Big Brother

A house full of cameras

On September 16, 1999, Dutch channel Veronica aired the first episode of something new. A group of strangers moved into a house wired with cameras and microphones, and viewers could watch them live together, plot, bond and squabble.

The format came from Dutch TV producer John de Mol, whose company was behind the show. The name nodded to the all-seeing Big Brother of George Orwell's novel 1984, but this time the watching was the entertainment.

Trimmed for the millennium

According to Gary Carter, who helped launch the show, the original plan was for the series to run all year. That was too much for broadcasters, so the format was trimmed back to about three months. Veronica bought in, with the broadcaster and De Mol initially sharing both the costs and the advertising revenue.

The timing was cheeky. The season was scheduled so the final housemates would walk out on the eve of the new millennium. The first Dutch season ran for 106 days and ended on December 30, 1999.

Viewers could follow the housemates far more closely than on any earlier show, and the producers built the format so the audience had a say in who stayed and who left. Watching became a kind of game in itself.

From one house to the world

Big Brother quickly became one of the most copied formats in television and was remade in many countries around the world. Evictions, nominations and the diary room became part of pop culture.

For Drama Momma, the genius is in the setup. Put people under one roof, add a prize and a camera in every corner, and the story writes itself.

Why it still matters

Big Brother proved that reality TV could be live, round the clock and interactive, with viewers voting on what happened next. Many later shows built their own twist on that idea of the audience as the all-seeing judge.

The idea of watching ordinary people live together around the clock was daring in 1999, and plenty of commentators doubted it would work. It did, and quickly. The house, the evictions and the final walk out of the front door became rituals that fans in country after country came to know by heart, and the format helped turn reality TV from a novelty into a permanent part of the schedule.

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