Big Brother 1 (Australia)

Big Brother Australia
► 
Season 1 (2001)

Big Brother 2001, also known as Big Brother 1, was the first series of the Australian reality television series Big Brother. It is based upon the Dutch series of the same name, it premiered on Network Ten on April 23, 2001 and lasted twelve weeks until the live finale on July 16, 2001. Big Brother 1 proved to be an early ratings success. In total, the season averaged 1.4 million viewers, thus making it the fourth highest rated season to date. This season aired for a total of 85 days, with evictions occurring once every week beginning with the second week. In total, fourteen Housemates competed in Big Brother 1. The original twelve entered on the first night, with two intruders entering at a later date. Ultimately, Housemate Ben Williams was later announced as the winner of the series, with Blair McDonough becoming the Runner-Up.

The premise of the series remained largely unchanged from other installments of the series. The series revolves around ten strangers living in a house together with no communication with the outside world. They are filmed constantly during their time in the house, and can have no communication with those filming them. Each week, each contestant, referred to as "Housemates", choose two people to be up for nomination. The three or more people with the most votes will be nominated to leave the house. The viewers then decide which of the nominees should leave, with the selected person leaving during a live show. This process continued until only three Housemates remained, in which the viewers would decide which of the Housemates would win the grand prize. A Housemate can be ejected from the show for breaking rules, such as discussing nominations when not permitted.

The Finale was watched by 2.789 million Australian viewers.[1]

Production

Broadcast

Shortly before the premiere of the season, a special entitled Big Brother Revealed aired, featuring information on the casting process and the development of the house.[2] The series held a live launch on April 23, 2001.[3] The contestants were recorded 24 hours a day[4] with cameras fixed around the house, and had to wear portable microphones. Each night, Network Ten broadcast a daily highlights show, and from the second week there was a live eviction show hosted by Gretel Killeen, where the evicted Housemate was interviewed. The nominations aired during the daily highlights show during this season, making it the only season to not feature a live nominations special. This season also aired alongside the Big Brother Saturday spin-off series. This was an hour-long special that aired on Saturday evenings, with Gretel Killeen presenting an overview of press discussions of the series that week. The series also featured interviews with fans, which were conducted by reporter Sami Lukis. News about the previously evicted Housemates was also featured on this special. Big Brother Saturday was not featured in any subsequent seasons. The season concluded on July 16, 2001, lasting for a total of 85 days. This ties Big Brother 1 and Big Brother 8 as being the shortest edition of the series to until Big Brother 11.

Prizes

The fourteen Housemates in the game were competing for the grand prize of $250,000. Each week, the Housemates attempted to complete various tasks assigned by Big Brother in exchange for a weekly budget, which they used to buy food and luxuries; this included buying things such as alcohol. Big Brother 1, unlike other editions of the series, did not feature luxury competitions or prizes throughout the series.

House

The House used for Big Brother 1 was located inside of Dreamworld.[5][6][7] The House featured a total of 25 cameras and 32 microphones in the various rooms and backyard.[8] The house for the first series was very basic, as part of the theme of the series. The House featured a living room, which had a fireplace for the Housemates to use, and a kitchen, which featured a stove and sink, along with the fridge. There was a large dining table in the kitchen, with room for all of the Housemates. Various two way mirrors are in the house, with a camera crew behind him. The House also featured two bedrooms, with each bedroom featuring six beds. The first bedroom had a double bed and featured blue walls and orange sheets. The bathroom featured blue tile flooring and a clear shower. Housemates could communicate with producers in the room known was the "Diary Room". The Diary Room in this season featured yellow walls and an orange chair, and had a simplistic design. This was where nominations took place, and where Housemates could reveal their thoughts. Housemates could be seen by a medical professional in the Diary Room if necessary. The outside of the House featured a chicken coop with various chickens inside, from which the Housemates collect eggs. The Housemates were also given a swimming pool in the backyard to use. There was a garden in the backyard, which featured a vegetable patch which the Housemates could use.

Format

The format used for Big Brother in Australia remained largely unchanged from that featured in other editions of the series, though some differences were incorporated. Big Brother is a game show in which a group of contestants, called Housemates, live in isolation from the outside world in a custom built "house", which includes everyday facilities such as a fully equipped kitchen, garden, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The house is also a television studio with cameras and microphones in most of the rooms to record the activities of the Housemates. The only place where Housemates can escape the company of the other contestants is the Diary Room, where they are encouraged to voice their true feelings. Not all Diary Room footage is broadcast due to the privacy of the contestants. Each week all Housemates nominate two of their fellow contestants for potential eviction. They award two points to one Housemate, and one point to another. Failure to do so may result in a punishment, such as a reduction in the prize fund. The three, or more, Housemates with the highest number of nominations face a public vote conducted by phone, with the contestant receiving the most votes being evicted from the house. The last contestant remaining in the house is declared the winner and is awarded a cash prize of $250,000. On eviction night, host Gretel Killeen would inform the nominees which of them had been evicted from the house. Following the announcement, the evicted Housemate had to gather their belongings and exit the house. Upon exiting through the house's front door, Killeen led the evictee into a studio where they met with their family and friends. While in the studio, Killeen had an interview with the evicted Housemate, and showed their best bits - a video compilation of their time in the house.

Over the duration of the series, the Housemates are given a series of tasks by Big Brother which test them in many ways. They are also put to the test by their own ideals, prejudices and opinions against other people from different walks of life; something that has survived from the original "social experiment" of Big Brother 1. They live in the communal House and share cooking and cleaning chores among themselves. Housemates are forbidden to sleep during daylight hours (unless unwell) - Big Brother plays the wake-up call persistently in the morning if Housemates do not wake up and will play an alarm clock noise into the house if a Housemate falls asleep during the day. Housemates must also live by the fundamental rules of Big Brother; if the rules are broken it can result in formal warnings, various punishments or even a Housemate's removal from the game. They must wash their own clothes by hand, and they have to make their own bread from scratch. Each week Big Brother sets the Housemates a task in order to determine the shopping budget for the following week. They must work together to win the tasks in order to win a luxury shopping budget which changed based on the amount of people remaining in the house. If all food runs out in the House, Big Brother provides emergency rations of chickpeas and rice. Housemates are responsible for their own shopping and decide which items the budget will allow them to have. Only a small percentage of the overall budget can be spent on alcohol.

Big Brother 1 featured some twists to the format throughout the course of the season. On Day 36, Housemates Anita and Rachel entered the house as intruders. Though they were official Housemates, they learned that they were automatically nominated for eviction. Their fellow Housemates then decided which of the two should be evicted from the house, and the Housemate with the most votes was then evicted. The survivor of the eviction was then given immunity from the following round of nominations. Yet another twist in the format occurred on Day 84, only a day before the season finale, when the Housemate who had come in third place was evicted from the house. The finale occurred on the final day, with only two of the three finalists remaining in the house.

Housemates

Name Age on entry Hometown
Andy Silva 25 Glebe, New South Wales
Anita Bloomfield 22 Sydney, New South Wales
Ben Williams 21 Epping, Victoria
Blair McDonough 19 Melbourne, Victoria
Christina Davis 27 Sydney, New South Wales
Gordon Sloan 28 Melbourne, Victoria
Jemma Gawned 26 Melbourne, Victoria
John "Johnnie" Cass 30 Sydney, New South Wales
Lisa Standing 24 Melbourne, Victoria
Peter Timbs 28 Sydney, New South Wales
Rachel Corbett 20 Sydney, New South Wales
Sara-Marie Fedele 22 Western Australia
Sharna West 34 Melbourne, Victoria
Todd James 27 Melbourne, Victoria

Nominations table

The first housemate in each box was nominated for two points, and the second housemate was nominated for one point.

Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Nomination
points
received
Day 36 Day 40 Day 84 Day 85
(Finale)
Ben Gordon,
Sara-Marie 		Peter,
Sharna 		Gordon,
Christina 		Gordon,
Peter 		Lisa,
Sara-Marie 		Anita Peter,
Sara-Marie 		Anita,
Sara-Marie 		Sara-Marie,
Johnnie 		Christina,
Sara-Marie 		Sara-Marie,
Christina 		No
nominations 		Winner
(Day 85) 		22
Blair Andy,
Gordon 		Sharna,
Peter 		Gordon,
Sara-Marie 		Gordon,
Lisa 		Christina,
Lisa 		Anita Christina,
Peter 		Anita,
Christina 		Christina,
Jemma 		Jemma,
Christina 		Christina,
Sara-Marie 		No
nominations 		Runner-up
(Day 85) 		14
Sara-Marie Sharna,
Gordon 		Sharna,
Todd 		Jemma,
Todd 		Jemma,
Peter 		Blair,
Ben 		Rachel Johnnie,
Peter 		Jemma,
Ben 		Johnnie,
Jemma 		Blair,
Ben 		Ben,
Blair 		No
nominations 		Evicted
(Day 84) 		35
Christina Ben,
Lisa 		Todd,
Gordon 		Lisa,
Jemma 		Lisa,
Johnnie 		Johnnie,
Jemma 		Anita Blair,
Ben 		Johnnie,
Jemma 		Ben,
Johnnie 		Jemma,
Ben 		Ben,
Blair 		Evicted
(Day 77) 		32
Jemma Andy,
Sara-Marie 		Gordon,
Christina 		Gordon,
Sara-Marie 		Gordon,
Peter 		Sara-Marie,
Blair 		Rachel Sara-Marie,
Peter 		Anita,
Sara-Marie 		Banned Christina,
Blair 		Evicted
(Day 70) 		21
Johnnie Jemma,
Andy 		Sharna,
Christina 		Gordon,
Todd 		Sara-Marie,
Gordon 		Jemma,
Ben 		Rachel Christina,
Sara-Marie 		Christina,
Anita 		Ben,
Sara-Marie 		Evicted
(Day 63) 		11
Anita Not in
house 		Nominated Exempt Blair,
Ben 		Evicted
(Day 56) 		7
Peter Gordon,
Andy 		Todd,
Gordon 		Todd,
Gordon 		Lisa,
Gordon 		Sara-Marie,
Lisa 		Rachel Jemma,
Sara-Marie 		Evicted
(Day 49)		16
Lisa Christina,
Andy 		Christina,
Peter 		Gordon,
Peter 		Christina,
Blair 		Christina,
Blair 		Rachel Evicted
(Day 42)		16
Rachel Not in
house 		Nominated Evicted
(Day 40) 		N/A
Gordon Sara-Marie,
Ben 		Peter,
Ben 		Ben,
Peter 		Lisa,
Ben 		Evicted
(Day 35) 		29
Todd Sara-Marie,
Andy 		Sara-Marie,
Sharna 		Sara-Marie,
Lisa 		Evicted
(Day 28) 		9
Sharna Andy,
Sara-Marie 		Christina,
Sara-Marie 		Evicted
(Day 21) 		12
Andy Sharna,
Lisa 		Evicted
(Day 14) 		10
Nomination
note		 none 1 2 none 3 none 4 5
Against
public vote		 Andy,
Gordon,
Sara-Marie 		Christina,
Peter,
Sharna 		Gordon,
Sara-Marie,
Todd 		Gordon,
Lisa,
Peter 		Blair,
Christina,
Lisa,
Sara-Marie 		Anita,
Rachel 		Christina,
Peter,
Sara-Marie 		Anita,
Christina,
Jemma 		Ben,
Johnnie,
Sara-Marie		 Blair,
Christina,
Jemma		 Ben,
Christina,
Sara-Marie 		Ben,
Blair,
Sara-Marie 		Ben,
Blair
Evicted Andy
44%
to evict		 Sharna
76%
to evict		 Todd
38%
to evict		 Gordon
41%
to evict		 Lisa
50%
to evict		 Rachel
5 of 8 votes
to evict		 Peter
42%
to evict		 Anita
79%
to evict		 Johnnie
70%
to evict		 Jemma
61%
to evict		 Christina
41%
to evict		 Sara-Marie
37%
to evict		 Blair
62%
to evict
Saved Sara-Marie
40%
Gordon
16%		 Christina
14%
Peter
10%		 Gordon
32%
Sara-Marie
30%		 Lisa
39%
Peter
20%		 Christina
21%
Sara-Marie
21%
Blair
8%		 Anita
3 votes		 Sara-Marie
30%
Christina
28%		 Jemma
15%
Christina
6%		 Ben
15%
Sara-Marie
15%		 Christina
26%
Blair
13%		 Ben
31%
Sara-Marie
28%		 Ben
36%
Blair
27%		 Ben
38%
to evict

Notes

  • ^Note 1 : Anita and Rachel entered the house as intruders on Day 36. The Housemates had to vote for which of the two they would like to evict from the house. As Rachel received the majority of the votes, she was evicted from the house.
  • ^Note 2 : Due to surviving the previous eviction, Anita was immune from the nomination process for this week; she could not nominate or be nominated.
  • ^Note 3 : Jemma was banned from nominating this week.
  • ^Note 4 : There were no nominations in Week 12. All three housemates faced the public vote to determine who would remain in the house on the final day.
  • ^Note 5 : The housemate with the fewest votes to evict was declared the winner.

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/archwftvtopprog.aspx
  2. ↑ Big Brother from the beginning
  3. ↑ Big Brother (TV Series 2001– ) - IMDb
  4. ↑ Anthony, Andrew (23 July 2000). "Let's bomb them". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Big Brother Live at Dreamworld | Experience Oz
  6. ↑ http://www.dreamworld.com.au/Schools/pdf/DW-Schools-History.pdf
  7. ↑ Big Brother House & Studios (Dreamworld) - Parkz: Australian Theme Parks
  8. ↑ Big Brother: Behind the scenes - Entertainment - brisbanetimes.com.au
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