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The Big Reunion series 2

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The Big Reunion
Season 2
No. of episodes8
Release
Original networkITV2
Original release6 February (2014-02-06) –
27 March 2014 (2014-03-27)
Series chronology
← Previous
Series 1
List of episodes

The second series of the British reality-documentary series The Big Reunion began airing on ITV2 on 6 February 2014 and ended on 27 March 2014. The show features 'teen' bands, some of whom were big names in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme follows them as they reunite for the first time in a decade and go through their two weeks of intensive rehearsals before finally stepping back on stage for a comeback performance.

The bands who reunited for the second series were 3T, A1, Damage, Eternal and Girl Thing. Additionally, Kenzie from Blazin' Squad, Dane Bowers from Another Level, and former soloists Adam Rickitt, Kavana and Gareth Gates, joined together to form the supergroup 5th Story.

Background

Due to the massive success of the first series of The Big Reunion, which saw the reunions of Five, 911, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, Blue, Honeyz and Liberty X, it was widely reported that a second series would be commissioned.[1] Groups were rumoured to be reuniting for series 2 included Big Brovaz, Hear'Say, S Club 7, Busted, Mis-Teeq, East 17, All Saints, Eternal, A1, Cleopatra and Another Level.[2] S Club 7 were reportedly in talks to reform for their own rival show to The Big Reunion.[3] In regards to Hear'Say reuniting, Myleene Klass said, "I just can't imagine it. What are we going to do - sing 'Pure and Simple' on loop? It was nice and it was a great time in our lives, and where it was at that time is just perfect."[4] It was also reported that Eternal could reform without Louise Redknapp, who initially walked away from the group in 1995.[5]

On 27 December 2013, ITV announced that the six bands taking part in the show's second series would be A1, Eternal, Damage, 3T, Girl Thing and a supergroup called 5th Story, which consists of Gareth Gates, Another Level's Dane Bowers, Adam Rickitt, Kavana and Blazin' Squad's Kenzie.[6] As previously reported, Eternal reunited for the show as a three-piece as Redknapp chose not to take part in their reunion.[7] Additionally, Damage's Coreé Richards and A1's Paul Marazzi chose not to take part either,[8][9] although Richards did appear on the show to talk about the band.[8] Richards chose not to take part due to conflicts with the band.

Another Level were on the verge of signing up for the show, but Bowers' ex-bandmate Wayne Williams has since announced that he will not take part. In an interview with MTV UK, he said: "I decided not to participate in The Big Reunion because it wouldn't feel right to me...I'm in a totally different space in my life and I don't feel any need to look back."[10] Another ex-bandmate Mark Baron, who now works for Alan Sugar's company Amsprop, had been forced to pull out due to Sugar not allowing him time off work. Bowers told the Daily Star, "Another Level were supposed to do it but then Mark said he couldn't because of work. He's married to Alan Sugar's daughter and works for him. You don't say no to Alan Sugar. I was a bit annoyed because he pulled out right at the end. Surely he would have known earlier. But his loss is my gain."[11]

On 26 January 2014, it was announced that series 2 would begin airing on ITV2 on 6 February 2014.[12] The bands' comeback gig at the Hammersmith Apollo took place on 21 February 2014.[citation needed]

Bands

Episodes

See also: List of The Big Reunion episodes
No. Title Featured band(s) Original air date UK viewers
1"Damage & Girl Thing"Damage and Girl Thing[13]6 February 2014 (2014-02-06)[13]560,000[14]
2"Eternal & A1"Eternal and A1[15]13 February 2014 (2014-02-13)[15]440,000[14]
3"5th Story"5th Story[16]20 February 2014 (2014-02-20)[16]759,000[14]
4"3T"3T27 February 2014 (2014-02-27)[14]
5"Rehearsals, Part 1"All bands6 March 2014 (2014-03-06)[14]
6"Rehearsals, Part 2"All bands13 March 2014 (2014-03-13)569,000[14]
7"Rehearsals, Part 3"All bands20 March 2014 (2014-03-20)[14]
8"The Gig"All bands27 March 2014 (2014-03-27)[14]

Reception

Ratings

The first episode of the series was seen by an audience of 463,000, less than half the audience of the series 1 premiere.[17] The second episode fell even further, bringing in 324,000 viewers.[18]

Summary of episode ratings
Episode no. Title Date Official ITV2 rating[14] ITV2 weekly rank[14] Share (%) Official ITV2 +1 rating[14] Total ITV2 viewers
1 "Damage & Girl Thing" 6 February 2014 560,000 4 2.0[17] N/A 560,000
2 "Eternal & A1" 13 February 2014 440,000 5 1.4[18] N/A 440,000
3 "5th Story" 20 February 2014 759,000 3 2.8[19] 202,000 961,000
4 "3T" 27 February 2014 446,000 8 1.5[20] N/A 446,000
5 "Rehearsals, Part 1" 6 March 2014 N/A N/A N/A N/A
6 "Rehearsals, Part 2" 13 March 2014 569,000 6 N/A 569,000
7 "Rehearsals, Part 3" 20 March 2014 437,000 8 N/A 437,000
8 "The Gig" 27 March 2014 1,009,000 2 N/A 1,009,000
Series average

Critical reception

Reviewing the first episode, Digital Spy's Catriona Wightman wrote, "if this first episode proved anything, it's that The Big Reunion is not about the music. It never has been, really - our obsession with Abz was really down to his hats, farming and tough post-fame life. And with Girl Thing, their story of the hype, the arguments and the crashing fall was an interesting enough insight into the world of the music business that we stopped caring about the fact that they never made it big. Honestly, that was kind of the point."[21] In a negative review, the Daily Mirror's Kevin O'Sullivan said, ""This rigidly formulaic show is simply repeating itself. But take it away hopeless narrator Andi Peters: They scaled the icy unforgiving edifice of the artistic mountain we call pop..." Who writes this crap?'[22]

References

  1. ^ Eames, Tom (1 May 2013). "'The Big Reunion' renewed by ITV2, East 17 and A1 involved?". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  2. ^ "'The Big Reunion' series 2: Big Brovaz in talks to star". The Huffington Post. AOL. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  3. ^ "S Club 7 'to reform for TV show to rival The Big Reunion'". Metro. DMG Media. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  4. ^ Armitage, Hugh (19 February 2014). "Myleene Klass on 'Big Reunion': 'Hear'Say make them sound like Disney'". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  5. ^ Walker, Danny (26 September 2013). "Louise Redknapp 'won't be joining rest of Eternal on The Big Reunion'". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  6. ^ Wightman, Catriona (27 December 2013). "Eternal, A1 and a supergroup: Big Reunion series two lineup unveiled". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  7. ^ Eames, Tom (27 January 2014). "The Big Reunion's Eternal: Louise Redknapp wished us good luck". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  8. ^ a b Rigler, Natasha (28 January 2014). "Ex-Damage star Coreé Richards on Big Reunion: "Untrue things are hurtful"". Reveal. Nat Mags. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  9. ^ Lynn, Connolly. (27 January 2014). "The Big Reunion 2014: A1 band members "still aren't over" tragic deaths of four fans at their gig". Unreality TV. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  10. ^ "Another Level's Wayne Turns Down 'The Big Reunion'". MTV UK. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  11. ^ Ingham, James (26 January 2014). "Lord Alan Sugar an obstruction to The Big Reunion". Daily Star. Northern & Shell. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  12. ^ Yaqoob, Janine (26 January 2014). "Another Level Big Reunion comeback thwarted - by Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  13. ^ a b "The Big Reunion 2014 Episode 1". itv.com. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Viewing data top 10s". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  15. ^ a b "The Big Reunion 2014 Episode 2". itv.com. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  16. ^ a b "The Big Reunion 2014 Episode 3". itv.com. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  17. ^ a b Eames, Tom (7 February 2014). "Pound Shop Wars top on Thursday night with 5.4m". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  18. ^ a b Eames, Tom (14 February 2014). "Inspector George Gently rises to top Thursday ratings with 5.5m". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  19. ^ Eames, Tom (21 February 2014). "Inspector George Gently stays top on Thursday with 5.4 million". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  20. ^ Eames, Tom (28 February 2014). "Inspector George Gently still top on Thursday with 5.6 million". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  21. ^ Wightman, Catriona (6 February 2014). "The Big Reunion review: Forget the music, it's about the stories". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  22. ^ O'Sullivan, Kevin (8 February 2014). "Terrible Top Gear is a clapped out old banger that would fail a TV MOT". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
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