It’s often said here on the forums that BB Aus should bring over producers from BBUK to help improve the show – but unbeknown to us it seems that a former BBUK executive producer has been working on the show for the last three years, though isn’t associated with the show this year – the lure of producing Ready, Steady, Cook drove her away.
Tim Brunero interviewed Marion Ferrely on his Oh, Brother podcast (Thu 10 May) and it’s quite a lengthy and interesting chat about the production side of the show – with a bit of talk about the comparisons between Big Brother in the UK and in Australia.
However, one thing really bugged me.
Talking about BBUK, Marion spoke about a task from BB6 in which the housemates had to stay in cardboard boxes for as long as possible. She commented that the task went on much longer than the producers expected (which it probably did), but claimed it “backfired” because the producers were left with no footage (as HMs were in cardboard boxes), and that is wasn’t considered a success.
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
The box task is considered to be one of the most successful tasks in BBUK history, and though the majority of the housemates were in cardboard boxes, some clever camera work provided one of the most surreal, yet entertaining, shows ever – and is still ranked as a highlight by the presenters, even mentioned in their interviews ahead of BB8, released earlier today.
Davina:
Which have been your favourite moments in past Big Brothers?
Nadia winning was a very emotional one for me. Brian winning – that was great. The bedsit where the girls were living, the box task, Pete Burns, George Galloway and Rula Lenska. There have been so many amazing, amazing moments. Big Brother is an ongoing joy, and I’m very, very lucky to be hosting it.
Dermot:
If you had one wish for Big Brother this summer, what would it be?
I want it to get its sense of humour back. I don’t think it deliberately left but I want to see people in boxes again. I want to see those wonderful tasks.
And if that’s not enough evidence, how about the original thread here on the BBBA forums.
Kind of ironic how this task was named “thinking inside the box” – sums up the Australian production team perfectly!
P.S. For the record, it appears Marion Ferrely joined Big Brother in Australia in 2004, working on BB04, BB05 and BB06. Prior to this she was an executive producer on Big Brother 4 in the UK back in 2003 – widely considered to be the worst of all UK series with major changes made for Big Brother 5. Unsurprisingly, the executive producers from BB4 did not return for BB5.
BBUK UPDATE:
Alot of news and information about Big Brother 8, which begins next Wednesday (Thursday morning Australian time) has been released today, including pictures of the house, interviews with the presenters and details of exactly how many spin-offs there will be this year.
Information can be found in our International Forum and at our UK partner site Being Big Brother, plus a selection of caps can be found here.