What Even Is the Point of Big Brother in 2025?
Twenty-four years ago, television audiences were captivated by the novelty of voyeurism as entertainment. The question now arises: can the return of Big Brother truly succeed in today’s world?
“Are you ready to come home?”
Those words were spoken by Mike Goldman, the familiar voice of Big Brother Australia, known for narrating both the original Channel 10 series and its later reboot on Channel 9. With this opening line, the new season clearly signaled its ambition—to reconnect with the show’s early charm and cultural influence from the early 2000s.
Back then, Big Brother introduced audiences to unforgettable personalities like Chrissie Swan, Sara-Marie’s bunny dance, the dancing doona, and even the notorious turkey slap incident. It wasn’t just a show; it was a nationwide event that gave viewers a nightly taste of sanctioned voyeurism, letting them watch ordinary people forget the cameras and simply live.
But times have changed, and the question remains whether it’s truly possible to recapture that magic. When Big Brother first aired in Australia in 2001—shortly after its debut in the Netherlands—it borrowed its name from the oppressive surveillance figure in George Orwell’s novel 1984, a symbol that feels even more relevant now.
Author’s Summary
Big Brother’s 2025 revival aims to reignite early-2000s nostalgia, but its challenge lies in proving whether voyeurism can still captivate modern audiences.