John de Mol, the Dutch billionaire who created the original Dutch Big Brother in 1999, once said: "There will come a time when people will talk about an era in television before Big Brother and one after Big Brother.There are now 28 different versions of the show - which are prime-time viewing in 74 countries around the world.
The Channel 4 show in 2002 was the first to allow viewers to vote by text, and the first to allow viewers to text in comments, which appeared in a feed along the bottom of the screen. Such practices are now standard across the industry.
In 2007 Lord Puttnam, who was the deputy chairman of Channel Four admitted he didn't particularly like the programme but it contributed 15 per cent of the channel's income.
More than anything the programme created a new type of celebrity, a person who was famous for being famous.
Scotsman
