THE year 2000 didn’t just mark the start of a new Millennium, it was also the moment when British TV really hit a sweet spot.
We still had high-octane belters like Baywatch and Gladiators dominating the schedules, but then in came the enfant terrible of telly — Big Brother.
The decade that followed brought us Celebrity Love Island and, from the still booming lad culture, we got Footballers’ Wives and brilliantly crude comedy The Inbetweeners.
And what do they all have in common?
Well, after burning brightly in the Noughties, they were all, at various stages, cancelled.
By around 2010, these edgy shows had, one by one, been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness to make way for a period of telly which, let’s face it, has paled by comparison.
Crucially, however, we might see them ALL back on our screens in the next two years.
While some smash hits, including Big Brother and Gladiators, have already made a triumphant return, more may soon follow.
Yesterday, The Sun exclusively revealed how Footballers’ Wives could be getting a reboot, bringing with it the same outrageous storylines it shocked us with between 2002 and 2006.
Who could forget the moment Gillian Taylforth’s character Jackie Pascoe was caught breastfeeding her own grandson?
Or Chardonnay’s fake boobs catching fire in a freak accident involving a spilt drink and a candelabra.
Classy? No. Delicious? You betchya. It was sexy, silly, tacky and a sign of the Wag times we were going through thanks to the rise of the Premier League and the arrival of Posh and Becks.
Also poised to return is The Inbetweeners, the story of four adolescent teenagers exploring sex, drinking and school life with oodles of profanities and bad behaviour along the way.
The three series, which ran from 2008 to 2010, also delivered superior comedy the likes of which we haven’t seen since — so any kind of comeback should be celebrated as a massive win.
But these are just the latest in a steady flow of Noughties favourites.
First there was ITV’s reboot of Love Island in 2015 which was, let’s be honest, the same format as the celebrity version, which ran for two series in 2005 and 2006.
Once execs realised they could start reviving the old classics, there came The Weakest Link in 2021, which swapped out the show’s famously terrifying and edgy quizmaster Anne Robinson — who hosted from 2000 to 2012 — for Romesh Ranganathan.
Then Big Brother returned on ITV in 2023, a show which was cancelled first by Channel 4, then Channel 5 — despite coming to typify Noughties TV.
Bum-flossing
And last year, the BBC brought back Gladiators, not seen since it last aired on Sky in 2009.
It was risky, of course, given that the sight of people in skimpy costumes carrying out acts of violence with padded pugil sticks threatened to have snowflakes keeling over with coronaries.
Should they consider that daring, then they’d better pop a valium because it seems Baywatch — last on UK TVs in 2001 — may also be returning as producers in the US look at reviving the lifeguard drama.
The bum-flossing bathing costumes will no doubt warrant their own trigger warnings.
If that isn’t enough, also on the horizon is Hole In The Wall, the bonkers gameshow which aired on BBC One in 2008 and 2009, featuring various celebrities in skintight silver outfits getting knocked into pontoons by giant polystyrene walls.
What do all these random shows have in common?
One word: fun. And it’s been something that, from the year 2010, seemed to go seriously out of fashion in British telly.
Perhaps it was the emergence of US streamers, who suddenly ushered in an era of woke TV, which felt more po-faced and worthy.
Anything that was mildly shocking, or edgy or risque suddenly seemed gauche and savage.
Only now, it seems, have UK execs realised that our somewhat bonkers brand of programming was actually the envy of the world.
Heck, why did they think that X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent — two more legacies of the Naughty Noughties — ended up becoming global franchises?
And why do they think that the likes of Netflix are now trying to recapture some of that magic with shows including Building The Band and Simon Cowell: The Next Act?
Finally, they’ve come to their senses. Sure, we can file SOME of the rough edges off the original formats — but let’s not lose the heart and soul of them.
Revisiting the Naughty Noughties has made us realise that British TV has been on its best behaviour for far too long.
So, let’s embrace a year 20
Gladiators
ITV and Sky 1992-2000 and 2008-2009 Revival: BBC One, 2024
FOR a whole generation, Gladiators became essential Saturday night viewing on ITV alongside Blind Date.
With characters including Wolf, Shadow, Hunter and Amazon (ex-Olympian Sharron Davies) the muscle men and women were virtually part of the family.
Hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu, it ended on ITV but revived for Sky where it was less of a hit.
Since it has been rebooted on the BBC with Bradley Walsh and son Barney, it’s been lapped up by a whole new generation.
Celebrity Love Island
ITV 2005 – 2006 Revival: ITV, 2015
IT’S difficult to recall when this show first launched as the modern version has overshadowed its memory.
Hosted initially by Patrick Kielty and Kelly Brook, it was set on an island in Fiji, with a dozen celebs including Rebecca Loos, Calum Best and Abi Titmuss, all looking for love.
Strangely, after series one’s success, series two failed to capture the public’s imagination and it was axed.
But after the demise of Big Brother, there came the demand for a new reality show featuring members of the public – and the non-celeb Love Island was born in 2015.
Hole in the Wall
BBC One 2008-2009 Revival: BBC One, 2026
THIS gameshow also seemed to achieve cult status overnight thanks to its raison d’etre: to humiliate celebrities.
It revolved around stars wearing skintight silver suits and helmets, standing on an island surrounded by water.
With a studio audience looking on, they had to move their bodies to match the exact shape of a hole cut from a wall of polystyrene sliding towards them.
Get it right and it passes over them. Get it wrong and they were dunked in the drink and lost money.
Originally hosted by Dale Winton, with team captain Anton du Beke it’s rumoured to be returning to the Beeb with Alison Hammond.
Footballer’s Wives
ITV 2002 – 2006 Revival: 2026
THE adventures of the players of Premier League football club Earls Park FC had us enthralled over five series.
Characters played by a cast including Laila Rouass, Ben Price and Zoe Lucker, lived debauched lives shamelessly indulging in sex, drugs and money.
Storylines were infamous and some of the celebrity cameos unbelievable – including Joan Collins and Peter Stringfellow.
The show’s appeal only faded when the characters’ exploits were eclipsed by the behaviour of real footballers and their WAGs.
Big Brother
C4 and C5 2000-2010 and 2011-2018 Revival: ITV, 2023
WHEN Davina McCall first opened the doors to the Big Brother house, viewers thought the TV experiment was bizarre and would bomb in the ratings but they were wrong.
By the end of series one they were addicted and only by the end of the decade did the novelty start to fade.
However BB, and its celebrity spin-off, is enjoying a new lease of life on ITV with AJ Odudu and Will Best hosting.
Baywatch
ITV 1989 – 2001 Revival: 2026
PAMELA Anderson and David Hasselhoff became global superstars thanks to the lifeguard drama.
Set on a Californian beach, this show wasn’t just about life-saving heroics – it was heavily loaded with scenes of ripped men and women racing into the sea in tight shorts and even skimpier swimsuits, to a soundtrack of rock anthems.
Baywatch almost became its own genre of TV, and was watched by over one billion people around the world.
Sadly, a 2017 film reboot, with Zac Efron and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, failed to inspire the same love
The Inbetweeners
C4 2008 – 2010 Revival: 2026
ONE of the greatest modern sitcoms of all time achieved near cult status over three series.
The Channel 4 series about the ridiculous lives of four foul-mouthed teens, Simon, Will, Neil and Jay ended in 2010 and it spawned two movies.
Now its writers, Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, have a deal with Banijay UK to bring us more.
