It seems I'm in the doghouse with some regular readers of this column because in the latter weeks of this year's run this column has somewhat less than regular. Truth to tell, it's been much a case of me having nothing much to say. It's something that's been on my mind for a while but it may be time to finally admit that I may actually have fallen out of love with Big Brother.
The event that finally made me face up to this unpalatable truth was the moment I discovered that there would be no Celebrity show in 2008. In previous years, I would have felt at least a tinge of disappointment but what I actually felt was relief. After the shambles of January, we have had a summer show that has gone at least a month too long and has gone beyond dull since main protagonists Charley and Chanelle left within days of each other and has now become tedious.
That's not to say that there's anything wrong with the remaining housemates – with the odd exception – but too many of the interesting characters have been voted out or have walked and Gerry's departure marked the end of any drama that I was bothered about watching.
In essence, the show in its dying weeks has been closer to the social experiment concept we might have expected – but never really got – in the show's early days. This should have been a good thing, somehow though we expect so much more. Carole obsessing over a jar of piccalilli is what we'd expect of a sub plot, not a main driver of the narrative.
There has been a law of diminishing returns in the format and certainly where once chats round the water cooler were invariably about the goings on in the house, now if Big Brother gets a mention it tends to be followed by a "You're not still watching that?" sort of comment. While there is still a hard core of fans, with audiences down though still very respectable by Channel 4 standards, it seems that the public at large has moved on somewhat.
I use my phone as a barometer of this lack of enthusiasm. At one point when anyone so much as sneezed on the live feed, I'd get a text from someone. When something really significant happened, like for example the mini rebellion by housemates in Big Brother 5, there would be a flood of phone activity. This year it's been very quiet.
What to Read Next
I feel quite bad being so negative about things, especially as if you're going to be likely to be reading this, you're far likely to be a lot less disenchanted with the show then I am currently, but I felt that at the very least, I owed an explanation to those loyal readers who've been with me since I started writing this column for Big Brother 3 as to why my words have dried up somewhat in the last month.
Last eviction
I've found Tracey to be a most infuriating housemate but I really feel bad that having lasted as long as she did, she was forced to share her big eviction moment with the waste of space and time that was Kara-Louise.
Even after three months of watching her, I still feel that we never really got under her skin and this may be because Tracey is actually scared of herself. She is obviously an intelligent woman and has an absolutely wicked sense of comic timing, a true gift that we’ve seen far too little of in the highlights shows. It seems though that she clings to her culture and monosyllabic range of catch phrases as if she's scared to let go. It's hard to explain but it's almost as though we didn't get to know what makes Tracey tick because she's actually yet to really discover herself
Final housemates
A very quick reappraisal of those remaining, not in order they will actually disappear but the order I'd like them to:
Jonty
I suppose the best thing to do with an irritant like Jonty is ignore him in the hope he'll go away. It's certainly a tactic that many of the housemates have adopted at times when he's being a pain in the neck on purpose but they have far more patience than me. The sponge brick I've got to throw at the telly when I'm annoyed certainly comes in handy when he's being an arse.
Carole
The housemother but her sense of power certainly went to her head ages ago and she must be a total nightmare to live with. The point is that her heart is in the right place and part of the reason she put so many noses out of joint is that her moral compass is not exactly in sync with those of the younger housemates. She was a significant bit part player in this year's show but for me just not interesting enough to hold centre stage.
Amanda and Sam
I know many people think they should win and there have been moments when they have been genuinely funny, but by and large, have they really done enough to actually win the show? Certainly Sam hasn’t, at times she's been very much in her sister's shadow and lovable though they may be, for much of the time they've been part of the chorus rather than leading lights.
Liam
Liam seems like a nice guy and I'm sure is marvellous company on a night out, but he hasn't done much in there to make his mark other than just be the archetypal boy next door. He's already won a pile of cash too so it wouldn't seem right to hand him another pile just because he's been relatively inoffensive.
Brian
I wanted Brian to win for ages because he's either a lovely good-natured lad whose naivety does him credit and who spreads happiness wherever he goes or he's a bloody good actor. Either way, he has been one of the standout housemates and has never backed away from the good times or the bad times, sometimes taking on the larger personalities in the house head on. It would be good if he won but…
Ziggy
I still don't like him very much and I doubt whether he has a cat in hell's chance of winning but love him or loathe him, you have to admit that Ziggy has been at the heart of things since his entrance and so much of the conflicts and juicy arguments and watch through the fingers moments have had him at their core.
His absolute highlight for me was the moment he uttered the immortal phrase "It's not you, it's me" to Chanelle, a crime so heinous he probably should have been evicted on the spot. Watching him tear himself apart over situations almost entirely of his own making was truly entertaining.
However you view this series of the show, it would have been so much the poorer had he not been in the mix and for that reason, he probably deserves to win.
