TV Time Machine # 21: Big Brother 1

In the summer of 2000, Channel 4 took a gamble. They devoted 7 weeks of their schedule (albeit, at 11pm) to a brand new show branded as a 'social experiment' which placed strangers in a house. Locked away from the public for 7 weeks, voted off by members of the group, Big Brother launched to little fanfare or expectation but slowly morphed into one of Channel 4's landmark series of the period and a huge word of mouth hit at the dawn of livestreaming and the rise of the celebrity magazine.

 

For this special episode of their TV Time Machine, Custard TV podcasters, Luke and Matt rewatch the key episodes of the very first Big Brother, looking at what makes it so compelling. What worked from the start and what didn't. 25 years on, the show seems quaint and gentle when compared to the show it would become, where fame hungry contestants would apply and launch careers off the back of their time in the house. The 'Nasty Nick' cheating scandal cemented the show as a must watch, with conversation reaching parliament, but looking back, was it really that much of a scandal? 

 

There's also discussion on where Big Brother went wrong, the raft of programming that came after it and why it just doesn't have the same appeal in 2025 despite ITV flogging it.