TIMESHIFT: WATCHING YOU
Thursday 22 May 2003 9pm-9.50pm; rpt Sunday 25 May 11pm-11.50pm
Hidden cameras have revolutionised television. Watching You follows their use from early investigative journalism, through entertainment formats like Game For A Laugh, to the intimate world of webcams like Jennicam, the inspiration behind Big Brother.
DIRECTOR INTERVIEW
Does Big Brother represent the democratisation of TV?
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Tom Ware
Time Shift Series Editor
The use of hidden cameras, both in television production and across society as a whole, has long been the subject of fierce debate and dystopian foreboding. But, as Sebastian Barfield's thought-provoking documentary points out, now that Big Brother really is watching us (and we're watching it) it seems that ultimately most people don't care.
It's just one of many ironies that the programme reveals, as it contrasts TV's journalistic obsession with the "truth" that hidden cameras can show us with our basic desire to be entertained. All of which makes for fascinating viewing.
