BIG BROTHER 2007 (UK)

'''Big Brother 2007''' was the eighth series of the United Kingdom reality television programme ''Big Brother'',^[1] airing on Channel 4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on E4.
The series began on 30 May 2007 when eleven female contestants entered the house and ended on 31 August 2007.^[2] A male housemate joined two days later,^[3] with a further two male contestants being added a week after that. Another four men joined on 15 June.^[4] Five new housemates then entered the house on Day 59: three females, and two males. They went to a new house next door called "The Halfway House"^[5] and stayed in the Halfway House until Day 62.
This was the first ''Big Brother'' series to air in the UK since the controversial ''2007 Celebrity Big Brother'', and a number of changes had been made to the show, including the omission of text message voting, and a reduction in the cost of calls to vote for evictions from 50p to 25p. At least 10p from each vote was going to charity,^[6] and Channel 4 made no profit from voting fees this series.

Contents

Auditions

Sponsorship

Logo

Broadcasts

Popularity of the series

Ratings

Week Averages

House

Garden

Vestibule

Diary Room

Hidden rooms

Weekly summary

Criticism and controversy

Nominations table

References

External links

Auditions

The first round of auditions started on 6 January 2007^[7] at the SECC in Glasgow, where there was a queue of three hundred people.^[8] Auditions were also held in Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin, London, Manchester, and Newcastle.
Big Brother hopefuls descend on Dublin

Sponsorship

On 8 March 2007, it was announced that The Carphone Warehouse would not return to sponsor ''Big Brother 2007'' after cancelling its sponsorship of ''Celebrity Big Brother 2007'',^[9] and on 21 March, that Virgin Media would sponsor the show, for a reported £3 million.^[10] Virgin Media's idents for the show use footage from ''Big Brother'' programmes from all around the world, including Germany, Brazil, Philippines and the Netherlands.

Logo

The iconic ''Big Brother'' eye has been redesigned to what has been described as a "centrifugal inter-locking RGB rainbow test card"
''Being Big Brother'' - View.Vote.Control by its designer Daniel Eatock.^[11]

Broadcasts

On 4 April 2007, it was announced that Russell Brand had quit the spin off show ''Big Brother's Big Mouth''.^[12] As a replacement there was to be a guest host each week on ''Big Brother's Big Mouth'', starting with Chris Moyles who presented the first three editions from launch night^[13].
Dermot O'Leary returned again to present ''Big Brother's Little Brother''^[14] and Davina McCall has also returned to present the live eviction shows as well as a spin-off show; ''Big Brother On The Couch'' which airs as an hour long show each Sunday^[15] and replaced ''Big Brother's Big Brain'', which was axed.^[16]
Before the launch programme, Channel 4 presented a statement from Ofcom explaining the racism incidents from ''Celebrity Big Brother'' earlier in the year. The statement said:
This was followed immediately by a Channel 4 ident, and then the ''Big Brother'' titles. Channel 4 also broadcast the Ofcom statement on the morning of 31 May 2007 before the early morning repeat, and again immediately before the first eviction on Friday 15 June.^[17]

Popularity of the series

Channel 4 announced on 24 August that they were cancelling the next series of ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The decision came after the race row that engulfed the fifth celebrity series, and after the eighth non-celebrity series failed to "make as big of a splash as usual", although it still held healthy viewing figures.^[18]
Channel 4's Julian Bellamy said he wanted to create "more anticipation" for the ninth series of Big Brother in 2008.^[19] Big Brother UK has been signed until Big Brother 11 (2010), but Big Brother producers are reported to be worried after most fans have not considered Big Brother 8 to be as good as previous series - some calling it dull and boring. The Sunday Mirror reported the Sunday after the final that Channel 4 bosses were in talks over the show's immediate future, however a spokesman publicly denied this to be the case and insisted that next year's series will still go ahead as planned.

Ratings

The series average is around 3.7 million with a 18% share.^[20] Since ITV's Britain's Got Talent has concluded, Big Brother has returned to viewing figures of around 4 million per night.^[21]
The launch show was the fourth most watched launch show in ''Big Brother UK'' history by attracting an average of 6.2 million viewers. The number of viewers rose to 8 million after ''The British Soap Awards'' on ITV1 and ''The Apprentice'' on BBC One ended.^[22]
The next night saw a traditional drop in ratings with the show shedding more than 2 million viewers while 4 million people watched the first highlights show of the series, which was 22% of the television audience between 10:00 and 11:05.^[23]
Despite the promising launch show ratings, the first Friday show did not fare well in the ratings with the first part attracting 3.3 million people (15%),^[24] although this show was up against Match of the Day Live which aired England's first match at the new Wembley stadium. However, at 10:30, the second part, which showed the entrance of the first male contestant, was watched by 4.3 million viewers (24.6%).^[24]
4.6 million viewers watched the highlights show on 7 June which contained Emily's ejection from the ''Big Brother'' House due to using a racial slur.^[26] This was the second-highest viewed show of the series after the live launch at the time.
The show's second full week was rated as one of the lowest watched weeks in Big Brother history with the week averaging 2.83m (12.7%). The ratings were reduced to 2.11m on Wednesday night and the Friday night eviction shows rated as the lowest eviction shows in Big Brother history, with 3.1m (13.7%) watching at 8:30, and 3.0m (13.3%) at 10:00.^[27]
When the Friday 6th July twist was revealed, ratings were picking up yet again - returning Big Brother to its usual high rated status. Charley's interview during her fake eviction was watched by 5.4m viewers, the highest since the launch.^[28] Her real eviction was seen by an average of 5.0 million viewers, the second highest since the launch.

Week Averages

The following is a summary of weekly ratings points:^[20]
:0. (Launch Week Wed-Fri) 4.4m (25%)
:1. 4.0m (22%)
:2. 2.8m (13%)
:3. 3.5m (17%)
:4. 3.6m (19%)
:5. 3.6m (18%)
:6. 4.1m (19%)
:7. 3.7m (17.5%)
:8. 3.7m (18.3%)
:9. 3.7m (18%)
:10. 3.4m (17.3%)
:11. 3.5m (16.7%)
:12. 3.4m (16.1%)
:13. 3.2m (14%)
''Note: On week 12, Channel 4+1 was launched, and thus the reading for weeks 12 and 13 includes the viewings from both Channel 4 and Channel 4+1.''^[30]

House

This was the last series to be be broadcast from Elstree, with a new house being built in Hammersmith for 2008.^[31]
The layout of the house remained much the same as the previous series, although the kitchen moved to the other side of the main living area. Many of the kitchen appliances were scattered around the house, with the oven and heat proof surface in the bedroom and the fridge in the garden^[32] while the old kitchen area was replaced with a bath and kitchen sink.
The bedroom contained a single, double and triple bed as well as two four-person beds. Outside the bedroom window, in the main living area, is a lip shaped sofa that the presenters of the show refer to as "the lips". The house also contains a salon/bathroom, which houses two large hair dryers and two steam suits.

Garden

As well as the kitchen fridge, the garden contained a swimming pool, a seating area and, due to the smoking ban that came into effect in all public places during the series, a smoking area which housemates had to use from 1 July. This was checked by health officials, and deemed acceptable.^[33] The grass from the previous series has been replaced with AstroTurf.
On Day 25 it was revealed that a caravan was hidden behind a garden wall. The caravan come with two single beds and sleeping bags. Brian and Charley went "on holiday" to the caravan for one night.^[34] The caravan was again accessible from day 36, this time any of the housemates were allowed to use the room.^[35]
An extension to the pool was revealed on Day 67, along with a bar area. The area was hidden behind the "wet" sign in the garden.^[36]
"The Insider" on BBLB revealed that there was a fully-functioning washing machine hidden in the garden, throughout the show.^[37] Dermot O'Leary revealed this to the housemates during the BBLB reunion show.

Vestibule

Between the entrance/exit stairs and the main house was a vestibule area. This was used for several tasks, rewards and punishments, such as Ziggy's dating task, Amanda and Sam's birthday party, the punishments on Day 43, and the "Sin Bin" which is the room Charley was made to stay in while the rest of the housemates had their sin party.

Diary Room

A corridor was added between the Diary Room door and the main house which changes colour from red to blue to green when the "eye" button to open the door is pressed. The diary room chair has been changed to a much larger see-through chair which contains white neon lights.

Hidden rooms

The House contained a number of hidden rooms that were accessed either through the diary room or through a store room off the living area. At various points in the show, all or part of these rooms were opened up for various tasks and twists.

★ One of these rooms was slept in by Thaila Zucci, in her role as "Pauline", and it was Australia-themed and contained a kangaroo statue, a surfboard, plants and beanbags. The bedroom also contained the dossier from which "Pauline" could find out things about her housemates. Only "Pauline" was allowed in the room at that time.^[38]

★ The rooms were later on used to house five 'halfway housemates' as part of a nominations twist. It included a dormitory, common room, wash room and kitchenette as well as a small garden.
Periodically throughout the series, housemates conducted various tasks in some of these rooms.

★ For the BBTV task, a newsroom was built, where two housemates transmitted news to the rest of the house, such as messages from home.^[39] The rooms were also used as a studio for a gameshow and later a talent show.

★ It was used as a "The Happy Room" to cheer up Charley and Billi, who were instructed to wear "happy" t-shirts and baseball caps for the duration of their stay. The room was full of red beanbags, and featured cheery slogans on the walls. While in the room, Big Brother played the tune, If You're Happy and You Know It.^[40]

★ During the seven deadly sins task, it was turned into "The Room of Nicky" and contained pictures, books and footage of Nicky and also a sofa with cushions spelling N-I-C-K-Y. Nicky was instructed to stay in the room and learn to appreciate herself until Big Brother allowed her to leave.

★ For Big Brother's birthday task, a Practice Room was built, where the entertainers had to practise.^[41] A party room was then provided with a ball pool and stage.^[42]

Weekly summary

Main articles: Big Brother 2007 (UK) highlights

Each week in the ''Big Brother'' House is summarized in the table on the main page. A typical week begins with the nominations, shopping task, and ends with the eviction of a Housemate during the following Friday's episode. Evictions, tasks, and other noteworthy events for a particular week are noted. Some of the events listed may not be in order of sequence.

Criticism and controversy

Nine days into the new series, Channel 4 was criticised for deciding to air the word "nigger" on their daily highlights show.^[43] After the criticism they received for not handling the ''Celebrity Big Brother'' racism allegations properly back in January, they were quick to intervene after Emily used the word in conversation with Charley. On the other hand, Charley and Nicky subsequently used the same contentious word several times, in reference to Emily's use. No action was seen to be taken against them.^[44] After Emily's disqualification from the competition was announced, 922 viewers complained to Ofcom, the British television regulator believing that it was unfair.^[45] Another 270 people expressed dissatisfaction with Channel 4's decision to air the word "nigger" uncensored.
Furthermore, on Day 40, Channel 4 confirmed that Charley had been called to the Diary Room and reprimanded after using the word "nigger" twice on one night. This was not broadcast on the nightly highlights programme or the live feed, further enflaming rumours about favouritism towards Charley. A Big Brother spokesperson claimed ''"Charley used the N-word as a black woman to refer to another black person. We judged her use of the term different from Emily's. But Big Brother called her to the Diary Room to remind her that this word could cause offence."''^[46][47]
Charley was given a third and final warning by Big Brother on Day 55 when she implied that housemate Gerry was a paedophile. Over 300 people complained to Ofcom when Charley said that Gerry liked to "sleep with 15-year-olds".^[48][49]

Nominations table

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Final Week 13
Brian	''Not in house''		Seány, Carole	Billi, Gerry	Gerry, Carole	Tracey, Carole	Gerry, Tracey	Gerry, Charley	''No nominations''	Jonty, Kara-Louise	''No nominations''	Jonty, Kara-Louise	'Winner' (Day 94)
Amanda	''Not eligible''	Carole, Nicky	Carole, Tracey	Tracey, Charley	Carole, Tracey	Carole, Nicky	Carole, Tracey	Carole, Tracey	''No nominations''	Jonty, Kara-Louise	''Body Guru''---- Gerry	Jonty, Kara-Louise	'Runner-up' (Day 94)
Sam	''Not eligible''	Shabnam, Carole	Carole, Liam	Billi, Carole	Carole, Tracey	Carole, Charley	Carole, Tracey	Carole, Tracey	''No nominations''
Liam	''Not in house''		Jonathan, Charley	Tracey, Billi	Tracey, Charley	Nicky, Charley	Charley, Nicky	Charley, Tracey	''No nominations''	Kara-Louise, Jonty	''No nominations''	Kara-Louise, Jonty	'3rd place' (Day 94)
Ziggy	Shabnam, Emily	''Not eligible''	Charley, Nicky	Billi, Charley	Laura, Charley	Nicky, Charley	Nicky	Tracey, Charley	''No nominations''	Amy, Gerry	''Mind Guru''---- Gerry	Kara-Louise Tracey	'4th place' (Day 94)
Carole	''Not eligible''	''Not eligible''	Laura, Nicky	Laura, Nicky	Laura, Chanelle	Nicky, Tracey	Nicky, Chanelle	Charley, Ziggy	''No nominations''	Amy, Kara-Louise	''No nominations''	Tracey, Ziggy	'5th place' (Day 94)
Jonty	''Not in house''								''No nominations''	Gerry, Kara-Louise	''No nominations''	Brian, Liam	'6th place' (Day 94)
Kara-Louise	''Not in house''								Halfway Housemate	Jonty, Amy	''No nominations''	Tracey, Liam	''Evicted'' (Day 87)
Tracey	''Not eligible''	''Not eligible''	Seány, Jonathan	Carole, Billi	Ziggy, Chanelle	Ziggy, Gerry	Gerry, Ziggy	Gerry, Ziggy	Halfway Housemate	Amy, Gerry	''Soul Guru''---- Gerry	Kara-Louise, Jonty	''Evicted'' (Day 87)
Gerry	''Not in house''	Shabnam, Tracey	Charley, Liam	Nicky, Tracey	Laura, Nicky	Charley, Nicky	Nicky, Charley	Charley, Tracey	''No nominations''	Amy, Jonty	''No nominations''	''Evicted'' (Day 80)
Amy	''Not in house''								''No nominations''	Kara-Louise, Gerry	''Evicted'' (Day 73)
David	''Not in house''								Halfway Housemate	''Evicted'' (Day 66)
Shanessa	''Not in house''								Halfway Housemate	''Evicted'' (Day 66)
Chanelle	''Not eligible''	''Not eligible''	Charley, Seány	Charley, Billi	Charley, Laura	Charley, Nicky	Charley	Charley, Tracey	''Walked'' (Day 62)
Charley	''Not eligible''	''Not eligible''	Nicky, Seány	Billi, Chanelle	Chanelle, Brian	Chanelle, Gerry	Gerry, Ziggy	Chanelle, Gerry	''Evicted'' (Day 59)
Nicky	''Not eligible''	''Not eligible''	Jonathan, Seány	Billi, Carole	Gerry, Ziggy	Gerry, Ziggy	Ziggy, Gerry	''Evicted'' (Day 52)
Laura	''Not eligible''	''Not eligible''	Carole, Jonathan	Carole, Ziggy	Ziggy, Chanelle	''Evicted'' (Day 38)
Jonathan	''Not in house''		Nicky, Tracey	Tracey, Nicky	Laura, Chanelle	''Walked'' (Day 35)
Billi	''Not in house''		Carole, Jonathan	Nicky, Charley	''Evicted'' (Day 31)
Seány	''Not in house''	Tracey, Shabnam	Brian, Tracey	''Evicted'' (Day 24)
Shabnam	''Not eligible''	''Not eligible''	''Evicted'' (Day 17)
Lesley	''Not eligible''	''Walked'' (Day 11)
Emily	''Not eligible''	''Ejected'' (Day 9)
Notes	''See note 1''	''See note 2''	''None''	''See note 3''	''None''	''See note 4''	''See note 5''	''None''	''See note 6''	''See note 7''	''See note 8''	''See note 9''	''See note 10''
Against public vote	Emily, Shabnam	Carole, Shabnam, Tracey	Carole, Jonathan, Seány	Billi, Carole, Tracey	Chanelle, Laura	Charley, Nicky	Gerry, Nicky	Charley, Tracey	David, Kara-Louise, Shanessa, Tracey	Amanda & Sam, Amy, Jonty, Kara-Louise	Brian, Carole, Gerry, Jonty, Kara-Louise, Liam	Jonty, Kara-Louise, Tracey	Amanda & Sam, Brian, Carole, Jonty, Liam, Ziggy
Walked	''none''	'Lesley'	''none''	''none''	'Jonathan'	''none''	''none''	''none''	'Chanelle'	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''
Ejected	'Emily'	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''	''none''
Evicted (% of public votes)	''Eviction cancelled''	'Shabnam'81.4% to evict	'Seány'44.5% to evict	'Billi'55.1% to evict	'Laura'68.1% to evict	'Charley'75.8% to fake evict	'Nicky'76% to evict	'Charley'85.6% to evict	'Shanessa'38% to evict	'Amy'58% to evict	'Gerry'24% 3 of 3 votes to evict	'Tracey' 38.4% to evict	'Jonty' 3.0% (out of 6)	'Liam' 19.1% (out of 3)
													'Carole' 4.9% (out of 6)
														'Amanda & Sam' 39.7% (out of 2)
									'David' 37% to evict			'Kara-Louise' 30.8% to evict	'Ziggy' 15.3% (out of 4)
													'Brian' 60.3% to win

Ziggy was told by Big Brother that he would be the only housemate allowed to nominate for the first eviction vote on Day 7. The eviction was later cancelled due to Emily being removed before the eviction could take place.^[50]
New housemates Seány and Gerry were two of four housemates allowed to nominate, and together they had to choose the other two housemates nominating with them. They chose Sam and Amanda to nominate.
Nicky and Charley were among those receiving the most nominations, but Billi and Charley's nominations were discounted so Nicky and Charley did not face the public vote.^[51]
The evicted housemate, Charley, was interviewed by Davina, with the interview shown on the plasma screen in the house, and then put back in the house.^[52]
Nominations took place on a Sunday (Day 47) instead of a Monday (Day 48). Chanelle and Ziggy were asked to nominate one housemate each, instead of the usual two housemates, as punishment for discussing nominations previously.^[53]
After continuous swapping of housemates between the Main House and the Halfway House, the housemates remaining in the Halfway House faced the public vote on from Day 65. However, the second twist to this was whoever faced the votes had an even bigger chance of being evicted, as there was a double eviction.^[54]
Amanda and Sam chose to become one housemate on Day 69. However, as a result they both faced the public vote.^[55]
For week 11's shopping task those who won mini-tasks gained "guru status" and were immune from eviction. All other housemates automatically faced the public vote^[56] but the Gurus had to decide from the two housemates with the highest number of votes (this was Carole with 49% and Gerry with 24%) who to evict.^[57]
In Week 12 there was a double evicion.^[58]
There were no nominations in the final week as the public were voting for the housemate they wanted to win.

References

1. Ethics of reality TV
2.
3.
The Sun Online - Big Brother: Male model is lucky BB fella Danielle Lawler

4.
The Sun Online - Big Brother: Good ... Fellows enter House Colin Robertson

5. Five new people enter the show
6.
Updated: Emily and Shabnam up for eviction - ''Inside Big Brother'' - Say goodbye to your summer!
7.
Thousands brave rain for BB fame

8.
The Daily Record - NEWS - REALITY CHECK Donna Watson

9. Carphone Warehouse not returning for 'BB8'
10. Virgin Media sponsors ''Big Brother''
11. ''Big Brother'' 8 Logo
12. Brand quits ''Big Brother'' spin-off
13. heat, , , , , ,
14. Dermot dishes on Little Bruv
15. Davina to host BB psychology show
16. 'Big Brain' dropped for Big Bro 8
17. Consideration of sanction against Channel Four Television Corporation in respect of its service Channel 4
18. http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1281299,00.html?f=dta
19. http://insidebigbrother.net/2007/news/bb738.html
20. http://insidebigbrother.net/2007/ratings
21. Weekly Viewing Summary, BARB.
22. Big Brother back with 6.2m
23. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcastnowarticle.aspx?intStoryID=169257.
24. http://www.channel4sales.com/audience_data/overnights?thedate=2007-06-01
25. http://www.channel4sales.com/audience_data/overnights?thedate=2007-06-01
26. Racist slur on ''Big Brother'' pulls in 4.6 million ''Digital Spy''
27. http://www.channel4sales.com/audience_data/overnights?thedate=2007-06-13
28. Bumper ratins for fake eviction ''Inside Big Brother''
29. http://insidebigbrother.net/2007/ratings
30. http://www.insidebigbrother.net/2007/ratings
31. Smoking ban hits BB house
32. BBC: WI member set for new ''Big Brother''
33. BB producers in smoking ban probe
34. Brian's caravan of love?
35. Housemates win task and caravan
36. Kara-Louise and Brian flirt at pool party
37.
38. Ooh! Sneak Peak inside Pauline's secret room
39. Gerry and Liam receive messages from home
40. Charley and Billi enter the happy room
41. Group given party entertainer roles
42. Party goers start birthday task
43. New Racism Row Engulfs ''Big Brother''
44.
45. 1,000 viewers say Emily's 'BB' ejection was wrong ''Digital Spy''
46. Sunday Mirror: Chanelle Rushed To See Docs. Retrieved July 8 2007.
47. Charley warned for using racist slur
48. Big Brother Day 55: Charley's 'paedophile' row with Gerry earns her a FINAL warning
49. More complaints over BB fight
50.
Emily removed from ''Big Brother''

51. Carole, Tracey and Billi up for eviction
52. 'Evictee' Charley back in house
53. Ziggy brands Big Brother a "fix"
54.
Four face eviction in ''Big Brother''

55.
Twins to be counted as one housemate

56. Big Brother sets 'Guru' shopping task
57.
''Big Brother'' plans Guru eviction twist

58.
BB pair face the punt this week Colin Robertson

External links

★ ''Big Brother'' at Channel4.com