When does Big Brother 2 arrive on our screens

A.� The new series goes out on Channel 4 at the end of this month. The ten new contestants will be named on Friday and the new series of the programme will be screened for 64 days.

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Q.� Will the format be the same

A.� There will be technological developments this time in an effort to bring the viewers closer to the action inside the Big Brother house. The ten housemates, five men and five women, will find themselves under 24-hour surveillance from a bank of 37 cameras and 40 microphones in the purpose-built house in the East End of London. They will be forced to abandon contact with the outside world. They will not even be told the outcome of the general election and the eventual winner will not find out the identity of the prime minister until the show ends in August. Channel 4 digital viewers also have the chance to watch the action for 21 hours a day on the entertainment channel E4.

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Q. Will you be able to view the show online

A.� Website viewers will be able to control what they see using a 'pan cam' which rotates 360 degrees around by using a camera fixed in the middle of the table. Internet users will also have the chance to view the house through a 'fan cam' which will be fixed on the housemate who won the previous day's website popularity vote.

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Q.� How many people applied to get on the show

A.� Channel 4 says some 50,000 hopefuls applied to become contestants. That figure was whittled down to about 30 or 40 and psychologists spent ten�required contestants.

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Q.� Is the house the same as last time

A.� This time the Big Brother house will be different. There is a 'cabin fever' design which C4 says will be warmer with more character than before.

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Q.� Who is the host this time round

A.� The pregnant Davina McCall will be battling against ITN's Mark Austin who is the host of their new reality TV programme Survivor, although the two are unlikely to go head to head.

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By Katharine MacColl