Gogglebox



Gogglebox is a British reality show that has aired on Channel 4 since 7 March 2013. The show features a number of families and groups of friends from around the United Kingdom who react to British television shows from their own homes. The show won a BAFTA award in 2014 and a National Television Award in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Series 10 will begin airing on 8 September 2017.

A "Brexit Special" episode of Gogglebox aired on 3 August 2016, in which the families commented on the recent EU referendum and other current events in British politics.

A version of the show featuring only children, called Gogglesprogs, launched as a Christmas special on Christmas Day 2015, and was followed by a full-length series, which began airing on 17 June 2016.

Gogglebox was narrated from its launch on 7 March 2013 until 1 April 2016 by Caroline Aherne. Aherne was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 2015, which led to her eventual death on 2 July 2016. Craig Cash regularly filled in for Aherne when she was unavailable, and took over the role as narrator permanently on 8 April 2016.

On 30 May 2017, it was confirmed that a new spin-off series entitled Vlogglebox would air on E4 which features reactions from 16-24 year olds as they watch online content on their phones, laptops or tablets.

Production
The show is a production of Studio Lambert, a company run by British media executive Stephen Lambert, who was behind other Channel 4 shows such as Faking It, Wife Swap, Undercover Boss and The Secret Millionaire. The executive producer is Tania Alexander, who said the original idea was for the show to be a "mix of Harry Hill and The Royle Family".

Farah Ramzan Golant, the boss of All3Media, said: "Everyone loves watching TV and talking about TV. But the show isn't really about TV. The show is about people's lives, their relationships, their living rooms and the way children and parents talk about TV. It's near real-time because you're watching what happened in the seven days before. That's quite priceless. It captures a cultural response to something that's happening in the world. Gogglebox shows TV in people's living rooms is alive and well and thriving. It is asserting the indispensable role of TV in the fabric of people's lives."

Filming
The show is filmed in the viewers' homes by two small HD remote-control cameras known as "hot heads" operated by a small team elsewhere in the home that have set up a temporary production control room; the team consists of a producer/director, gallery operator, assistant, audio engineer, researcher (for live logging) and a runner.

Cast
This is a list of cast members currently appearing in the show.

Other appearances
As well as appearing on Gogglebox, some of the cast members have competed in other reality TV shows including Celebrity Big Brother, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and The Jump.


 * Celebrity Big Brother
 * George Gilbey – Series 14 (2014) – Fourth
 * Sandi Bogle – Series 20 (2017) – Ninth
 * The Jump
 * Dom Parker – Series 2 (2015) – Fifteenth
 * I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
 * Scarlett Moffatt – Series 16 (2016) – Winner

Australian version
An Australian edition of the programme debuted on 11 February 2015. It is a co-production between pay TV provider Foxtel and commercial Network Ten. It airs on Foxtel's Lifestyle Channel first and is repeated 24 hours later on Ten. The programme started its second season on 30 September 2015, and its third season in 2016. It had shown 8 episodes of the 4th season as of December 2016.

United States/Canadian version
Canadian (Bell Media), and American broadcasters. The American and Canadian versions, both called The People's Couch, premiered on Bravo on 10 March 2014 (although a three-episode pilot run was aired in October 2013) and Bravo (Canada) in July 2014.

Other versions
Following the success of the British series, the rights to the show have been sold to both Chinese (Jiangsu Television) and Ukrainian (ICTV) broadcasters.

Irish broadcaster TV3 announced an Irish version of Gogglebox in 2014, which would air as part of its New Year schedule, but the series was then delayed until September 2016. Series 1 of Gogglebox Ireland began on Thursday 22 September 2016 and was well received by viewers, press and critics. Series 2 ran from January to May 2017 and five additional homes were added to the cast.

An Italian version of the show aired on Italia 1 of Mediaset from 23 October 2016.

In Poland, the show began airing in autumn 2014 on TTV, who bought three-year broadcast rights.

The Slovenian version is called Bognedaj, da bi crknu televisor ("God, please don't let the TV die", which is the title of a popular song). A second series began on 11 March 2015 on Planet TV; the third season was scheduled for autumn 2015. The fourth season began in March 2016.

In Israel, the version called Tadliku (תדליקו "Switch on") premiered on Channel 2 in June 2014 and was abruptly canceled after two episodes.

In Germany there have been two attempts at producing the show, in December 2014 and January 2015. Wohnzimmerhelden (Living Room Heroes) on Sat.1 was identical to the original format and Sofa Stars on RTL Television let the participants comment only on shows of RTL group. Both German versions each had two episodes which received poor ratings so that it is unlikely that there will be a continuation of either one.

In Finland, the show is called Sohvaperunat (couch potatoes) and is aired by the Finnish broadcasting company, Yle.

In Norway, the show is called "Sofa" and has been aired by NRK from October 2014.

In Dutch-speaking Belgium, the show is called Hallo Televisie (Hello Television) and has been shown on Eén from 6 January 2015.

In French-speaking Belgium, the show is called Vu à la télé (As seen on TV) and is shown on RTL-TVI.

In France, the show has been adapted under the title Vu à la télé (Seen on TV) and broadcast on M6, starting in October 2014.

In South Africa, a 10-part local version started on the 3 March 2016 at 21:00 on the Sony Channel (DStv Channel 127).

In Spain, the show has been adapted under the title Aquí mando yo (I'm in control here) and premiered on Antena 3 on 15 April 2015.