Big Brother from the beginning
May 3rd 2001
Big Brother cafe. You can buy food and drinks here and watch TV monitors of live feeds. You can also go to the production office to watch the show.
April 16th
Big Brother Australia is due to start April 24th
April 11th 2001
Big Brother revealed was shown on Australian television tonight by Channel 10.
The official web site is now open and is listed under links below
April 10th 2001
Here is an arial shot of the house complete with swimming pool. This pool has glass walls around it for viewing of the contestants. Originally appeared in The Australian Newspaper 7th April 2001.
April 7th
M ore photos of the Big Brother site taken by me
Inside the production area . Computer on the desk and Stairs to the right leading to the upper level
This blue house will be the coffee shop that the public can visit. It will be made up to represent the Big Brother house with furniture etc
March 30th 2001
Channel 10 the television station who will be televising Big Brother Australia have announced yesterday that they will be having a special on 11th April called Big Brother Revealed. They will show the contestants and reveal the house being built. I have scooped Channel Ten by having the first pictures online of the house.
Also Gretal Killeen will host the series of Big Brother
March 25th 2001
Exclusive first photos of the house and production area being built for Big Brother Australia
The house is being built in the grounds of an amusement park called "Dreamworld" in the park's Amphitheatre. It is surroundered by a huge timber fence and screened off from the public.
The photos were hard to get due to many obstacles but I managed to get about 16 photos.
Looking at the outside of the Televison Production studio built to televise Big Brother
Inside picture of the production house/studio . It is being built "inside " another building being Dreamworld's Amphitheatre. You can see the stage at the top of the photo and the chairs where people would sit.
The production house/ studio "hidden" amongst trees etc
February 2001
The house for Big Brother has commenced being built and is located in a secret place !
24th January 2001
The Ten Network's program will involve a group of young Australians living in a purpose-built house on the Gold Coast for three months. Their lives will be followed by 26 cameras, 24 hours a day.
The series was lured to Queensland after negotiations between Queensland Arts Minister Matt Foley and the program's production company, Southern Star.
The chief executive officer of the Pacific Film and Television Commission, Mr Robin James, said today details of the Big Brother production were being closely guarded.
"It's a bit like Survivor, trying to keep everything under wraps," he said, referring to the American-made reality game show, Survivor The Australian Outback, which was shot in North Queensland, and airs in the US this weekend.
"Big Brother will be produced in Queensland but I qualify that by saying the production company wants to keep details of the production under wraps for the moment," Mr James said.
"It has a large budget, it will employ a lot of Queenslanders and the good thing about it is that it will employ a lot of trainees in various roles."
Big Brother has been called the TV phenomenon of 2000. Versions of the show aired with record ratings in the UK and Europe. A US Big Brother was less successful.
Southern Star has revealed cast members in the Australian version would compete for a substantial cash prize and, like the overseas series, the viewing audience would vote regularly by telephone on which housemate gets booted off, until only one is left.
European Big Brother cast members became overnight celebrities. But critics say the program turns television into voyeurism.
The Gold Coast Big Brother will be particularly challenging for contestants who will be locked inside the walls of their home for three months while, outside, visitors are enjoying the ocean and tourist attractions.
Mr James said that unlike Survivor, which was a one-time production for Australia, Big Brother had the potential to be a long-form series running for several years.
"One could assume that if these programs are that popular at the moment that Australian drama is taking a back seat," Mr James said.
"I think the jury is still out on whether the popularity of reality TV is a passing phase or whether it is set for long-term success," he said.
"But I think personally there will be room for both."
(The Age )
