Leader - The ugly side of reality

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Celeb BB's travails only serve to emphasise that the format is no longer a surefire hit, writes Lisa Campbell, Broadcast's acting editor

There are few programmes with such high stakes as Big Brother - Celebrityor otherwise. For viewers, it's an eagerly awaited TV treat after what was a lean Xmas (unless of course you're a Dibley fan) and for Channel 4, it's the cash cow that it relies upon to fund the kind of quality documentaries on which its reputation is founded.

The show began on the back foot however, with an uninspired cast smacking more of a last-minute Friday-night booking than something that's been a year in the making. Housemates deserted, so did viewers and as the tedium took hold, one began to wonder whether C4's golden goose was breathing its last.

And then, true to form, the storm broke, resulting in blanket media coverage, a potential police investigation, an early day motion in the House of Commons and a 1 million increase in the ratings. Yet it's difficult to applaud the boost in the format's fortunes when its cause is racism allegations. The record number of complaints is testament to the power of the online community as well as the depth of feeling involved, although whether the housemates' behaviour constitutes racism or simply jealousy and ignorance remains questionable.

Also being brought into question by some is the role and responsibility of the producers and C4, with Labour MP Keith Vaz requesting they now take action. Unless things get spectacularly out of hand, this clearly is not going to happen. Conflict and division has always been the name of the game in Big Brother. This is not to say that the channel would ever encourage it to go as far as racism.

Rather than pointing the finger of blame at the producers, the proceedings, sadly, are more indicative of the prejudice in our society. I'm sure most people in broadcasting would argue that TV's role is to provide an uncensored window on the world, no matter how ugly.

What should be a concern for C4, however, is how the sudden renewed interest in the format is more down to 'luck' than design.

Shouldn't it be relying on something more tangible than the odd ignorant comment to keep Big Brother alive? When Cleo Roco began Tuesday night's show with the words 'I think there's going to be cracks. Quite big ones, quite dramatic ones', she could well have been talking about the entire Big Brotherformat rather than simply the latest series.