PREVIEW: The Noughties, BBC Two
Angela Scanlon sits down with celebrity guests to revisit cultural highlights from the noughtiest decade, in anew 10-part series for BBC Two.
It was the decade that brought us J.Lo’s green gown, Big Brother, The Da Vinci Code, Adele’s debut album and brand Beckham was born. We fell crazy in love with Beyoncé, got introduced to David Brent, discovered who shot Phil and learned how to keep dancing with Bruce and Tess.
In The Noughties (10x45’), Angela will be joined by two celebrity guests each week, where they’ll discuss the films, music, dramas, comedies, fashion and entertainment highlights that shaped every year between 2000-2009. Audiences can expect lively discussion, funny observations and friendly disagreements about the best of noughties pop culture, year by year, show by show - with people who were there and in the know.
Celebrity Guests 2000 - Comedians Ellie Taylor and Geoff Norcott 2001 - Broadcasters and journalists Emma Barnett and Amol Rajan 2002 - Singer/Actress Kimberley Walsh and comedian Dane Baptiste 2003 - Comedian Rachel Parris and actor Nigel Harman 2004 - Radio presenters Clara Amfo and Dev Griffin 2005 - Comedian Russell Kane and actress Tracy-Ann Oberman 2006 - Broadcaster and journalist Grace Dent and comedian Nathan Caton 2007 - Actor Tyger Drew-Honey and TV presenter Cherry Healey 2008 - Comedian Chris Ramsey and singer Alexandra Burke 2009 - Presenter Gemma Cairney and actor/presenter Joe Swash
BBC Q&A with host Angela Scanlon
What appealed to you most about being part of The Noughties? I love the Noughties! It was a glorious reason to leave the house off the back of lockdown and an opportunity to look back at some of those moments that myself and our guests had forgotten about and celebrate a time that was a little bit more innocent and hopeful!
How was that experience of filming with the new guidelines in place? It was really weird and it was really hot! Everyone had masks on and we had a giant tent so our guests could sit two metres apart. Like with all of these things, they get normal pretty quickly. The brilliant thing was that we had a great bunch of guests involved, all of whom had been at home for a number of months and were just delighted to get out of the house and be giddy whilst talking about these moments and remembering where they were twenty years ago.
You revisit some incredible moments from the noughties, can you tell us about a few that stuck out to you? I think the significance of Big Brother as a kind of cultural barometer was one. We were looking at all of these people, somebody that you could identify with, that were completely unedited and completely unscripted in this little fishbowl, talking about things that usually you only talk about in secret. I think that was oddly liberating for people sitting at home. That was really significant and I think it’s only become apparent in hindsight just how big that was.
You know what was mad? The rise of the makeover show. There was Would Like To Meet and What Not To Wear with Trinny (Woodall) and Susannah (Constantine). When you look back at those clips they were absolutely brutal to people! Again it feels so quaint and odd that people would not know what to wear. I think we've got to a point where everybody feels like they have their own individual sense of style and not this kind of copy and paste formula which is what we were being fed then. So that feels really old school!
David Blaine is definitely stand out - it’s just such an odd weird thing, him dangling over the Thames for no real reason in in a glass box. Then we have that MTV moment with Christina, Britney and Madonna - is there a more iconic moment? Britney and Justin, maybe! The Beckhams were so prolific, and Victoria’s evolution all the way through. She came out through the Spice Girls, then the whole brand Beckham which she masterminded, there was the really wild scrutiny on her in that Parkinson interview. It was quite amazing to see a young woman deal with being under that spotlight.
The Noughties starts on Wednesday 21 October at 10pm on BBC Two.