Review by Charles Allison
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £9.99 | DVD Region 2
On July 18th, 2000, 10 unknowns entered the first ever Big Brother house. Little did they know that they had just started a series that was set to change the face of television forever. Ten years, eleven series, and 171 housemates later and the show’s coming to an end and whether you like it or not, its influence is difficult to dispute.
Big Brother has certainly made stars out of the likes of Davina McCall and Dermot O’Leary and paved the way for a host of new reality TV shows. I happen to be part of the show’s ever decreasing fanbase and so, you can imagine my delight when I was asked to review a DVD, showcasing highlights from across Big Bro’s series.
The bulk of the DVD is dedicated to three ‘classic’ episodes, as voted for by Big Brother viewers. There are a couple of problems with this approach. Firstly, most of the series don’t really get a look in. The episodes are from series five, nine and 11, which might leave fans of the other series feeling a little short-changed. Furthermore, as good as the episodes are, they are difficult to appreciate when taken out of the context of the show as a whole. The episodes were so good originally because they kick-started drama in the house, or brought a particular storyline to an end. On their own they feel a little bit hollow. If it had been up to me, I would have separated the DVD into categories, such as ‘best fight’, ‘best couple’ and ‘funniest moment’ and featured highlights from every one of the show’s series within this framework. Sadly for everyone, it wasn’t up to me!
The DVD culminates in eleven short clips, featuring a montage of highlights from each of the show’s series. The clips are thoroughly entertaining and certainly brought happy memories flooding back for me. However, the DVD’s saving grace came just a little too late in the day and only left me wishing that the rest had been as good. Having said all that, the majority of the show’s fans will find something to enjoy in this DVD and I can see myself sticking it on when the Big Brother withdrawal symptoms begin to kick in, though I fear that it’s just likely to leave me wanting more.
EXTRAS None