Big Brother 2 was broadcast in
2001 in the United Kingdom as
part of the Big Brother reality
television series. It aired on
Channel 4, from 25 May 2001 to
27 July 2001, lasting 64 days.
The second series of the show in
which a number of contestants
live in an isolated house trying
to avoid being evicted by the
public with the aim of winning a
large cash prize at the end of
the run. With a much larger
budget for the second series,
after the huge success of the
first, the house in Bow, East
London was renovated and in May
2001, the new batch of
housemates moved in.
In a twist to the show, an 11th
housemate entered the house two
weeks later (Day 16) - as the
result of a public vote, in
which Josh Rafter was chosen out
of 3 wildcard housemates as the
11th contestant. During the
first week, at the end of each
episode, clips were shown of all
three possible housemates:
- Josh, who claimed "to have
made a million and then lost
it";
- Anne, an older woman who
promised sense and maturity in
the house, and a "late night
talker";
- Natasha, a fiery young girl
who promised "naughtiness" and
other late-night antics
The trio were not allowed to
watch the show or find out what
was happening in the house until
the winner of the vote entered
so they were taken to Portugal
up to that point.
The series saw lovebirds Paul
Clarke and Helen Adams grow
close over the time they spent
in the house. Their relationship
helped bring in ratings, as
tabloids speculated on the
possibility of their indulging
in sexual shenanigans in a
manner similar to that seen in
the show's continental
equivalent.
Paul and Helen's romance wasn't
the only ratings winner, the
quick wit of Irish housemate
Brian Dowling became an instant
hit with viewers. Brian went on
to win the series, and launch a
successful television career.
The public's continued affection
for him was illustrated by his
being voted the most popular Big
Brother housemate from Series 1
to 5 in 2005. In a 2006 update
to this poll he had, however,
fallen to fourth.
Helen finished second in the
show, her popularity was
predominantly due to her dumb
blonde persona. Famous quotes
from Helen, known as 'Helenisms',
have included "Is there Chicken
in Chick Peas?" and "I like
blinking, I do." Helen and Paul,
after 5 years together, have
since separated, citing a lack
of time apart as the reason for
the breakup. Brian went on to
become the first openly gay man
to present a children's
television show in the UK when
he joined SMTV Live.
Series two tasks included:
- Manning, fuelling, and keeping
alight a fire
- Learning first-aid techniques
- Training a dog to do tricks
- Dancing - it consisted of
music being played, and
housemates having a set amount
of time to rush to a
specially-constructed podium in
the garden and dance with music.
This was seen as popular and
appropriate, and many tasks in
future series have involved
timed klaxons to perform certain
rituals. A famous moment that
inadvertently resulted from this
time pressure occurred as Bubble
raced to the podium, only to
smash his knee into a chair as
he did so.
Series two was also the first
series 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.
Endemol were also criticised for
cutting the live feed when two
intruders broke into the house
on Day 39, and subsequently
promised to tighten security.
Brian's winning margin was the
highest ever garnered by a U.K
winning contestant.
Source: Wikipedia
