| "Big Brother UK TV Theme" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Elementfour | |
| Released | 28 August 2000 |
| Recorded | 2000 |
| Genre | Techno, Trance[1] |
| Length | 3:20 |
| Label | Channel 4 Music |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) | |
The Big Brother UK TV Theme, also known as "Element Four" in Belgium or as "Tast-E" in Australia and Greece, is the opening theme for the British reality TV series Big Brother, written and produced by music duo Elementfour in 2000.
Following the success of the first British series that year, the theme was released as a single. It became a hit in September 2000 when it reached number 4, selling 47,186 copies in its first week. Overall the single spent 10 weeks on the UK Singles Chart and achieved more than 160,000 sales in total.[2] It also reached number 3 on the Scottish Singles Chart where it spent nine weeks in the top 100.[3]
The original theme was used through the first four series of Big Brother, however was later replaced by a revamped version from the fifth series onwards with an enhanced bassline.[4] Versions of the theme continued to be used throughout Channel 4's run of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother and was retained when both shows moved to Channel 5 in 2011.[2] A sample from the 12-inch remixed version of the track was used in August 2022 to promote the revived 2023 series on ITV2.[5]
In July 2016, it was revealed that the track was the 14th highest-charting TV theme of all time in the UK.[6] In June 2020 it was announced the song had sold 164,000 CD singles in the twenty years since its release, with no additional downloads or streaming sales due to it not being available digitally.[7] In October 2023, the revived series began and a remixed new version of the original theme was digitally released by Oakenfold under the name Perfecto Allstarz.
- ^ Masterton, James (3 September 2000). "Week Ending September 9th 2000". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Paul Oakenfold: 'I'm proud of the Big Brother theme' - Big Brother News - Reality TV". Digital Spy. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
- ^ Big Brother UK Intros (2000 - 2018), retrieved 4 August 2022
- ^ Coming 2023... | ITV2, retrieved 4 August 2022
- ^ Eames, Tom (20 July 2016). "What are the biggest TV themes of all time?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- ^ "Big Brother's Big Hits: Songs from the show that entered the Official Chart". Official Charts Company. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.