In the world of reality TV, the word “genius” is a relative term. This is a genre, after all, where millions of people tune in to watch 12 contestants squabbling over who has eaten some cheese.

Within these mighty limits the latest series of Big Brother, modishly entitled Celebrity Hijack, is a work of some cunning. In a nutshell, admirably random celebrities such as Matt Lucas, of Little Britain, Mark and Dinos Chapman, Brian Sewell and Malcolm McLaren take it in turns toset the daily “tasks”. Given the controversy that Big Brother has previously run into, not least a year ago when Jade Goody’s comments about Shilpa Shetty caused a sizeable diplomatic incident, this is a move of arch shrewdness. Now, should anything go wrong, Channel 4 can blame it on Sewell and walk away, whistling merrily.

Not that this series is likely to have controversies in the manner of yesteryear. In another twist on the lucrative but wearied format, the production company Endemol has eschewed the usual open auditionsand instead handpicked 12 “gifted” young people to appear on the show. These include the chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament, a gold-medal boxer from the 2004 Youth Olympics and, erm, Miss Winchester 2007. The idea is to make Big Brother a little more lighthearted, and positive, like it was in the early years, when it was nearly won by a singing nun, and the housemates tended a flock of hens. Even Channel 4, currently a broadcaster with serious creative malaise, realises that a show based around drunken women in bikinis screaming at each other cannot have much of a future.

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