Finished the Behind The Scenes Special and ‘The World Is Watching’ Special. Both gave a little bit more insight into the Season as well - like how production were thinking Nick might be up to something in the blind spots of the cameras but didn’t want to call him out on it at the same time, so It was really Thomas who brought it all unstuck, and How they looked at the first seasons of Netherlands, BBUS etc at the time as well.
There was also some of the audition process. The Season as a whole, It was very interesting to see a few minor differences even to our first version just a year later in terms of Evictions, Nominations process. Otherwise the house itself was that very early on basic basics as far as house design goes.
Dynamic wise as noted in the special the settling in process was a little bizarre, then there was a bit of friction, as well as some housemates journey benefited /hindered by certain events, certain people leaving, or elements of the game as it went which was interesting to watch.
A bit more depth in the brief Housemates recap so Here Goes:
Sada: I thought she was really well spoken, her singing that mountain song or whatever was funny. I think she may have followed Carolines trajectory had she stayed though, sticking within the girls group or with Nichola and easy noms fodder for the Boys + Melanie possibly leaving when Caroline originally did, if not the week Andrew did. But who knows, she may have gotten strength in surviving the first eviction and continued to grow as Anna did after falling into a Lull.
Andrew: I thought he had an air of immaturity about him, although he did have some other moments in discussions. If he stayed he might've went on to become like Blair in the Aus first season perhaps. It may have even changed Melanie and Thomas’ whole game if their fling developed further.
Caroline: I thought she regained her entertainment value once she got over the sad mopey period of being nominated. The tiff with Craig probably sealed the nomination in the week she was booted, but it was good to see them make up and she was kindof back into the swing of things.
Nick: Was probably a bit too ahead of his time with the way the game was played at the time (although he didnt need to outright cheat - there were ways of playing strategically within the rules of this format without colluding or open manipulation) His lies and manipulation just snowballed and got the better of him, whereas if he had just been authentic from the start he mightve stood a better chance and not become so nervous, awkward and paranoid about how he was being percieved. It was only a matter of time even without the cheating though, He may have ended up with a Melanie exit, evicted as soon as he fell into the nominations lineup with the way the public turned on him on the outside (Although there were some ‘Put Nick back in!’ posters after he was ousted, so a’ bit keep the ones you want to watch around for a bit’ indeed hey?
Nichola: She had some fun moments too, but I think she struggled with losing Sada and Caroline, then she had a few fiery and argumentative moments. A Bit like Caroline, she made up with Darren but got booted the direct following eviction.