Skip to main content

BB1

Haven't watched it for such a long time, but I remember the house was very basic/ordinary and the Diary Room was like someone's spare bedroom. There was even a power point on the wall behind the chair, which, when you look back at you think "Really? THAT's the Diary Room? Did they even try?"

So kind of amusing in the respect. All much slower paced, but they were real people who weren't social media or reality TV whores because that wasn't a thing then. The genuine reactions of a group of people coming together who had no idea what to expect had its charms at the time. Can't turn back the clock, unfortunately, no matter how many twists you throw in.
 
Haven't watched it for such a long time, but I remember the house was very basic/ordinary and the Diary Room was like someone's spare bedroom. There was even a power point on the wall behind the chair, which, when you look back at you think "Really? THAT's the Diary Room? Did they even try?"

So kind of amusing in the respect. All much slower paced, but they were real people who weren't social media or reality TV whores because that wasn't a thing then. The genuine reactions of a group of people coming together who had no idea what to expect had its charms at the time. Can't turn back the clock, unfortunately, no matter how many twists you throw in.
I loved season 1. Gordon was my favourite as he reminded me of someone I liked at work and I found out years later that another friend of mine worked in production on it, walking down the hidden corridors etc. The whole social experiment thing was new, fresh and completely devoid of media savvyness which made it more innocent than subsequent series.
 
What I've found looking back at older series one is how you get so much more content in a show half as long - everything was just edited far tighter back then and having only a half hour slot meant the show packed a bigger punch - not quite all thriller, no filler, but it just did a better job in a tighter timeframe of giving you an all round view of the housemates.
 
Last edited:
Without spoiling, does stuff actually happen?

Is it at least enjoyable to watch?

People will watch this series for nostalgia purposes only... If you came in later in the series I doubt you’d find it that enjoyable... In the early days BB got through on the interesting premise and storytelling. Twists were minor and drama was much more subdued than future series. If you were to watch it would be for the pure enjoyment of seeing how it all started... NOT for any significant plot points.
 
^^ agree with Kingston. Things might have been a bit different if they had let Andy take her bag of dildos and S&M gear in 😷 (c.f. Peter Abbott interview).
 
Definately ticks the nostalgia box but the core format is strong enough it should still appeal, though may take a couple of weeks of shows to get used too.

Obviously though people viewing the series for the very first time, whether as a viewer of later seasons or having never watched it at all, will have a different experience to those who have gone back and watched it again. I struggle to believe though anyone who only saw the Channel 9 version would watch BB1 and think "no, it's not as good as the last series".
 
Definately ticks the nostalgia box but the core format is strong enough it should still appeal, though may take a couple of weeks of shows to get used too.

Obviously though people viewing the series for the very first time, whether as a viewer of later seasons or having never watched it at all, will have a different experience to those who have gone back and watched it again. I struggle to believe though anyone who only saw the Channel 9 version would watch BB1 and think "no, it's not as good as the last series".

What's your order of favourite series?
 
Defo BB3 then BB1. Then it gets tricky, partly because we spent BB4 to BB8 slagging off the show here for not being as good as BBUK and BB2 was rather forgetable. Instinct puts the Channel 9 series at the bottom three, with the number of the series being their placement (as in it got worse each year). I'm giving the final series on Ten (BB8) a bit of a lift because at least they tried to shake it up, even if it didn't work out, as personally at the time I felt they'd done enough for it to deserve another series, as long as they ditched Kyle.

I think I'll go:
BB3
BB1
BB7
BB6
BB8
BB5
BB2
BB4
BB9
BB10
BB11
 
Defo BB3 then BB1. Then it gets tricky, partly because we spent BB4 to BB8 slagging off the show here for not being as good as BBUK and BB2 was rather forgetable. Instinct puts the Channel 9 series at the bottom three, with the number of the series being their placement (as in it got worse each year). I'm giving the final series on Ten (BB8) a bit of a lift because at least they tried to shake it up, even if it didn't work out, as personally at the time I felt they'd done enough for it to deserve another series, as long as they ditched Kyle.

I think I'll go:
BB3
BB1
BB7
BB6
BB8
BB5
BB2
BB4
BB9
BB10
BB11

I think I try to treat BBUK and BBAU as different entities for that reason. Do you actually think BB9-11 are the worst three or just because they're on Channel 9 you've placed them there?
 
I think I try to treat BBUK and BBAU as different entities for that reason. Do you actually think BB9-11 are the worst three or just because they're on Channel 9 you've placed them there?

BB9-11 are arguably the worst three if you watch any of BB1-7 before them. I think you can kind of lump 8 in with that bunch in that a lot of the emphasis is more on the twists and the producer manipulation is a bit more obvious. It just gets obnoxiously bad in 9-11 as the producers physically hand screentime to the contestants they've clearly picked as favourites in the form of "secret tasks".

A lot of people's opinions are probably influenced by when they began watching and when the format was "fresh" to them. For example, Big Brother 2006 was my first season, so I kind of rank it highly, but I probably have BB5 as my favourite season, just given the way each weekly task was able to bring out very different responses from the group (easy highlight is the Master + Slave task, though there are a lot of other great moments through the season).
 
BB9 to BB11 were easily the worst produced seasons, but not necessarily the worst cast. I'd argue BB9 especially had quite a decent cast, and BB10 wasn't too bad too - though perhaps single handedly lifted by Tim. Maybe it's because it's over a decade ago now but for me the BB5/6 cast especialy blend into one.
 
The Channel Nine seasons were so much more manipulated by producers and of course with no live stream they could do whatever they wanted. Getting them to perform Oats a la Layla was particularly obvious (and cringeworthy). And on that note, the show was dumbed down to be more kiddie friendly.
 
BB9 to BB11 were easily the worst produced seasons, but not necessarily the worst cast. I'd argue BB9 especially had quite a decent cast, and BB10 wasn't too bad too - though perhaps single handedly lifted by Tim. Maybe it's because it's over a decade ago now but for me the BB5/6 cast especialy blend into one.
I would agree there was actually some good choices of people in there in the channel nine years it was the over production of it that let it down.
 
Ben Zabel was on the news last night about the arson. They called it a mansion. That would be a stretch.
 
#1. Season 4, 2004

#2. Season 1, 2001

#3. Season 9, 2012

#4. Season 6, 2006

#5. Season 2, 2002

#6. Season 10, 2013

#7. Season 5, 2005

#8. Season 3, 2003

#9. Season 11, 2014

#10. Season 7, 2007

#11. Season 8, 2008
 
Back
Top