Big Brother

◄ ►  Series 2 (2001)

Housemates Name Entered Exited       Brian Day 1 Day 64 Helen Day 1  Day 64    Dean Day 1  Day 64    Elizabeth Day 1  Day 63    Paul Day 1  Day 57    Josh Day 16  Day 50    Amma Day 1  Day 43    Bubble Day 1  Day 36    Narinder Day 1  Day 29    Stuart Day 1  Day 22    Penny Day 1  Day 15    Winner Runner up Evicted

Big Brother 2001, also known as Big Brother 2, was the second series of the British reality television series Big Brother. It is based upon the Netherlands series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. The series premiered on Channel 4 on 25 May 2001 and lasted nine weeks until the live finale on 27 July 2001. The second series continued the success of the original, being a ratings success for the company. There was a total of 7.3 million votes in the final week. In terms of ratings, it matched the success of the first with a series average of 4.5 million viewers.

The premise of the series remained largely unchanged from the previous installment in the series. The series revolves around ten strangers living in a house together with no communication with the outside world. They are filmed constantly during their time in the house, and can have no communication with those filming them. Each week, each contestant, referred to as "housemates", choose two people to be up for nomination. The two or more people with the most votes will be nominated to leave the house. The viewers then decide which of the nominees should leave, with the selected person leaving during a live show. This process continued until only three housemates remained, in which the viewers would decide which of the housemates would win the £70,000 grand prize. A housemate can be ejected from the show for breaking rules, such as discussing nominations when not permitted. Later in the season, an intruder entered the game, the first in Big Brother history, bringing the total number of housemates to 11. The series ended after 64 days, in which housemate Brian Dowling was crowned the Winner, and Helen Adams the Runner-Up.

Since their appearance on this series, various housemates have gone on to appear in other editions of the series. Housemate Narinder appeared in the spin-off Big Brother Panto in 2004, along with other former Housemates. Housemate Dean later returned for Big Brother 10 in 2009 as part of a task celebrating ten years of Big Brother. Winner Brian Dowling was an official housemate for Ultimate Big Brother, in which he became the only person to win the game of Big Brother twice. Housemate Amma returned that season as well, though it was only to participate in a shopping task. Brian later returned to Big Brother again in 2011, when he became the host of the new Channel 5 version of the show, replacing Channel 4 host Davina McCall. In 2009, housemate Stuart Hosking announced plans to launch Big Brother: The Musical in London's West End, and was granted approval by Endemol.^[1]

Production [edit]

Broadcasts [edit]

The series premiered on 25 May 2001, on Channel 4. The contestants were recorded 24 hours a day^[2] with cameras fixed around the house, and had to wear portable microphones. Channel 4 broadcasted a daily highlights show, and from the second week there was a live eviction show hosted by Davina McCall, where the evicted housemate was interviewed. In the nightly highlight episodes, viewers are shown various highlights of a specific day in the house. The second season did feature the return of the psychiatric evaluations during a highlight episode, despite controversy surrounding their appearance during the premiere season. The live eviction episode was held on Friday, with a pre-eviction episode and an official eviction episode being held with a 90 minute gap between them. The season ended on July 27, 2001, lasting for a total of 64 days. Big Brother 2 was the first season to involve an interactive service, showing two live feeds, and two more with respective one and four hour time delays. This was not a 24-hour service, and the feed was stopped for a two-hour period every night, during which the show and another three programs aired. This series spawned two spin-off series, Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother Reveals More. The former of the two shares the title of a segment from the first season, though there are no similarities. It was presented by Dermot O'Leary during Big Brother 2. The program showed viewers some of the comments being made by those outside of the game, and often had interviews with evicted housemates, as well as friends and family of those still in the house. Big Brother Reveals More was a recap of the previous week, which summed up the major points of the previous week. It only aired during this series, and was not featured in any subsequent series.

Prizes [edit]

The ten housemates in the game are competing for the grand prize of £70,000. Each week, the housemates attempted to complete various tasks assigned by Big Brother in exchange for a weekly budget, which they used to buy food and luxuries; this included buying things such as alcohol and cigarettes. Big Brother 2, much like the premiere season, did not feature luxury competitions or prizes throughout the season.

House [edit]

For the first two series, the house was located in Bow, London near to the 3 Mills Studios.^[3] The second series had a bigger budget, and the house used was renovated for a new look. Despite a similar layout to the original house, the decorations and furniture were completely different. The new House had a "Cabin fever" theme, as the format of the show was similar to the feeling of having cabin fever. With this theme, there were wooden walls throughout the majority of the house. There was a living room, where important news such as nominations were revealed to the housemates. The kitchen remained simple, with only necessities such as an oven, fridge, and sink. In the "Diary Room", in which housemates may speak privately and reveal their true feelings to the public, there is a more interesting look to it. The background of the room has the appearance of a garage door, with the Big Brother eye logo imprinted on it. Like the previous season, there is a men's and women's bedroom, each with five beds in them. One of the five in each room is larger than all of the others. Unlike the previous season, however, the men and women were allowed to choose which bedroom belonged to which gender. The outside of the house features a chicken coop, with seven hens and one rooster. The housemates must care for the chickens during their stay in the house, and must also use the eggs from the chickens to eat, otherwise they must use some of their budget to buy eggs. The house also features a garden, which the housemates use to grow plants and vegetables to eat. The Housemates were later given a hot tub to use in the backyard, placed close to the garden. A new feature this year was the addition of the den outside, a small area in the backyard in which housemates could enter to lounge and speak to one another. There were no couches or seats, but there were various pillows scattered around.

Format [edit]

Big Brother is a game show in which a group of contestants, called housemates, live in isolation from the outside world in a custom built "house", which includes everyday facilities such as a fully equipped kitchen, garden, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The house is also a television studio with cameras and microphones in most of the rooms to record the activities of the housemates. The only place where housemates can escape the company of the other contestants is the Diary Room, where they are encouraged to voice their true feelings. Not all Diary Room footage is broadcast due to the privacy of the contestants. Each week all housemates nominate two of their fellow contestants for potential eviction. Failure to do so may result in a punishment, such as a reduction in the prize fund. The two, or more, housemates with the highest number of nominations face a public vote conducted by phone, with the contestant receiving the most votes being evicted from the house. The last contestant remaining in the house is declared the winner and is awarded a cash prize of £70,000. On eviction night, there were two live eviction shows held. In the first, host Davina McCall would reveal to the housemates who had been evicted from the house, though the percentages were withheld from the group. Following the announcement, the evicted housemate had two hours to back their belongings and prepare to leave the house. At the start of the second episode, McCall would inform the evicted housemate that they had only moments to walk out the door. Upon exiting through the house's front door, McCall led the evictee into a studio where they met with their family and friends. While in the studio, McCall had an interview with the evicted housemate, and showed their best bits - a video compilation of their time in the house.

Over the duration of the series, the Housemates are given a series of tasks by Big Brother which test them in many ways. They are also put to the test by their own ideals, prejudices and opinions against other people from different walks of life; something that has survived from the original "social experiment" of Big Brother 1. They live in the communal House and share cooking and cleaning chores among themselves, which usually provides plenty of tension. Housemates are forbidden to sleep during daylight hours (unless unwell) - Big Brother plays the wake-up call persistently in the morning if housemates do not wake up and will play an alarm clock noise into the house if a housemate falls asleep during the day. Housemates must also live by the fundamental rules of Big Brother; if the rules are broken it can result in formal warnings, various punishments or even a housemate's removal from the House. They must wash their own clothes by hand, and they have to make their own bread from scratch. Each week Big Brother sets the Housemates a task in order to determine the shopping budget for the following week. They must work together to win the tasks in order to win a luxury shopping budget which changed based on the amount of people remaining in the house. If all food runs out in the House, Big Brother provides emergency rations of chickpeas and rice. Housemates are responsible for their own shopping and decide which items the budget will allow them to have. Only a small percentage of the overall budget can be spent on alcohol.

In an attempt to shake things up during the first night in the house, viewers were shown three new housemates: Josh, Anne, and Natasha. Josh claimed that he had "made a million dollars, and then lost it", while Anne was an elderly woman who described herself as a "late night talker". Natasha promised the viewers she would be sassy and sexy if she entered the house. The public would vote during the first week to decide which of these three housemates would be able to enter the game as an official housemate. As to not spoil the events of the game to these potential housemates, they were sequestered in Portugal while the public decided which of them should enter. On Day 16, Josh entered the house as the eleventh and final housemate. Referred to as intruders, new housemates entering the game would later become a major element for future Big Brother series in the country.

Housemates [edit]

Summary [edit]

On Day 1, the original ten housemates - Bubble, Amma, Helen, Narinder, Stuart, Dean, Brian, Penny, Paul and Elizabeth - entered the house. During the first night, the housemates were informed by Big Brother that the Den had been unlocked, and they could now enter it. Upon entering, they found a dummy and a note, stating that an eleventh housemate would enter shortly after the first eviction. The public then learned that they could vote for either Anne, Josh, or Natasha to enter the game. On Day 2, they were given their first weekly task. They were required to build a fire in the backyard by noon, and had to keep it lit for a consecutive 120 hours - five days. The fire had to be watched by two or more housemates at all times. They wagered 30% of their weekly budget on the task. On Day 5, the group failed the task as Helen left Elizabeth alone with the fire. They were informed of their loss a few days later. On Day 6, Helen celebrated her 23rd birthday in the house. She was given the choice of two presents: either taking a Gucci handbag and shoes or taking a party for the house. She decided to take the party for the house, which they had later that night.

On Day 8, it was revealed that the public had chosen Josh to enter the game, and that he would remain cut off from the outside world until he entered the game. Later that night, the Housemates participated in the first live nominations of the series, which resulted in Helen and Penny being the first Housemates to be nominated for eviction this season. Brian, Stuart, and Dean had no nominations cast against them, while Penny and Helen had the most nominations with five each. The task for this week was to learn first-aid, something which Brian had already had to learn as a flight attendant. The housemates had to treat injured “people” on the assessment day. Due to Brian's knowledge on the topic, the Housemates felt confident in their ability to do well, and wagered 60% of their weekly budget on the task. The Housemates passed this task a few days later. On Day 14, Bubble celebrated his 25th birthday in the house. This made him the second person this season to celebrate their birthday in the house, after Helen. On Day 15, Penny became the first HouseGuest to be evicted, receiving 58% of the public vote.

On Day 16, intruder Housemate Josh entered the game through the Diary Room. His entrance came as a surprise for the other Housemates, who were not aware he would be entering that day. On Day 17, the house were given a jacuzzi in the backyard, which they could use on their own free will. Later that day, they were given their new task which required them to learn ten facts about their fellow Housemates. They wagered 40% of the shopping budget on this task. On Day 18, the Housemates participated in the second nominations of the season. As an intruder, Josh was exempt from making nominations or being nominated this week. Ultimately, both Stuart and Paul received four nominations each, and were nominated for eviction. Elizabeth, Dean, and Brian received no nominations this week, while Stuart and Paul both had the highest amount of nominations. On Day 20, Brian celebrated his 23rd birthday in the house. The Housemates passed this task, as only Josh failed his part of the task. On Day 22, Stuart became the second HouseGuest to be evicted, having received 86% of the public vote.

On Day 23, Housemates were given their fourth weekly task, which was to adopt an individual dance and perform it on request from Big Brother at anytime between 8am and 2am for 5 days. Each Housemate would grab a partner when instructed, and would have 20 minutes to make it to the stage. Each Housemate would pick a genre, and had to be outside for that genre. Each genre of music also had a specific dance move that the participants had to perform at least three times during the dance. They wagered 10% of their weekly budget on this task. On Day 25, the Housemates participated in the third set of weekly nominations. This week resulted in Paul being nominated for the second time in a row, this time with Narinder. Helen, Dean, and Elizabeth had no nominations cast against them this week, while Narinder received the most with six nominations. That night, Bubble injured himself in an attempt to get to the stage in time, and thus no longer had to participate in the task. On Day 27, the Housemates performed a task in which they had to design hats for one another. They later earned food and drinks for the task. The housemates failed their weekly task when Josh was not on the platform on time during a group dance. Narinder became the third Housemate evicted on Day 29, having received 62% of the public vote against Paul.

The fifth weekly task was for Housemates to attempt to set a new Guinness World Record by the end of the week. There were four records total that they could break, and they would perform one task each day in an attempt to break the record. They would only pass the task if they broke one or more of the records. The group decided to wager 10% of their weekly shopping budget on the task. On Day 32, Housemates participated in the fourth set of nominations. Paul was revealed to be a nominee this week for the third consecutive time, having received a nomination from everyone except for Helen. He was nominated against Bubble, who had received three nominations this week. Elizabeth was the only Housemate to receive no nominations this week, making this the third week in a row she has received no nominations. On Day 34, the housemates passed their weekly task because Dean had set the record for the highest sugar cube tower. Though he did not break the world record, Bubble did break the UK record for most sweet corn kernels eaten, breaking the record that had been set since 1988. Elizabeth also celebrated her birthday in the house on this day. Bubble was evicted on Day 36, having received 53% of the public vote. This became the closest eviction vote of the season.

On Day 37, the Housemates received their new task, in which a dog, a white poodle named Paddy, would be released into the house for four hours every day. While Paddy was in the house, they were required to teach him tricks. They randomly selected eight tricks, which were the tricks they had to teach him. They were provided with a clicker and pieces of chicken to help train Paddy. They wagered 50% of the weekly shopping budget on the task. The Housemates failed their weekly task, as Paddy didn't know how to fetch. Paddy later passed away in June of 2008, and the June 26, 2008 episode of Big Brother 9 was dedicated to him. On Day 38, Housemates were given the task of making a soap opera based on their time in the house. On Day 39, Housemates participated in their fifth set of nominations. Amma and Paul were nominated for eviction this week, making it the fourth time in a row that Paul has been nominated for eviction. Every Housemate received at least one nomination this week, with Amma and Paul both tying for the most with four nominations each. Brian told the other Housemates that if he wasn't nominated for eviction this week that he would shave his head. On Day 40, following the reveal of the nominations, Dean shaved his head for him. Later that day, two intruders got into the backyard, causing a lockdown to be held. The intruders were immediately taken off the premises, and had no contact with the other Housemates. On Day 43, Amma became the fifth person evicted from the house, having received 64% of the vote against Paul.

On Day 44, Housemates were given their new weekly task, in which they had to dismantle a drum kit, move it over an obstacle course, and then reassemble it. They were required to complete this task in eight minutes and fifteen seconds, otherwise they would fail the task. Housemates wagered 36.4% on the task. On Day 46, Housemates participated in the sixth round of nominations. For the first time since the first week, Paul was not nominated for eviction. This week, Housemates Helen and Josh were nominated for eviction. Josh received the most nominations that week, having received four, while Helen received three nominations. For the fourth week in the game, Elizabeth received no nominations this week from her fellow Housemates. The Housemates later passed their weekly task, as they finished the course and put together the kit in eight minutes and one second. On Day 50, it was revealed that Josh had been evicted from the house, having received 84% of the public vote.

On Day 51, Housemates were given their eighth weekly task, which was to play playground games. This included games such as skipping, riding a pogo stick, using a hula-hoop, and using a space hopper. The Housemates had six minutes to complete the task this week. On Day 53, Housemates took part in the final nominations of the season. Helen and Paul were nominated against each other for eviction, with both of them receiving three nominations. All of their fellow Housemates nominated them together for eviction. All of the Housemates received at least one nomination this week. The Housemates failed their weekly task this week, taking over nine minutes to complete the given challenge. On Day 57, Paul became the seventh person evicted from the house, having received 84% of the public vote against Helen. Voting for the winner of the series began following Paul's eviction. On Day 63, in a surprise eviction, Elizabeth was evicted from the house as she received only 2% of the public vote to win. On Day 64, Dean exited the house in third place, receiving 5% of the vote to win. Helen left as the Runner-Up with 39% of the vote, and Brian left as the winner, having received 61% of the public vote to win the series.

Nominations table [edit]

Notes [edit]

Controversy & criticism [edit]

In the fifth week, when Bubble was nominated against Paul for eviction, Bubble was evicted from the house. His eviction was seen as controversial, when it was uncovered that a phone number posted on the internet advertising news for rival football clubs had actually been falsely set-up, and would register voters to evict Bubble from the House.^[4] The vote to evict Bubble was only 53%, thus excluding the votes that were falsely cast, Bubble could have stayed in the game over Paul, who went on to receive fourth place in the series. In total, Bubble received 534,574 votes, while Paul received 470,059.^[5] This marked the second time in the series that the voting process had been tampered with, when last series a mass email was sent out that featured a link to evict Housemate Melanie, though it appeared to be a link to claim a free vacation.^[6] Much like the previous series as well, this season had controversial moments due to outside interference. A few days before the first round of nominations, two fireworks were let off near the house, and the housemates were immediately sent inside for fear that it could be a secret message for a Housemate.^[7] In the fifth week of the game, two intruders broke into the house, and got into the hot tub.^[8] The remaining Housemates were put on lockdown, and security removed the intruders from the house immediately.^[9] The intrusion led to more security being put on the house.^[9] Some controversy also affected the Housemates personal lives. Penny, who was a teacher before entering the house, reportedly upset her boss, who felt her showering nude in the house "set a bad example for her pupils."^[10][11]

References [edit]

1. ^ "Big Brother". Digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-25. 
2. ^ Anthony, Andrew (23 July 2000). "Let's bomb them". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 26 April 2010. 
3. ^ 3 Mills Studios
4. ^ Big Brother 2 - The Bubble Burst - Where are they now?
5. ^ Big Brother 2 UK
6. ^ BBC News | ENTERTAINMENT | Record Big Brother phone vote
7. ^ BBC News | TV AND RADIO | Security scare hits Big Brother
8. ^ two men break into the UK Big Brother house. + reality blurred
9. ^ ^{a b} BBC News | TV AND RADIO | Intruders break into Big Brother house
10. ^ naked teacher up for eviction. + reality blurred
11. ^ BBC News | TV AND RADIO | Brother pair told of eviction woe

External links [edit]

• Big Brother - Series 2 at Channel4.com

Coordinates: 51°31′39″N 0°0′11″W / 51.52750°N 0.00306°W / 51.52750; -0.00306

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