And also courtesy of BB Spy, some pictures of the house – although not a lot to see so far, and details of this years massive launch night twist.   If you don’t like spoilers, don’t sneak a peak.

The build up to this season has been more secretive than in recent years, with host Davina McCall claiming she “gasped” when she was informed of a twist planned for this year.    Following Thursday nights launch show, an extra live show will air on Sunday night in which “Big Brother reveals some surprises that could send shockwaves through the house”.

Big Brother hasn’t been immune to the credit crunch, with a number of cut backs this year.   For the first time since BB4, there are just two presenters associated with the show.  As well as fronting the evictions, Davina McCall will also be presenting Big Brother’s Big Mouth, which has been cut from four to one episode a week, while George Lamb returns for his second series of fanzine show Big Brother’s Little Brother.

Diary Room Uncut has also been axed, but the decision which has angered the fans the most has been to scrap the 24/7 live feed.   Live coverage will only be available from the house for just a few hours overnight.

Big Brother begins on C4 in the UK on Thursday 4th June.   Check out the International Forum for the latest discussion, while bbspy has the latest news and rumours, including more of the adverts counting down to the launch.

Gretel hasn’t fronted any live television since the 2007 BB finale, but she seems ready to take on the Aussie TV industry’s ‘night of nights’.

“Everyone knows it’s a challenge and I’m up for that,” she said.

“Live television is what I’ve always done and it really pushes my buttons and this is the first thing that’s come by me television-wise (since Big Brother) where I’ve thought, ‘yes, this is a good fit’.

The 2009 TV Week Logie Awards will be held on Sunday, May 3 and will air on Channel Nine.

Hold on a moment while we go register behindlogies.com…

Source: The Daily Telegraph

SBS have acquired the rights to air a UK zombie drama based on Big Brother after striking a deal with Endemol, the producers behind the show and the franchise itself.

“Dead Set”, written by Charlie Brooker, begins on an ordinary eviction night as a zombie epidemic which has taken over Britain closes in on the Big Brother compound – leaving the house as the only safe place for those not yet turned into the living dead.

The series, which will air as six half-hour episodes, includes Jaime Winstone and Andy Nyman amongst the cast, with BBUK host Davina McCall also getting in on the zombie action.

SBS, also home to other C4 and E4 dramas such as Shameless and Skins, have yet to confirm when the series will air.

Source

More information available (WARNING:  Spoilers, and some graphic images) on the official site at E4.com, while the BB Spy mini-site has a trailer for the show.

OTHER NEWS….

In other Big Brother related news the ACMA have concluded that ATV10 and NEW Perth ran promotions for Big Brother Big Mouth which carried the wrong classification – M instead of MA – and also ran the promos at times when MA promotions should not be shown.    More from our friends at TV Tonight.

“some very strong talk that BB will be back in April 2010 in a different guise – perhaps something along the lines of Celebrity Hi-Jack.“

For those of you who don’t know, Celebrity Hijack was a UK variation of the format that aired last year which featured a series of celebrities taking on the role of Big Brother and “hijacking” the house for a day.   In this case the housemates were “exceptionally talented” youngsters aged 18-21, with a politician, circus performers, a boxer and racing car driver amongst them.

April 2010 is the date to pencil in your diaries (not that you’d have a diary for next year yet!), but the exact details are far from being confirmed, although we do understand that if it does return, it is likely to be back on Ten.

• Our forums are still open and if this is the news you’ve been waiting for, you can discuss it here. Plus new for 2009 we have dedicated forums for The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance.

So we have (from L-R) Michael Jackson’s sister LaToya, ex-Sugababe singer Mutya Buena, dwarf actor Verne Troyer – who even had his own door into the house, controversial politician and friend of George “would you like me to be the cat?” Galloway Tommy Sheridan, glamour model Lucy Pinder, ex-A1 boyband singer Ben Adams, Shameless actress Tina Malone, US rapper Coolio, ex-Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton and TV presenters Terry Christian and Ulrika Johnson.

The first twist was also revealed at the end of the launch show – the last housemate to choose their bed will become Head of House, getting their own private quarters and being the only housemate to nominate for the first eviction, with the next live show scheduled for Tuesday.

Discuss the show in our International Forum.  For a run down of how the live launch show unfolded check out bbspy.co.uk, while a couple of BBBA regulars are blogging at Being Big Brother.

As usual, the celebrities will be living in the same house as used in the last series, but with a few modification to make it both Winter proof – and celeb proof!

First up, the bathroom.   The bath is now slightly bigger and has steps, while the shower is enclosed for extra privacy.   The blue has been ditched in favour of a classier red look:

The two bedrooms remain from BB9, with speculation that the celebs will also be divided into Heaven and Hell.   The luxury bedroom now has a luxury couch to recline on, while B-block is made slightly less hellish with thicker mattresses:

Little has changed in the main living area except for the addition of a couple of exercise bikes:

However, outside it’s a different story with a complete new look for the garden.   The nominations pod and ashtray remain, but the pool is gone – replaced by three carousel horses, while a new “ice-cube” seating area has been introduced:

And also returning for Celebrity Big Brother is the new improved Jail, complete with luxury bedding and en-suite facilities:

Celebrity Big Brother begins with the live launch show on Friday and continues nightly for the next three weeks.   Rumoured housemates include Michael Jackson’s sister La Toya, mini-me Verne Troyer, rapper Coolio and a mixture of UK television and music personalities, including TV presenters Ulrika Johnson and Terry Christian and Shameless actress Tina Malone, aka Mimi Maguire.

Keep up to date with events in our International Forum, while the official site is at channel4.com/bigbrother.   For more news and rumours check out bbspy.co.uk, while Being Big Brother offers the views of a couple of BBBA regulars.

UPDATE: C4 has confirmed Celebrity Big Brother 6 will launch on Friday 2nd January 2009, with Davina at the helm to usher the “celebs” into their January home.   BBLB and Big Mouth have been reprieved too, with George Lamb returning to front Big Brother’s Little Brother while Jack Whitehall takes over Big Brother’s Big Mouth.

After an argument about an OXO cube ended up as an International race row two years ago, the future didn’t look too good for Celebrity Big Brother in the UK, but after a break this year the series will return to UK screens (and computers world wide) in January, running for three weeks with Davina McCall back at the helm.

However the future of BBUK’s spin-off shows remains unclear, with indications that both Little Brother and Big Mouth will be axed to make way for one new combined spin-off called Big Brother’s Big Eye.

Check out our International Forum for all the build up to Celebrity Big Brother, plus news about the imminent return of Big Brother Germany next month.    And more Celebrity BBUK build up at bbspy.co.uk.

The show will run Sunday to Friday in the 7pm slot previously occupied by Big Brother, while Ten are expected to announce a further show to occupy the 7pm slot in the second half of next year.

So fingers crossed hey they’re crap and pave the way for BB to return to Australia in 2010 – not that we want BB back in the 7pm slot of course!

What do you think of Ten’s decision then – discuss here.

The large open plan living area is dominated by the central kitchen, while the bedroom already has that lived in feeling.   Should the housemates be expecting company?

And while the garden is on the slightly small side, it does have the essential hot tub, complete with BB eye – plus a mysterious bubble can be seen in one of the pictures released.

Details of the hosuemates, including an “official” press shot complete with the new look BB eye, have also been leaked, with “unapologetic” Marky, “raunchy” Veronica, “South London Geezer” Space and “bitch of the house” Grayson amongst the key characters in the house.

And of course, no pre-series press release is complete without an image of Davina – though this one takes the Halloween horror theme to the extreme, so caution is advised.   Click here to view.

And though Big Brother Australia may be dead and buried (for now, but hey – the dead can come back to life you know!), the World Firsts live on with this latest series, which not only launches on October 27th with an eviction night, but rather than casting regular bonafide housemates, they’ve only gone and filled the house with actors instead – and every word they speak will be the words of writer and TV critic Charlie Brooker.

This is Big Brother – and Davina’s Coming to Get You!  Even though she’s dead.

Dead Set premieres in the UK on the 27th October and continues throughout the week leading up to Halloween.   For more information go to the official site at e4.com/deadset and talk about the build up in our International Forum.   And as usual, thanks to all those users I’ve forgot to thank.