Big Brother

Big Brother logo (TV: Bad Wolf)

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Big Brother was an Earth reality television show that was broadcast in 200,100 on the Game Station. Everyone on Earth was a potential contestant, the transmat beam picking them at random, irrespective of their attitudes to appearing on the show. It was non-stop, with sixty Big Brother houses running all at once (apparently, there had been more houses at some point in the past until the show was forced to 'cut back') and the losers were seemingly disintegrated, in an antechamber approximating the position of the house's front door, but were instead taken to the Dalek Emperor's flagship (TV: Bad Wolf) where they became part of the growing Dalek army. (TV: The Parting of the Ways) Housemates couldn't escape as the house had a deadlock seal since Big Brother 504 when all the housemates walked out. The Ninth Doctor appeared on the show for a short time and escaped with fellow contestant Lynda Moss. Other contestants in the same house included Strood, Crosbie and Linda. (TV: Bad Wolf)

Behind the scenes

In the real world, Big Brother is a reality television franchise originating from the Netherlands, which has gone on to receive various international incarnations across the world. The UK series, on which the DWU incarnation is based, originally broadcast on Channel 4 from the shows launch in 1997 up to 2010, and was revived for Five in 2011, where it continued to run until 2018. The UK edition consisted of a regular series in which civilians took part, as well as a celebrity edition that launched in 2001 and concluded shortly before its civilian counterpart in 2018.

Connections

Davina McCall hosted both versions of the UK series during its Channel 4 run. Likewise, McCall lent her voice to the Davinadroid, the host of the DWU version of the show. Two of its companion shows, Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Little Brother, were hosted by Russell Brand and Dermot O'Leary, respectively.

A one-off Big Brother series titled Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack aired on Channel 4 in 2008. The series saw the Big Brother house (with civilian housemates) being controlled by celebrity guests, with the celebrity in charge changing each day. Among the celebrities to take part were Matt Lucas, Alan Cumming, James Corden, and Jimmy Carr.

In AUDIO: The Ratings War, the reality show Audience Shares is a parody of Big Brother.

DWU housemates

On the celebrity editions:

• Sue Perkins took part in the second series, and was evicted on day 9.
• Rula Lenska took part in the fourth series, and was evicted on day 16.
• Cheryl Fergison took part in the tenth series, and was evicted on day 10.
• Gillian Taylforth took part in the eleventh series, and was evicted on day 16.
• Christopher Biggins and Ricky Norwood both took part in the eighteenth series. Biggins was removed (without eviction) on day 9 after making offensive comments, while Norwood was the runner-up on the final night.