Britain's Next Big Thing, BBC Two | reviews, news & interviews
Britain's Next Big Thing, BBC Two
Britain's Next Big Thing, BBC Two
It's like The X Factor, only with artisans
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Professor Richard Weston, purveyor of digital-print scarves (very now, darling), and Theo PaphitisBBC/Maverick TV
The talent show search - not for another star but for another field to devour - has reached its logical conclusion. Whereas most such shows - The X Factor, for example - are ostensibly about one skill or another as a pretext for marketing, Britain's Next Big Thing last night on BBC Two was a talent show about finding a merchandising opportunity. Artisans were given the chance to pitch their products to major chains, and the first episode was set at Liberty (not Libertys, as most called it).
The talent show search - not for another star but for another field to devour - has reached its logical conclusion. Whereas most such shows - The X Factor, for example - are ostensibly about one skill or another as a pretext for marketing, Britain's Next Big Thing last night on BBC Two was a talent show about finding a merchandising opportunity. Artisans were given the chance to pitch their products to major chains, and the first episode was set at Liberty (not Libertys, as most called it).
All the tropes - rejected candidates wouldn't be deterred, all the experience was worth it - were there; there was mercifully little crying, but we were in the ballpark
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