BIG BROTHER 'THE OFFICIAL UNSEEN STORY' by Jean Ritchie

BIG BROTHER: 'THE OFFICIAL UNSEEN STORY'

By Jean Ritchie

Paperback: 192 pages

Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 2.4 cm

Product Description
In the TV series "Big Brother", ten contestants who have never met before are challenged to stay in a house, cut off from any contact with the outside world, for 70 days.

Their every move is recorded around the clock by 24 cameras - At stake is a large cash prize.

The contestants are free to leave at any time, but, if they do, they walk away empty-handed.

At regular intervals contestants nominate two members of the group for eviction, with viewers making the final decision as to who is to leave.

This show has been a huge hit abroad: in Holland, the live cam Website had 52 million hits over the 70 days; in Germany it spawned a hit single.

In the UK, on weekday nights a 30-minute programme shows what has happened in the house the previous day and a live Web cam link is to be set up.

On Saturday nights a live studio programme features interviews with the family and friends of the contestants.

During this show, contestants who have been evicted are reunited with their family.

With exclusive access to the diaries of the contestants, as well as unseen material that didn't make it to the TV screen, this companion book traces the unseen story as the nine contestants forge relationships with each other and try to avoid eviction.

Now that the TV sensation of summer 2000 is over, take a look at the bits the camera didn't show you in Big Brother: The Unseen Story.

As the ten contestants took to the task of out-popularising each other, the nation settled down to a nightly diet of flirtation, intrigue and kitchen sink crises.

Aside from the fact that Big Brother ushered in a genuinely new concept in TV entertainment, broke countless taboos and raised many serious issues amongst the frippery, its major success was in managing to coax engrossing and coherent television out of a bunch of misfits with no experience of live performance.

The defining moment remains the pantomime drama of Nasty Nick's kangaroo court de-frocking (for gamesmanship no less), but what really captured the imagination was the interaction of the characters and their shifting tensions and allegiances over the weeks cooped up in east London.

Jean Ritchie's Big Brother: The Unseen Story charts the entire series, from concept through to Craig's triumph, taking us inside the minds of the participants and revealing the dynamics behind their sexual and power struggles.

And Darren's true feelings for Marjorie. With exclusive access to the diaries of the contestants, it's your turn to play big brother.