Big Brother turns silent

Where crowds have normally stood baying for blood outside the Big Brother house in London every Friday night, as the contestants wait for a decision on tonight's ‘eviction night’ programme, an eerie silence is the only accompaniment to Mrs McCall's unusually toned-down stand up.

In response to the alleged racist comments made on Celebrity Big Brother and targeted towards contestant Shilpa Shetty, watching the show has actually become more interesting tonight, as the show has a quiet and even tense atmosphere. The process of sorting out of the comments made by Jade Goody, which some have deemed racist, has given the programme a structure and direction it usually lacked.

Although they must now be aware of the issues after Big Brother's pointed questions, (What did you mean when you referred to Shilpa using the term ‘Shilpa Poppadom’?) the housemates are still likely to be surprised by the remarkable coverage the show has received across all media, and from low and high-brow news sources alike; and even around the world. Not to mention the direct pressure the Television Network Channel 4 has felt from the record 30,000 complainants who have taken issue with events on this month's series.

The show is not only going out today without its usual live audience, but as of yesterday, has been stripped of its Carphone Warehouse advertising deal. The mobile phone company's slightly twee adverts formerly wrapped each segment of the programme, and their and muscial stings were part of the big brother package, like the Oakenfold theme tune. It will be interesting to see how much Russell Brand's loudmouthed daily Big Brother review programme has also changed when it airs later this evening.

The web concensus: looking around on web pages and blogs, the verdict generally seems to be that the comments made by Jade were not in fact racist, but that she and her friends were engaging in bullying, and the comments may be excused by her lack of the intelligence needed to realise how hurtful her remarks may have been. The anti-bullying charity with whom Jade was working has taken steps to disassociate itself from her.

Whatever the public as a whole feels, it seems to be the case that no one in their right mind is failing to watch Big Brother, even if they can't stand the reality genre. When David Cameron asked the public to use their ‘off buttons’ to complain about the programme, even Tony Blair had to voice his disapproval in the Commons.

It will be interesting to see how the UK reality genre responds to this challenge: although one must assume that the programme's already elevated ratings must be surging up and up, will ratings start to become secondary to the (very necessary) editorialising that has been going on in recent days?