Format
Big Brother Australia is based on the international Big Brother series produced by Endemol in the Netherlands which began in 1999. The show's name comes from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which revolves around a dystopia in which dictator Big Brother is the all-seeing leader. The series generally constitutes 14 or more contestants who live in an isolated house for several months. Housemates are at all times under the control of Big Brother, a rule enforcing authority figure who monitors behaviour of the housemates, set tasks and punishments and provides the mechanism for contestants to make external requests.
Housemates are filmed 24 hours per day with edited highlights broadcast during prime time slots, and late night footage broadcast live in all the shows broadcast by channel 10, but not by channel 9. Live footage was also broadcast via the Internet using, Internet streaming Only by channel 10 but not in 2012 by channel 9. Housemates must remain in the house, and avoid being evicted by viewers of the show with the aim of winning a substantial cash prize at the end of the series. In order to support the housemates' well-being, all participants have access to the Big Brother psychologist Carmel Hill, and a doctor, at all times.
After the series housemates are invited to attend promotional appearances around Australia.
Read more about this topic: Big Brother Australia