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Anorak News | Emergency Pete

Emergency Pete

by | 23rd, July 2006

PAGE 1 of the Big Brother survival handbook is unequivocal in its advice: “To relieve moments of tedium refer to Pete.”

JaYne has gone. Nikkkki has gone. Shahbaz has gone. Sexer has gone. Even Grace, the charmless one, has gone. But Pete remains. Pete talks. He jibbers and twitches. He is good telly. In times of tedium stick Pete on.

And so it is that whenever a housemate is evicted we see Pete.

After a week of trying to fill airtime with shots of Imogen trying to speak and Glyn trying to speak and Mikey trying to speak the producers pull the emergency chain and summon Pete.

Without Pete the house is full of dead ends. Has Gyny anything to say? Daryl Van Horne is less interesting then the stuffed cat he carries around with him – in much the same way a humourless sadsack wears a novelty tie, DVH uses his cat in a forlorn attempt to inject his personality with, well, personality.

It always has to be Pete. So we get Pete gurning at the camera. His nervous energy. His swearing.

Is this exploitation? Consider this. When watching the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup, Anorak.co.uk writer Ed Barrett look on as Steven Marchant (writer of TV’s The Office) and a dwarf dressed up as Peter Crouch and Wayne Rooney, respectively.

They then began to do a dance, one of those football dances with lots of knee, elbow and chin.

Ooer. This was a tricky moment for the BBC. Should Gary Lineker, the Beeb’s lynchpin laugh? No such problems for pundit Ian Wright who was in danger of soiling the sofa. Wright said he loved those little people. He grabbed his belly and roared. His feet lifted from the ground. He wagged his feet.

Are we all Gary Linkers waiting to be told to laugh as Pete blurts out “w******s”, or do we ignore his illness and treat him as one of the others? Do we see the obvious and just enjoy it?

Why do we all like Pete?



Posted: 23rd, July 2006 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink