EDINBURGH couple Carol and Peter Jones know exactly where Dougie's coming from with his obsessions – although their musical tastes are certainly different.
THE end is nigh. Hopefully. Big Brother is watching – but not for much longer if the ratings are anything to go by. Can we really be that lucky?
If only George Orwell had known what he was starting, he might never have penned 1984 and, in turn, th
e world would have been spared making the acquaintance of the likes of Jade Goody, Kinga and Nasty Nick.
Last week, Big Brother (BB9) took a hit bigger than 'Gob-gate' (which saw Edinburgh dancer Dennis McHugh evicted for unacceptable behaviour) when Australia's version of the show was axed.
That, and the fact that last week's eviction attracted a seven-year low of 2.5 million viewers, has tempted bookmakers to slash the odds of there being a BB10 to 7-4.
Bex, Rex, Lisa, Mo, Dale, Luke and Stuart (the collective term for which must surely be a banality of housemates) just don't seem to have the appeal of their predecessors, or is it just that at last, the novelty of watching people sitting around all day navel-gazing has finally worn off?
That said, although the UK version (there are more than 70 worldwide) has thrown up the odd controversy, it's tame compared with some of its counterparts. Kinga and her bottle act may have shocked, and Nasty Nick may have made headlines when he set the trend for being ejected from the house, but the third Brazilian series resulted in Miss Brazil being stripped of her crown when she revealed on the show that she had been married when she won the coveted award, a no-no in the Miss Brazil contest. Big Brother Oz-style saw two male housemates evicted for alleged sexual assault, while Dutch BB made TV history when Tanja Savanna gave birth in the house. And Welsh model Catrina Davies outraged Italian viewers when she bedded brickie Alessandro Capone in the Latin version.
The really sad thing about Big Brother is that, despite their lack of talent, many housemates go on to to carve lucrative showbiz careers for themselves. BB Australia shot Blair McDonough to fame and fortune in Neighbours, while here, too many of the contestants have gone on to work on stage and screen.
Craig Phillips, winner of BB1, is now a TV DIY expert; former cabin crew supervisor Brian Dowling, who won BB2, went on to present SM:TV Live; and Kate Lawler, winner of BB3, landed a job fronting the Channel 4 breakfast show RI:SE. Then there's Jade Goody . . .
A surprising number of housemates have landed presenting jobs or, like Orkney's Cameron Stout, gone on to appear in panto, much to the disgust of Equity members everywhere.
With Big Brother gone, Channel 4 might consider commissioning a drama to replace it, and trained actors might once more have a better chance of working over Christmas – as long as they don't hold their breath.
Of course, the biggest bonus of the axe falling on BB would be the removal of Davina McCall from our screens. Over-exposed to the point of parody, her toothy grin and hair-flicking antics are as past their sell-by dates as Graham Norton's squealed ad-libs and Jonathan Ross' vintage-ladishness.
Imagine meeting all three in Room 101.
The full article contains 574 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
