What to make of the news that Channel Four will drop Big Brother next year? First thing to consider: is this even the end of the show? Digitalspy reports that Five, ITV and Sky have ruled out a bid for it, so unless Virgin are particularly desperate for something to fling out on Bravo, this might be the death knell.
Yes, I hate Big Brother, but to be fair, I hated it long before it was cool to do so. Dominating Channel 4’s schedules for months on end (axing it will apparently free up 200 hours!) it was, until this year at least, impossible to avoid. Even the fairly highbrow papers would devote precious column inches to the show, and I had to listen to people at work prattling on about it endlessly (until this year, because no-one cares about it). It actually got on my nerves and angried up my blood in a way that’s hard to articulate.
On a lighter note, Channel Four are reportedly looking at a “long-running comedy soap” to fill part of the void — so looks like Brookside is finally coming back.