking up so much airtime?' before showing them the mandatory and expected 'best of' their bits scene. Watching this pointlessness is how most people in Britain prefer to spend their summer weekends.

Even the narrator has THE worst accent one can possibly imagine. To make matters worse he basically repeats the same lines on every show. 'Dee 486. De ooder 'ouzmaits r een de gah-den'. I presume the producers of this show are deaf and thought this guy wasn't unintelligible.

For the past few years I keep thinking that 'THIS has got to be the last one' as BB constantly goes from bad to worse to even worse then to absolute hell. It's cheap, brain-dead tripe that only appeals to the lowest common denominator who are vegetablely unaware that Channel 4 are laughing at them. They spend nothing, yet YOU make them millions.

Be a real human-being. Turn this long, long, so incredibly long past it's 'prime' rubbish off and go get a life!

Big Brother 7 Is Hit And Miss.

[Duzniak38 · 10/10 · 3 August 2006]

Big Brother seven continues to vary, from being funny, interesting and good entertainment, to boring and uninsightful trash. Big Brother is a reality show which locks a group of complete strangers in a Ikea-stylised house. They must complete tasks successfully to earn a shopping budget and parties and rewards like chocolates and alcohol. They must also nominate two people each week to put up for eviction. The public will then vote for who leaves that week. So it is basically a voyeuristic twenty-four/seven house, with thirty odd cameras taping everything the group says and does. Big Brother seven has been good and bad. Sometimes the people in house provide hilarious quotes and tantrums and conversations. Sometimes it can be boring and uninteresting. You have to take Big Brother lightly though. Don't expect anything glossy and glamorous, 'cause it isn't. It's 'reality' television. Although now the aim of this show seems to be to cram as many weirdos as they can into the house; gays, transsexuals, plastic surgeoned people, people with problems and so on. Big Brother is hit and miss really. Unscripted, with these people basically doing and talking about what they want. Many people will be false and fake, or have game-plans and ideas to win to game. There is a cash prize for the winner. Big Brother provides housemates with twists and cruel turns. So far we have had Big Brother School and University, Big Brother Prison, Big Brother's Secret House and Secret Luxury Hideaway, for example. These additions can be fun. Also this series had it's first double eviction. One of the decent things about the show is the evictions, which are usually good to tune in for. But the show can be crude, vulgar and a bit of a sloppy pigsty. Big Brother. Is it good? You decide.

Utter freak-show that should have been stopped after series 3

[Mis_Behavin · 1/10 · 17 October 2006]

I'll confess - I loved the first series of Big Brother. It was a new concept, an interesting experiment and I was glued to it.

Fast forward six years. BB has spawned a generation of low-brow reality TV shows which are putting genuine actors out of work and are responsible for stupid, empty headed people leaving school with no other aspiration but to 'be on tele'.

The contestants on Big Brother are now all-to-aware that when they leave the house the spotlight will be on them. However, what they fail to realise (because they are so vain and self-obsessed) is that once the media have chewed them up and spat them out, they will be consigned to the scrapheap forever, because lets face it - who would employ some freak who is foolish enough to have shown every bad aspect of their personality on national television.

Endemol and Channel 4 should be ashamed of themselves for persisting with BB - which is nothing but a money spinner. They couldn't care less about the welfare of the contestants, a point proved by the fact that this year we have had the worst bunch of idiots yet to grace our screens, including a former anorexic with pretty obvious self-esteem and mental issues. Sick. That poor girls life is going to be destroyed forever and just to Channel 4 could make an easy buck over the quiet Summer period.

BB highlights everything which is bad about society and shows what a tacky, celebrity obsessed place Britain has become.

very good show, but much like mar-mite

[cannonballsean1992 · 9/10 · 8 June 2008]

i am an avid fan of this show, and have watched every series. when it first started out in 2000, it was intended to last for one series and be a social experiment. the first two series were this. from then on in, channel 4 realised that they are better off marketing this as entertainment, voyeuristic and easy to watch TV. they basically shove 10 people into a house and see what happens. as the show has progressed, more and more people are being put in, and the show is lasting longer. now on its 9 series, the show is starting to lose its shine. i think everyone thinks it is repetitive, and they have seen it all before.

despite this, i still think the show is great. this series is especially diverse. they have a blind man and an albino, a Buddhist and a Muslim and two immigrants, and a strict catholic. you really either love this series or hate it. a lot of people think it is boring to just watch people in a house, but big brother intrude, and throw some twists in to make it a bit more exciting. this is one of the reasons it has swayed from its original concept, because there are so many new people and twists put in throughout the series.

the first series was great, a good bunch of people with one evil fella, nick bate-men, who showed the viewing public how bad and desperate some people are for fame. he said he killed his wife by accident when she was waiting outside. the show pushes people to their mental limits, and shows how strong or weak some people are.

in the past they have put some people they shouldn't have put in, such as Shabaz, who was bullied and even threatened suicide. they put in lea, who was a porn star and had body-dismorphia. they put in Nikki, who had suffered from an eating disorder. Sam, a pre-op transsexual, was paranoid, Pete who had Tourette's, and Mikey who is blind. the shows morals and integrity have therefore been called into question 'what will they do for ratings?' is the question that people ask. some people believe they are irresponsible. big brother defends themselves by saying every person who enters undergoes a vigorous physcological analysis.

this show is the but of controversy, never being away from the papers. u really have to treat the show for what it is, because it certainly isn't intellectual viewing anymore, this was the start of reality TV, and has now developed a cult following who will not stop watching, i personally recommend it. i suggest you try it, and if you don't like it then fine, but don't prejudge it when you haven't seen it

Sorry, can't stand it

[TheLittleSongbird · 1/10 · 16 September 2009]

I can accept that for some people Big Brother is addictive to watch, but unfortunately I am not one of those people. In fact,I can't stand this programme, if people like it that's fine, but as I believe in honesty, here's the bottom line... Down With Big Brother. I don't find it funny, quite the opposite, boring, tedious and a waste of time. And some of the contestants act disgracefully towards each other, if I had a choice of being a contestant on this programme and jumping out of a plane without a parachute,I'd know what I'd choose. The presenter Davina McCall is okay, but she can do so much better things with her life. Also most of the contestants have the likability of spinach and even worse in some cases, Big Brother does get my vote as having some of the most unlikeable characters on television. Even the theme tune I can't stand. Overall, a programme, like another reviewer summed up perfectly, that has limped past its sell by date, and should be taken off the air pronto. 1/10 Bethany Cox

I accept that it is addictive and easy to watch but it is a worrying sort of entertainment and is now just a manufactured collection of forced talking points and events

[bob the moo · 21 June 2004]

Each summer in the UK a group of people (6 men & 6 women) are removed from normal society and placed in a house, cut off from outside communication. They are given a shopping budget to buy food and complete weekly challenges to win more money or other treats. On a weekly basis the housemates (as they are called) must pick tow of their number to nominate to be removed from the house. When the nominations are tallied up, those with the most nominations face a public vote to remove them. Each Friday one is removed until only one is left to claim the cash prize.

Too many people are very snobbish about this programme and simply dismiss it as rubbish and attack those who watch it as simple minded, fools and idiots.

That is snobbery in my mind and it is unfair to assume that the millions who make this programme successful are just muppets – you know what? maybe they just find it entertaining? I have watched Big Brother each series it has been on in the UK – however I will dip into it occasionally over it's weeks rather than watch religiously, I reckon I watch about a quarter at most. I don't read the tabloids (Times man I'm afraid) and I don't gossip at work about 'did you see what such and such did' etc but I do easily get addicted to this show – and that's its power. It may be inane but it is real people and you keep watching because everybody loves to judge and gossip and this show gives us all the power to judge and to have people to shake our heads about and gossip about. It is easy to watch because the 30 minutes shows will be eventful (after all, they summarise 24 hours of 'action') and, of course, it is very easy television to watch – it is simple and allows viewers to veg. I have no problem with this because not all TV or films should be high art or make you think – sometimes we all need to just chill out and not think!

Of course it is trash and the fact that it is often just a bunch of students getting drunk for a few months means that it can easily become dull (as series 3 in the UK showed). Thus we have come to see the reason why BB was a worrying trend at the start; it has started to become more and more of a worry and has made me wonder what the makers are willing to do in the name of entertainment. Of course they pick people who will rub each other the wrong way but generally people are polite and channel 4 has been forced to continually spice it up to try and make it more eventful than last year. And that's the problem for me is that it is no longer 'real', it is full of people looking for tabloid deals, who have been selected because they are extremes of personalities. The most recent series in the UK shows this – it doesn't have gay people it has flaming queens; it doesn't have lesbian characters it has angry, left wing feminist lesbians; it doesn't have strippers it has bi-sexual strippers; it doesn't have black characters it has angry alpha-male black men and so forth – this series is the worst for it (they all are extreme stereotypes) but generally they are. At times it is funny (look at Kitten thinking she's some sort of individual when really she's a walking cliché) but generally it is just to try and manufacture fights and tension the best they can.

Now that we (the viewers) have gotten used to that it has been forced to continually up the ante. In the US they put people in with their ex's but in the UK the current series was billed as being 'evil'. They made the house smaller, put them all in one bedroom, make the tasks harder etc. In one regard it has made it more interesting and made these people work for their 15 minutes but in another it is very worrying and quite off putting. One task was funny – BB threw the housemates a kids party and fed them all cake and jelly, then hours later made them all sit on a roundabout until a task was completed – needless to say they all went green and some puked! However recently we had a situation where tow people were placed in another part of the house and allowed to spy on the others, who thought they had been evicted for good. After a week of these two seeing the others backstab them, BB reintroduced them back into the house and gave everyone lots and lots of booze. Needless to say they all got drunk and a fight ensued which security staff had to come and stop because men were about to start hitting the women (not good – even if the girls in question were inviting it something rotten). This is my problem with this show now – it is no longer just veg and gossip TV: it needs to shock and create talking points to keep it's audience and the tabloid headlines. With the UK's problems of binge drinking and after hours, drunken violence, is it right to basically stage a fight – which by the setup and the alcohol, the makers of BB essentially did. They are pushing people as far as they can all in the name of winning ratings.

I watched Battle Royale once and thought it was exaggerated, but now I have a point of reference to see what it is spoofing. How much more violent and cruel will TV get in order to win ratings? This series is not even a third gone and already the makers have been very cruel all in the name of breaking people and creating things for us to gossip about – as the contestants become more savvy and eager for fame, it is all they can do to keep it interesting. I didn't watch this series but I tuned in to see it all 'kick off' a few weeks ago, only to be disturbed by what I saw. I saw people put in a situation where tension would be high and then I saw them fed large amounts of alcohol. Can it be morally right to do this to people simply to 'entertain' others? I know many of us will say these people deserve what they get but it is a worrying thing to have on TV and will only serve to further erode our national morals – ie we don't see others as 'people' on the same level as us.

I am not snobby and I know how easy it is to watch this show: calling it rubbish and insulting those that enjoy it is childish and smacks of superiority that is not there. However even fans will acknowledge that it is rubbish – but it can be entertaining rubbish if all you want to do is have something to gossip about and distract you without taxing your brain – something we all want in some way (nobody watches arty foreign films all the time!). However the format of this (and other reality shows) is becoming increasingly cruel to win ratings – and how far are they willing to go. Things like Fear Factor and eating bugs in 'I'm a Celebrity…' are bad and so is the most recent BB. I accept people will watch these things and I understand why they do but for me I have tuning out as I cannot allow myself to be part of it anymore. BB is the only reality show I have ever bothered with but now it has gone where we feared it would – into the usual ratings-chasing spectacle where it is all very forced, manufactured and cruel. I will not watch people be made to fight and suffer for my enjoyment and I can only hold my head in fear about what we will be watching in 5 years time once our sense have become further hardened to drunken fights and flirting.

Overall this is an awful show but one that I can watch easily as it doesn't require me to think and it can be quite enjoyable and addictive. However the road it (and others) have led us down is a worrying one and even BB supporters are beginning to wonder what on earth is going on. Everything is manufactured to create talking points and the contestants are very aware of what they are doing (playing for the camera, thinking of the newspaper deals etc) – it is no longer 'real' and the novelty has worn off. There are much better things on TV and I think I shall watch them as few of them turn my stomach in quite the same way as this show has started to do.

Rubbish

[krod432 · 1/10 · 19 December 2006]

This Idea has spawned many ideas. And it was Big Brother that started the Reality TV show craze that has taken over the UK. With "i'm a celebrity" and "X Factor" taking over the TV there is always some reality shows on. With "Friends" over and with the population turning away from the Soaps of Old. People are turning to the most AWFUL piece of Rubbish there ever has been. Who in the World would find watching someone throw up funny. Who would want to watch someone living there lives on CCTV. Watch people moan and cry in the diary room. The Series has gone Downhill since the Big-Brother the Experiment, when the Housemates slept with each other. Now they try to make the housemates sleep together by offering them money. The get the weirdest of the weird to come on the show. They don't have NORAML people anymore. This show is just saying how much Nosey the world is becoming why people who watch peoples lives are just admitting they have no life.

Why?

[Rabical-91 · 1/10 · 2 April 2019]

I am deeply amazed that TV controllers have managed to squeeze as much mileage as they have out of this limp excuse for a TV show. Just where is the entertainment value in watching a group of contrasting people being imprisoned in a house and being put under the watch of CCTV cameras?

The title of the show of course comes from George Orwell's 1949 novel 'Nineteen Eighty Four'. If Mr. Orwell were still alive today, do you think he would be best pleased at a piece of his work being likened to this abomination? I think not!

Of all the prisoners, sorry I mean contestants, who have appeared on the show, perhaps the most memorable was the late Jade Goody ( someone who once thought East Anglia was abroad ). On one occasion, Goody delivered racial abuse against Shilpa Shetty. This caused 3000 complaints to flood into Channel 4, which subsequently resulted in Goody being evicted from the 'Big Brother' house. Another stand out moment featuring Goody ( unfortunately ) had her drunkenly stripping off during a poker game, at one point which she shrieked ''Agh! My kebab's showing!'' It's enough to put you off kebabs for life.

Channel 4 came to their senses and dropped 'Big Brother' from their station many years back, however Channel 5, in a colossally stupid move, decided to pick up the baton instead. Will this charade never end?

Wreckage of what should have been a great idea.

[joe-elliott2 · 1/10 · 20 November 2008]

This show may have started off half decent but it ages badly and got old quickly. It seems to just be a stage for some truly vile people who now seem to be the average Joe. The worst part of this show is that it COULD have been so good. I mean think about, people under surveillance 24/7. See the average people put in odd situations and locked away from the world. But sadly it was ruined when every chav, tart and odd mental patient signed up. And in an attempt to be 'ground-breaking' the producers picked them. Learn from your mistakes. Stop making this tripe.

I mean did the celebrity version not make enough people vomit for the producers to be satisfied?????

1/10 all the way... PS. If you want to see these people getting what we're begging for, then watch Dead Set by Charlie Brooker. Stress-relief...

Big Brother UK, Big Boredom yuk.

[AlBFine · 1/10 · 26 July 2014]

I can't believe this show has been on for now 15 seasons!?! This show, compared to the American version (produced by the same company Andemol) is THE MOST BORING AND PATHETIC WAY TO SPEND TIME. There is NO GAME PLAY!?! NO STRATEGY!?! NO COMPETITIONS (other than for food)!?! It's just a bunch of losers talking crap about everyone else.

I can't believe the HUGE DIFFERENCE between the US version and the UK one.

What is the deal with the constant (narrator) telling of the precise time "8:14pm" 14?!? not 15?!? or this morning, this afternoon, later?!? We need the exact minute it happened? ANNOYING. And the guy speaking these times sounds completely retarded.

This is a show about being helpless. Being controlled and humiliated. Subjected to disgrace.

This has NOTHING to do with the US version where people have alliances, work together to achieve goals, lie, cheat, and are conniving and deceitful, doing it all to get to the end and win $500,000.

The UK version, people get offended if someone lies, and the British are SOOOO PRUDE!!! "Oh, *** went and showered (in her bikini) with ***!" {in his trunks) after a challenge with everyone else around them in the bathroom "Oh, next time, tell them you need privacy!" ?!?!

Too many pathetic petty little arguments. No REAL GAME PLAY. BORING AS LIVING IN A BROWN PAPER BAG IN THE MIDDLE OF AN OCEAN FULL OF ROCKS.

more brain death and dearth

[deerskydeep · 1/10 · 19 May 2006]

Thusday 18 May 2006 was the launch show for yet another series of Big BRother in the UK. This show is the most popular Channel 4 show over the summer. Inexplicably. The only time I see nay of it is at 2 am when I look for a few minutes in disbelief that everyone is asleep and they insist on continuing to televise nothing happening. THe only time it becomes interesting is whenever they substitute bird song for speech as the producers feel the inmates re saying something libellous. This occurred endlessly during the Michael Jackson trial. It arouses our curiosity as to what is being said. Otherwise just enjoy the birdsong instead of the inmates inane wittering. What started as a serious psychological study in the 1970s has been reduced to a bunch of unknowns stuck on TV for 10 weeks doing nothing and thinking they have a career. The launch show ridiculously hypes the next 10 weeks with a hyperventilating Davina Mccall shouting to compensate for lack of presenting ability.

Big Brother

[jboothmillard · 10/10 · 19 April 2005]

This is just the best reality show that there has ever been. Every show they put in a bunch of people and we watch them 24-7. They have to also perform tasks to get their rewards, e.g. shopping, food, booze, fags, etc. It is basically like a pantomime, if you are the biggest character in the house it is more likely that you would win the show and £100,000, and you are booed or cheered. All the other house mates get evicted, it's us that decides who stays and who goes. Recently Big Brother turned evil and produced the best of the series so far in BB5. That is when I started to like it, since BB5 it has still been a great show. BB5 had the courageous winner Nadia, the nudity of Shell and Michelle, the camp Marco, and my favourite Victor, the slick man. BB6 had some okay people including Science, Roberto, Derek, Makosi, Eugene and winner Anthony. BB7 had some fantastic people including Grace, Lea, Nikki, Aisleyne Glyn and winner Pete. I would have loved to have seen Craig Phillips, Nasty Nick Bateman, Brian Dowling, Jade Goody (who returned in Celebrity Big Brother 2007 with Mum Jackiey and boyfriend Jack), Kate Lawler, Alex Sibley and Jon Tickle. Hosted by Davina McCall and Dermot O'Leary, and narrated by Marcus Bentley. Davina McCall was number 95 and Jade Goody number 4 on The 100 Worst Britons, and it has been on all 100 Greatest TV Treats programmes so far. Outstanding!

Oh dear

[chrislambert582 · 2/10 · 14 August 2014]

It is August 14th, 2014. There are two days of the current series of Big Brother left before the lucky winner is announced. I have watched the entire series. And I could not care less who wins. Honestly, the only way the producers could actually make this interesting now is to announce that nobody actually voted for any of the final six so they all lost. That would be thoroughly deserved. Not a single one of the house mates has ever been in any way likable at any stage. Yes, some of Mark's campness and hissy fits were vaguely amusing, but he was voted out so can't win. The rest are all narcissistic half-wits who certainly wouldn't make a large amount of money in the real world and have to rely on a reality show to make them moderately famous. So long, Big Brother, it's been awful.

Love Love Love

[desertrose0601 · 9/10 · 22 October 2006]

I absolutely love this show. I stumbled upon in during the 3rd season premiere, and have been hooked ever since. It's such an intriguing chess-like game, and I'm always trying to guess what the players are going to do next... or rather, what I would do next were I in their place! I think, of all the reality shows, that this would be the one that's the most interesting to be on. :) I've also been watching the live feeds for the last two seasons, and find that that makes the show a lot more interesting. It's fun to see what the producers actually put on the show, as opposed to what really happens in the house. For the most part, their editing is pretty good - meaning that they portray what happens fairly accurately. However, it's always fun to get the full and unedited version when you're watching it live!

Garbage .

[leschaloner · 1/10 · 6 March 2024]

A load of absolute crap.how can anyone find any entertainment in this drivel.non entities who crave fame or z list so called celebs who will do anything for even more money than they have already.people who watch this crap are obviously totally brain dead.if you watch a film,there is a story.if you listen to music it makes you happy.if you follow a sport,there is excitement and a conclusion.if you want to watch someone reading a paper,sleeping,going to the toilet,making a complete fool of themself,eating,bla bla bla,then that happens in your home.it doesnt entertain you at home so how can it possibly entertain you on tv?

A disgusting indictment of the 21st Century, it's TV & it's Public.

[Gubby-Allen · 27 January 2008]

We are talking about a show which was once introduced with the words "Day 21 - Derek is eating a sandwich". What sort of person carries on watching anything after that.

You'll see the phrase "like watching paint dry" through thousands of user comments across this website, on despised shows & films.

Never a truer word spoken here though & FOR TWO REASONS.

One because it is that dull - although that maybe a tad unfair on paint.

But secondly - the day British TV fell to it's knees (and went largely unnoticed). A few years back the housemates (there's better names for them than that - but wouldn't make it through the firewall) had to each paint a bench in a colour that reflected themselves. (I expected 12 grey benches). Anyway - after they finished painting them & went inside the camera remained outside, for several minutes - while the viewer did indeed "watch paint dry".

And still the public watched.

There is possibly one thing worse than Big Brother. The host. I won't give her the satisfaction of publicising her name (+or benal facial expressions) but we're talking about a woman who once introduced 3 OF THE 6 FEMALE ENTRANTS one year by their name & breast size. Never mind, name & job title, name & achievements, name and ambitions maybe. Nope, name & size of Charlies are all that counts nowadays.

Orwell would have been shocked!

[Sylviastel · 2/10 · 13 August 2006]

I don't get Big Brother. I read George Orwell's novel 1984 where we are introduced to Big Brother, the watcher of all of us or at least in this case, these poor suckers who choose to live together under close watch by millions of poor Britons. This is the not the masterpiece theater exported around the world. This television show is all the rage in England on Channel 4 no less. They spend countless hours observing these young Britons and my sister loves it but I can't take it. I'm going to give the show a 2 because Imogen reacted when she was kicked out like I would have. I would have been begging the audience to get me off this sinking ship. I'm sorry but this is degrading to both sexes and the young. Who wants to be exploited for a hundred thousand pounds? I wouldn't do it for less than a million and I don't think I would survive. Let me answer questions or do something with my mind. Nicki's screaming is unbearable and the gay Canadian is annoying. Is there a requirement that there must be one gay or lesbian person in the group. The couples won't last off the set. Sorry folks, don't let your children be watching this rubbish as they say and I agree. This show is appalling to watch and can be addictive. I'm glad that I'm in my thirties and not my twenties.

Crap

[gopi_alert · 1/10 · 26 August 2016]

One of the most useless and terrible reality show that British bang on about.

Getting more sexual and revealing, however people are getting used to such sex based program. Racial hatred was the basis anyways and now put some idiots in a room and ask them to act as stupid as they can. Waste of my time. I wouldn't watch even if you pay me.

The house guests seem to never engage in intelligent conversations or to even discuss anything interesting. People don't realise the value of their time. The rules, anchors and participants all staged and fixed.

Only making people more foolish and strangely they're succeeding!

Awful reality show with dreadful housemates

[DavidYZ · 2/10 · 28 April 2017]

This is one of the worst shows on British television. Its biggest fault is that the makers of the show choose some really dreadful contestants during each series (most of whom are obnoxious, annoying or boring) - despite thousands of people applying to take part.

There's bias by the show towards popular housemates, giving them preferential treatment.