Big Brother 2003, also known as Big Brother 4, was the fourth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. The show followed thirteen contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built House. Each week, one or more of the housemates were evicted by a public vote. The last remaining housemate, Cameron Stout, was declared the winner, winning a cash prize of £70,000.
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unknown individuals rather than professional actors. Reality television came to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the global successes of the series Survivor, Idols, and Big Brother, all of which became global franchises. Reality television shows tend to be interspersed with "confessionals", short interview segments in which cast members reflect on or provide context for the events being depicted on-screen. Competition-based reality shows typically feature gradual elimination of participants, either by a panel of judges or by the viewership of the show.
Big Brother is the British version of the international reality television franchise Big Brother created by producer John de Mol in 1997. Originally broadcast between 2000 and 2018, the show followed a number of contestants, known as housemates, who are isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built house. Each week, one of the housemates is evicted by a public vote, with the last housemate remaining winning a cash prize. The series takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The series premiered on 18 July 2000 on Channel 4, and immediately became a ratings hit. The series also featured a 24-hour live feed, in which fans could view inside the house at any time. Big Brother aired for eleven series on Channel 4, followed by one final special edition, Ultimate Big Brother, which ended on 10 September 2010. Following this, Channel 5 acquired the rights to the series, and it was officially relaunched on 18 August 2011. In 2014, Emma Willis announced that the show would be back for a sixteenth series in 2015. It was announced on 19 March 2015 that the show would remain on air until at least 2018.
Cameron Stout was the winner of Big Brother 2003. He received 1.9 million votes, 500,000 more than runner-up Ray Shah. Cameron is the elder brother of television and radio presenter Julyan Sinclair.
As with the previous three series, Big Brother 4 lasted 64 days. It launched on Channel 4 on 23 May 2003 and ended on 25 July 2003. Davina McCall returned as presenter for her fourth consecutive year. Twelve housemates entered on launch night, with one additional housemate being introduced in the sixth week. The series was watched by an average of 4.6 million viewers, the fourth highest viewed series of the show to date (joint with Big Brother 6).
Channel 4 is a British public-service free-to-air television network that began transmission on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially-self-funded, it is ultimately publicly-owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital terrestrial broadcasting on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time.
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall is an English television presenter and model. She was the presenter of Big Brother during its run on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2010. She has also hosted Channel 4's The Million Pound Drop, Five Minutes to a Fortune and The Jump as well as ITV's Long Lost Family and This Time Next Year.
Big Brother 4 has since been regarded as one of the most "boring" series of the British edition of the show. It did, however, become memorable for a bomb scare that led to the temporary evacuation of the House, and for being the first UK series of Big Brother to feature a foreign housemate exchange.
Pre-Series
Auditions
Potential housemates applied by sending producers a home video that stated why they should be housemates. Successful candidates were invited to further rounds of auditions. This was the last year to feature this audition format as from Big Brother 5, open auditions were used to select housemates.
Big Brother 4 had more than 10,000 applicants apply to be a housemate.[1][2]
Sean Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr., better known as Dermot O'Leary, is a British-Irish television presenter for ITV and a radio presenter for BBC Radio 2.
Marcus Morgan Bentley is a British actor, broadcaster and voice-over artist. Bentley is most known for narrating the UK version of the Dutch reality television programme Big Brother since its inception in 2000, until the series' end in 2018. He also did other continuity announcements for Channel 4 until he left in July 2011 to continue narrating the revived Big Brother on Channel 5. Bentley's voice-over work and North East accent has led to him becoming one of Britain's most recognised voices.
Promotion
This series was promoted as being a 'Back to Basics' edition; following the twists to the format introduced within the past series.[2]
Promotion controversy
To promote the series, a large 210ft hill figure of the eye logo was painted on the top of White Horse Hill, Oxfordshire, right above the famous Uffington White Horse, believed to be around 3,000 years old. The eye first appeared on 1 May 2003 and was created by seven circlemakers.[4] Although permission for the figure's construction was agreed to by The National Trust, the figure angered local residents.[5][6] It was washed off the day after completion.
This figure was one of several examples of the eye being presented as a geoglyph to promote the fourth series. Others included another hill figure, approximately half the size of that at Uffington, being placed next to Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness, Scotland, which appeared from 3–5 May, alongside a crop circle in a secret location in Southern England and as a depiction on a beach in Kidwelly, Wales.[4]
Broadcasts
The series premiered on 23 May 2003, on Channel 4. The contestants were recorded 24 hours a day[7] with cameras fixed around the house, and the wearing of portable microphones mandatory. Big Brother 4 was the second regular series to feature a live launch.[8] The series ended on 25 July 2003, lasting for a total of 64 days. Channel 4 broadcast a 30-minute highlights show nightly, with each Friday episode being a live episode that saw one of the housemates evicted from the house. Live coverage from the house also remained a huge part of E4's daily and nightly schedule. A new show named Nominations Uncut was broadcast on E4 every Tuesday, in which it would show housemates nominations in full, rather than edited clips as seen in the main show. During Cameron's visit to Africa, E4 showed highlights of his stay straight after the main Channel 4 show.
Eye logo
The shape of the eye remained the same as the previous year, but a different art design was used. The eye was multi-coloured with black and white stripes beaming from the pupil of the eye.
Sponsorship
The series was the last to be sponsored by O2. The mobile network had sponsored Big Brother since Big Brother 2 in 2001.
House
The Big Brother house has been located at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire since the third series of the show. The house featured a completely new look compared to the previous series. The living room for this series was one-third smaller than the one featured in the previous series, and features red and green couches and chairs. The kitchen remained simple in design, with only necessities such as an oven, fridge, and sink included. The dining table was located beside the kitchen and was coloured yellow and white. The Diary Room featured a soft pink coloured background and contained a large blue chair. Like previous editions of the series, there were two bedrooms in this series, with the two being located beside one another for the first time. Big Brother 4 saw the return of the chicken coop in the garden, a feature used in the first two series'. The chickens were used as a source of food (eggs), thus the housemates were not required to buy eggs as a part of their weekly shopping list. The house garden also included a large seating area and a vegetable patch which the housemates could use to grow plants and vegetables to eat. This series introduced the Rewards Room, where the winning housemates of the weekly live task were invited and were often thrown a party.[9]
Format Changes
Big Brother 4 featured an opening night twist, alike the previous two series'. Housemates had to nominate one housemate for eviction on the first night, and any housemates who received even one nomination were automatically up against the public vote.
Later in the series, housemate, Cameron Stout, accepted a challenge from Big Brother and discovered it meant spending a week in the Big Brother Africa house. Housemate Gaetano spent time in the Big Brother 4 house while Cameron was in Africa.[10]
Big Brother 4 was the first series to feature a double eviction, with two out of the three nominated housemtes being evicted on Day 29.[11] On Day 37, Lisa entered the house as part of a twist. This series was also the first to allow previously evicted housemates to return, with ex-housemate Jon entering the house for a second time on Day 50. He remained in the house until the finale, but was ineligible to win the grand prize.
↑ Jon re-entered the House as a guest not eligible to win on Day 50 after winning a public vote to return. He stayed in the House as a guest until the live final on Day 64.
Post-Series
Housemates from Big Brother 4 failed to make many appearances in future regular series' since their evictions. However, Anouska was a participant in the 2004 spin-off series Big Brother Panto, along with other housemates from the first five series'. Housemate Federico later appeared in Big Brother 10, participating in a task celebrating ten years of the series, and Ultimate Big Brother saw housemate Lisa make an appearance participating in a task inspired by her time in Big Brother 4, and Jon also made a short appearance in a task.
Summary
On Day 1, Anouska, Cameron, Federico, Gos, Jon, Justine, Nush, Ray, Scott, Sissy, Steph and Tânia all entered the house.[12] That same night, they learned that they would each be required to nominate one Housemate for eviction. If a Housemate received even one vote, they were automatically nominated for the public vote; Anouska, Federico, Jon, and Scott were all nominated for eviction.[13] Anouska received the most nominations with six total, while Jon received four and Federico and Scott received one each. On Day 3, housemates began their first weekly task; powering a pedalo non-stop for 72 hours. The housemates failed the task.[14] Anouska was evicted on Day 8.[15]
On Day 9, housemates took part in teams in a game of tug of war; Gos, Jon, Justine, Scott and Steph were all on the green team, Cameron, Federico, Nush, Ray and Tania were all on the yellow team, and Sissy was the umpire. The green team won the challenge, meaning they gained access to the reward room.[16] On Day 10, the housemates began their second weekly task; a chance to become honorary members of the Cub Scouts. The housemates failed the task. Justine was evicted on Day 15.[17]
On Day 16, housemates took part in a game of pass the parcel. Cameron, Federico, Gos, Jon, Nuch, Tania and Scott all won access to the reward room. On Day 17, housemates were set their third weekly task; housemates had to memorise and perform a musical tune on a set of handbells. The housemates failed the task. Sissy was evicted on Day 22.[18]
On Day 23, housemates took part in a game of charades. Cameron, Federico, Jon, Nush, Ray, Steph and Tania all won access to the reward room. On Day 24, housemates began their fourth weekly task; creating superhero alter egos and performing tasks within their chosen alter ego. The housemates passed the task. Federico and Jon were both evicted on Day 29, in a double eviction.[19]
Gaetano entered the House, as a guest, on Day 32.[20] On Day 30, housemates took part in a geography quiz. As Cameron was the winner of the quiz, he had to pick five of the remaining six housemates to join him in the reward room; he chose Gos, Ray, Scott, Steph and Tania. On Day 31, Cameron travelled to the Big Brother House in South Africa; he returned to the Big Brother UK House on Day 36.[21] On Day 33, housemates began their fifth weekly task; memorising facts about each other. The housemates passed the task. Gaetano left the House on Day 35. Tania was evicted on Day 36.[22] Lisa entered the House on Day 37.[23]
On Day 37, housemates each drew straws in order to determine who entered the reward room. All housemates eventually drew long straws, meaning they all entered the reward room. On Day 38, housemates were set the sixth weekly task; a gymkhana. The housemates passed the task. Gos was evicted on Day 44.[24] On Day 50, Jon was chosen by the public to re-enter the House as a guest.
On Day 45, housemates chose a robot animal to represent them in a race. Ray won the challenge, this meant he became the Head of House. Cameron lost the challenge, this meant he was the only housemate not permitted to enter the reward room for the entire week. On Day 46, Ray was the only housemate permitted to nominate. On Day 48, Ray had to gamble money from the shopping budget on the spin of a roulette wheel. Ray won the group a shopping budget of £2. Lisa was evicted on Day 50.
On Day 51, housemates took part in a game of bingo. As the winner of the task, Ray chose Cameron to join him in the reward room. On Day 52, housemates took part in another game of bingo. As the winner of the task, Scott chose Nush to join him in the reward room. On Day 54, housemates were set the eighth weekly task; housemates had to write and perform six songs based on their experiences in the House. The housemates passed the task. Nush was evicted on Day 57.
On Day 58, housemates had five minutes to find five needles in a hay stack that Big Brother had placed in the garden. Housemates found two needles in the hay stack; this meant they gained two nights in the reward room. On Day 59, the group were set their final weekly task; housemates were given various topics which they had to discuss with Big Brother for a minimum of ten minutes. The group failed the task. Steph and Scott both left the house separately as evictees (4th and 3rd place) on Day 64. Ray was the runner up and Cameron was the winner. Both also left on Day 64.[25]
^Note 1: On Launch Night, only a short while after they had entered the house, all the housemates had to nominate one fellow housemate based on first impressions. Every housemate who received a nomination faced eviction.
^Note 3: Cameron made his nominations from the Big Brother House in South Africa over the phone to Gaetano. Even though he could nominate, none of his fellow housemates could nominate him.
^Note 4: As a new housemate, Lisa could not nominate and could not be nominated by her fellow housemates. As Cameron had only recently returned to the house from South Africa, he also could not be nominated by his fellow housemates, however he could still nominate. On Day 43, the night the eviction was supposed to be on, a bomb scare forced all housemates to be evacuated. The eviction, therefore, happened the next day, on Day 44 (a Saturday). When Gos was evicted, there was no crowd outside due to Health & Safety precautions.
^Note 5: Ray, as leader of the house in Week 7, had to choose three housemates to face eviction. He nominated Cameron, Lisa and Steph. After Lisa's eviction on Day 50, voting lines opened for the public to vote for an evicted housemate (either Justine, Sissy, Federico, Jon, Gos, or Lisa) to return to the house. As a guest in the Big Brother Australia house, Anouska was ineligible to go back, neither was Tania, who refused to return. As the chosen ex-housemate, Jon was granted re-entry into the house, but was ineligible to win.
^Note 6: Because Jon was a guest in the house, and was not eligible to win, he could not nominate and could not be nominated by his fellow housemates.
^Note 7: There were no nominations in the final week. The public voted for who they wanted to win, rather than evict.
Bomb scare
Big Brother 4 had a bomb scare on Day 43, and numerous events occurred to ensure the safety of the housemates.
Timeline
That night, at 19:58, all housemates were asked to go to the boys' bedroom until further notice, being told that there was a security alert in the studio. At 20:43, police advised that the house should be evacuated. Production then entered the house, and removed the housemates. They were taken to a secure area on the perimeter of the studio complex, with high levels of security accompanying them. At 21:35, narrator Marcus Bentley informed the viewers that the cameras were being shut off, and that as a result archive footage of the series was to be played. At 12:49 the following day, a few hours after their initial departure, the housemates were allowed to re-enter the house. However, the live eviction originally scheduled for broadcast later that day was pulled and moved to air on the following night.[26][27]
Reception
Big Brother 4 averaged a total of 4.6 million viewers throughout the course of the series, a decrease from the 5.8 million series average from Big Brother 3, however Big Brother 4 did have a slightly higher series average than the first two series of Big Brother UK.[28] The series is often regarded the 'most boring' series to be broadcast in the United Kingdom.[11][29]
Viewership
Weekly ratings for each show on Channel 4. All numbers are in millions and provided by BARB.[30]
Viewers (in millions)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Saturday
–
–
3.28
3.39
3.62
3.30 3.28
4.04 4.39
3.16
3.23
–
Sunday
–
4.50
4.37
3.67
3.54
3.57
3.84
3.78
3.69
2.41
Monday
–
3.41
4.69
5.00
5.07
5.70
4.92
4.55
4.48
4.89
Tuesday
–
5.10
4.64
4.64
5.13
5.38
5.07
5.01
4.73
4.76
Wednesday
–
3.62
4.40
4.59
4.55
5.01
4.54
4.84
4.52
4.42
Thursday
–
4.54
4.25
4.46
4.66
4.51
4.84
4.95
5.31
4.91
Friday
7.05
3.53
3.78
4.09
4.30
4.69
–
4.67
4.43
6.34
5.11
5.03
5.41
5.27
5.75 4.54
5.67
–
6.17
5.45
7.23
Weekly average
4.65
4.35
4.39
4.57
4.57
4.52
4.64
4.48
4.99
Running average
4.65
4.50
4.46
4.49
4.51
4.51
4.53
4.52
4.57
Series average
4.57
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