We’ve said a lot about the negatives around the show at the moment - too much in some people’s opinion - so time to take a look at the positives from BB9. (I’m not even going to attempt to find any from CBB6!)
Unfortunately it wasn’t reflected in the ratings, but for those who did watch Big Brother 9 was a significant improvement on the last couple of years, and for me personally it was the best series since Big Brother 6.
Housemates
I’m not one of those people who believe it’s all about the casting - but undoubtedly the housemates play an important role in Big Brother - and with BB9 they got the casting pretty much right. The housemates were people you wanted to watch, wanted to hate, wanted to love - and wanted to evict - and as with all the best series in recent years, quickly split into two distinct groups, allowing the viewers at home to take sides as well. They were also competitive too - and for the first time wanting to win wasn’t always seen as a bad thing.
In addition, although at 21 throughout the series it seemed a lot, we technically only got three new housemates last year - the three girls introduced around four weeks in. Stuart and Nicole were technically replacements, and although Nicole’s introduction was not necessary, in numbers terms at least, her introduction carried the show for the final few weeks - even if it did ruin Rex’s chances of winning.
Davina
With a show like Big Brother it’s important the host is as enthusiastic about the viewer - and that we believe that enthusiasm. Back in BB8 when Davina was telling us how “amazing” everything was, we saw straight through her because we knew it wasn’t - but it was a different story last year as Davina was clearly enjoying the series, and that was reflected in how she presented the show.
Another positive from last year was the return to the studio for making the eviction announcements - something many fans had been calling for basically since they moved outside for BB5. The evictions are the highlight of the week - and it’s important we see how the housemates react to the eviction results, not how the crowd react to them.
Head of House
Better late than never is probably the best way to describe the Head of House and Heaven and Hell twist last year. If I wasn’t thinking positive, I’d point out it should have started weeks earlier, Heaven and Hell should have lasted longer - and the contrast be greater - plus the initial twist of the Head of House deciding who lives where should have been maintained as it really shook up the dynamics in the house.
However, as I’m thinking positive I’ll applaud the producers for finally resurrecting the divide twist. It may split opinion amongst the fans, but the fact that BB3 is by far the most popular series can’t be ignored - and the time was right to bring it back - and they executed it quite differently too, with simple twists such as the Housemates from Hell having to earn the right to nominate adding a new dimension to the game.
It was also great that once they’d finished with Heaven and Hell they didn’t abandon the role of Head of House - and with just some minor responsibilities and the advantage of immunity they showed it could work alongside the traditional format. For many people the position of Head of House should be the starting point for changes to BB10, and it was very disappointing that after playing a key part in the first week of Celebrity Big Brother it was then abandoned without a trace.
The House
We were fed up of the houses getting smaller every year. In BB9 it got bigger - that’s a positive surely. The task room was also a very useful addition to the series, while the simple concepts of the jail and the tokens bought something new to the show which were a feature throughout.
Structure
Like a lot of people, I wasn’t a huge fan of the weekly tasks running over just two days, but I do like that the tasks were much more structured than in the last couple of years, generally with something for the Head of House on Saturdays, the HMs from hell nominating on Mondays and then the main task on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Simple ideas like the tokens and “Big Brother’s ever changing mystery prize” also seemed to work well too.
The nominations process remained largely intact throughout too - indeed with Heaven and Hell they did something I’d been wanting for years - a twist which affects nominations each week, rather than a series of unconnected twists affecting nominations when the producers found it convenient.
And finally…
Zezi. Sacking her, that is.
But heres to a good BB10. Lets hope they’ve realised BB9 essentially reset things and gave them a new start.