In 2000, while auditioning to be the narrator of a new reality series called Big Brother, Marcus Bentley said the word “chickens” – and TV history was made. The show’s bosses, he found out years later, were immediately sold on how one particular line from the audition script sounded in Bentley’s languid Geordie accent. That line was, “Darren is in the garden feeding the chickens.” And ever since, Bentley has remained Big Brother’s one true constant in its ever-changing 23 years.
Big Brother is the ultimate reality TV social experiment. First launching to huge ratings in the Netherlands in September 1999, the series was brought to the UK the following year, introducing 10 contestants, from all walks of life, who were placed in a purpose-built house filled with cameras in every corner – bar the toilet. Over the years, as the show’s “voice of God”, Bentley has become known for his delivery of the phrase “the diary room” and the line opening each episode: “Day [insert number here] in the Big Brother house.” At the time of writing, he has uttered this sentence a total of 2,008 times. Bentley’s job, more than just reading a script in a sound booth, is to steer viewers through each episode, not to mention the emotional highs and lows of the many housemates.
