The show was launched in 2000, featuring a group of unknown contestants who lived together in the Big Brother house and faced a series of public eviction votes. Incredibly many of the contestants reached ‘celebrity’ status through their association with the programme despite having absolutely no star qualities at all.

Viewing figures for the show which once attracted an audience ten million, have dropped to below 2million for the latest tenth series of the Big Brother show.

Next year’s series of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother will be the last to be shown on the Channel 4 network.

Psychoville, the latest dark and disturbing, ‘comedy’ to spew from the twisted minds of Reece – your’e my wife now- Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, comes to BBC2 this week.

The storyline follows an assortment of nightmarish characters, each of whom become the target of a mysterious blackmailer.

As well as the central storyline, the show will feature song-and-dance numbers and fantasy sequences, no doubt designed to induce nightmares!

The series is accompanied by an interactive website that offers the opportunity to join in the ‘fun’ and play a blackmail prank on your frenemy of choice: www.bbc.co.uk/psychoville

All hail the return of the daddy of reality TV shows….or not!

As I used to be a great fan of BB  I forced myself to watch last night’s Launch Show just to be able to comment on this blog.  It was hard going, the ‘potential housemates’ (this years great twist!!) aren’t even interesting enough to look like themselves.

There is a Wolverine look-alike (I wish, might have made me watch a bit longer), a Ferne Cotton look-alike, an annoying midget who forced me to hit mute even before she entered the house and the biggest travesty of all, someone trying to look like Russell Brand, big hair, white t-shirt, waistcoat, skin-tight trousers!

Talk about rubbing salt in the wound, after the novelty of the first few series the only reason to carry on watching BB was to be able to know what Russ was on about when he hilariously disected the big boobed, bleached haired coming-out-as-gay-on-national TV assortment of wannabe’s  antics in Big Mouth.  All today’s fans have is yet more hyperactive showing off by a middle-aged mother who should maybe think about jumping before the ship completely sinks~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is no chance of anyone interesting or original emerging, too much hype and far too much Davina.

If like me you are not interested in the whole Big Brother ‘reality tv’ experience but your family is, then at least Friday night’s episode was worth watching as blind Mikey was dared do eat the hottest chilli in the world.

Being a regular bloke he couldn’t resist the challenge and began chomping quite happily on the small strawberry shaped chilli with, it appeared, no effect at all.  Then someone noticed Mikey’s eyes had turned bloodshot as he began to pant.

The follow scene was brilliant.  The girls panic while the boys laugh.  This is great tv.

Head of the House, correction, The First Ever Head of the House, Darnell, and his cronies (Dale, Kathreya, Maysoon, Rachel, Mo and Rex) are enjoying themselves imensely.

I wonder if BB is going to punish them for all the food fighting? Surprisingly enough May is really up for it. And Stuart! Apart from the usual suspect, Bex.

Belinda and Rex face the eviction. Looks like Rex is ready to leave, and wants to go, so let’s hope it will be him.  I am surprised that the three newbies are still not really settled in the house, I don’t think Stuart took that long. Maybe because he was on his own.

Rachel!? What a surprise! Quite independently, as there’s no love lost between her and Mario, she concocted a conspiracy theory of her very own – about the new housemates. I thought she was too relaxed to be true. How interesting.

Poor Luke will have to spend his 21st birthday without Mario or Bex. Mario has reached the end of his tether in that house and I sincerely hope it will be him tonight. Give Lisa some breathing space. Why does he dislike Rachel so much? It’s very ugly when he refers to her as ”the chick pea girl”. Bex has calmed down a little since the uber bitch Jen’s departure. Her chasing Luke has a fab comical quality, like Benny Hill’s chases, only in reverse. “No Rebecca…”  

Darnell also surprised me last night. I fully expected him to take Mo’s hidden beer treasure back to the kitchen. When he went to the toilet with it, I thought hmm he is so angry, he’ll pour it down the sink. However, he sat on the loo and poured it right down his neck, savouring every sip. Classic.   

If Mario leaves, it will make things in the house more interesting. How would Luke cope without Mario brainwashing him and advising him about absolutely everything? Mikey would be just fine, finally free from patronising. Lisa would be able to get on with things the way she wanted to, instead of being picked up on by her loving and caring partner. His face when it took her a long time to box her way out of the paper bag!

Mario is getting very paranoid. Belinda Belinda Belinda has rattled him terribly. So he can’t read her. Good for her! The conspiracy theory about Belinda being gay, Sara a model and May a PA is hilarious.

Belinda’s snoring is turning the luxury bedroom into B block, as housemates flock to the modest bedroom. Kat has surprised us all by snogging Sara in the pool. Dale and Mo are very quiet. Stuart started saying loads of sensible things.

And didn’t they all look great as Goths. Cute or what!  

Kathreya is finding it more and more difficult to deal with the bitchiness in the house. No sooner does she start to believe that everything has calmed down than it begins all over again. I thought Lisa dealt with Kath in a very rude and brusque manner, like a mean old nursery teacher reprimanding a toddler.  Both her and Mario think very highly of themselves and believe they are the absolute king and queen of the house.

It looks like Stuart has completely gone off Jennifer since the Picturgate event.  But Dale is always there for her. Will he be heart-broken tonight…

Things are getting weird in the house. “The Picturegate scandal” was incredible. Blown out of all proportion by Jennifer. She has completely lost the plot.

Talking of losing the plot - Becks “I’m size 12″, yuck! She is nursery nurse, I gather. I just wander if any parents of the children she looks after are watching. How reassuring for them to see the true colours of Auntie Beckie who takes care of their little darlings. 

It’s always interesting to see things under the microscope in the BB’s house. I’m afraid I already watch every update. 

Nice to see the yoof fashion too. Lots of scarves and hats for men, ’tis cold these days, innit?  

Altogether now: “Happy house, happy happy happy house!”

‘Get Becks out, get Becks out!’. What a disgusting blob of a ‘human’ this creature is – rude, fat (size 12 my arse!) and stupid, not a good mix! Purposely destroying someone else’s property and then bragging about it in her best ‘Vicky Pollard’ voice is bullying in my book. Not a good role model for someone who works with young kids.

After previous housemates have been turfed out for threatening, bullying, obnoxious behaviour – what is her motivation for the way she is acting and how has she escaped both nomination and removal from the house?

Does this year’s batch of inmates represent the youth of today? I like to think that the opinionated, selfish, ‘fame at any price’ attitude of these people is only shared by a minority so why give them a stage to shoot themselves on?

Well now I’ve got my rant out of the way, hopefully Jen will bite the dust Friday…