Bring back Dolly and Dick, or even Nasty Nick! Is it just me, or are this years Big Brother contestants the most boring ever? There seem to be no 'real' characters, no one to even vaguely inspire a sense of viewing loyalty.

As a longstanding BB fan, I've defended it countless times to people who claim to hate it, but I'm forced to admit that the appeal has gone. The entertainment value in watching people speaking from inside cardboard boxes, taking part in ludicrous tasks or pinning hopes on a vote to 'Get Grace Out' seem long gone. I'm not claiming any sort of intellectual or cultural merit for the show, quite simply just that, until this year, it has always been entertaining, surreal and sometimes downright funny.

This year is different. I'm neither aware, nor care about any of the inmates. I watch it when I've nothing better to do, just to see if there is any action in the Elstree studio worth feigning interest in. None. Perhaps the nations obsession with reality TV is drawing to an end. Perhaps we've exhausted the bizarre pool of 'real' people who might be interesting to watch in an artificial environment?

Gone are the days when Friday at work always guaranteed a speculative conversation about who might go out in the eviction. This year, no one else really seems to care either. In fact the only conversations I've heard recently relate to previous years of glory: mostly trivia, or personal anecdotes about former housemates.

A friend once sat in a van with Pete Bennet, and said he whistled constantly. I have it on authority that the actual sound of his whistling is astonishingly similar to real birdsong... Someone else claimed to have left a club with Nikki Graham, but chose not to go any further than the bus stop with her because she didn't stop talking or complaining...

The best story I heard was of somebody using a price comparison website to work out how much home insurance for the Big Brother house would be. Apparently it's surprisingly low. This is due largely to the fact that security is excellent. With 24-hour security and constant CCTV coverage, the chances of a break in are minimal!

Reality TV is a bit like Marmite: you either love it or hate it. This years BB has got me to thinking that perhaps the genre has finally had it's day. Every second programme seems to involve 'real life' characters in one capacity or another. Perhaps, the current lack lustre Big Brother reflects the fact that we've reached saturation point. The majority of wannabe contestants now do little to hide their aspirations to seal a lucrative magazine deal when they leave the show. Is there really any more space in the world - not to mention the magazine shelves - for more E and F list 'celebrities'?

This does pose other questions though. If the appeal of reality TV is dwindling, what might replace it? Is that really something we want to think about?