Move over Big Brother, it's Little Brother!

For the past ten years, every summer we have heard Davina McCall’s high-pitched screeches from our television sets, exclaiming ‘You are live on Channel 4, please do not swear!’ However, after a significant era of reality television, the Big Brother phenomenon is finally over and not without a few relieved and thankful faces.

However, all is not lost for die-hard fans of reality television. The show, which is reason for the rise and downfall of many household names, has spawned many different and successful copycat series’, such as Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, Dirty Sexy Things, Made in Chelsea and The Real Housewives of New Jersey to name a few.  Following the epic success of these reality shows, Channel 4 has revealed their screening of another programme, guaranteed to shock the nation. In a situation not unlike its main earner, Big Brother, Channel 4 have forced a group of personalities into a shared house to live and get to know one another. The difference? The stars of the show are all less than 5ft tall.

Entitled Seven Dwarfs, the show follows seven vertically challenged people along the Christmas period as they star together in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The cameras document the seven as they party hard whilst simultaneously trying to focus on their panto performances. The cast include a dwarf couple, a drag queen and actors who have starred in major films, such as the Harry Potter series.

But do we really need another reality TV show? Every channel seems to be jumping on the proverbial bandwagon and our cosy nights in in front of the television seem to be inundated with these shows, featuring ludicrous characters and even more ludicrous behaviour (who can forget last month’s Geordie Shore?) However, even I have to admit, I am a sucker for this cringe-y, invasive television, in which we are able to watch over-the-top, larger-than-life but nonetheless very real people going about their daily lives and doing thing we wouldn’t dream of doing. Despite the largely universal opinion that reality shows have ruined television, this new TV series is simply catering to the public’s needs (we have to admit the popularity of Big Brother after all). Plus the added extra of the ‘reality stars’ being under 5ft tall means that Seven Dwarfs could end up being more entertaining and successful than the rest.

On the other hand, although this programme is tarred with the same brush as other reality shows featuring big (or in this case, small) personalities, Channel 4 claims that Seven Dwarves will not hold its subjects up only to knock them down again. Instead, the seven dwarves are all lively, down-to-earth people, who are open to people’s reaction to their size and will provide an entertaining and fascinating experience into how they live their lives: coping with their size and performing on stage. Channel 4 therefore claims the show will change the public’s preconceptions by providing an honest and rounded insight into the private and professional lives of such a minority group. Executive Producer Nick Curwin said: "By capturing every aspect of their lives, the series will break-through panto stereotypes to show how this group of dwarf actors face the challenges of ordinary life head-on."

Whether I’ll be cringing or pleasantly surprised, I’ll most certainly be watching! Seven Dwarves airs on Tuesday, August 16!

Hope you enjoy it,

Emma xx