The struggle to produce an original reality-TV show was becoming increasingly difficult for the BBC. They took Big Brother, crossed it with Popstars and got Fame Academy…which didn’t really cut it. They added celebrities….but still. After that where do you go ?
Thank Bush then for the Iraq Conflict! What could be better than 24/7 footage of real shooting, and real dead bodies. Not even Endemol (the creators of big brother and just about every other realityfest) could swing a snuff series – but thanks to the free market, we now have one! Not only that, but one where the main characters can get seriously wounded, or even killed. They must have been dancing fucking jigs in television centre when war was declared. Like that episode from “The Day Today”, the graphics, sets, and speeches were all ready for action as soon as the shells started exploding.
They even have the big brother style “day number” on screen. All that’s missing is a geordie voiceover:
“Day 18, and John simpson is in the diary room after the daily challenge, when Kamaran was blown to pieces by friendly fire.”