Are you ready for Little Brother? Seven strangers sharing a house, with TV cameras spying - it may

Are you ready for Little Brother? Seven strangers sharing a house, with TV cameras spying - it may

Mangalore Today News Network

When the residents of a quiet suburban street watched the new neighbours move in just before Christmas last year, they might have wondered if they’d overdone the mulled wine.

How else to explain the fact that there appeared to be seven dwarves trooping in and out of the property. And weren’t those the strains of ‘Hi ho, hi ho...’ coming from the upstairs windows?

‘They might well have been,’ chuckles Max Laird, one of the new arrivals. ‘But anyone listening might not have recognised the lyrics. We tend to make up our own words. And they aren’t always family-friendly.’

From left: Craig, Karen, Ryan, Laura, Jamie (on ladder), Josh (seated), and Max

Seven vertically challenged men and women had, in fact, moved into the property and their lives were being filmed for a seven-part Channel Four fly-on-the-wall documentary. Moreover, the seven – all actors – were appearing together at the time in panto, starring as, well... you can guess.

The programme, called Seven Dwarves, is billed as a cross between Big Brother and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, and follows the seven as they work and relax together. The first thing that strikes you as the group pitches up for a riotous photoshoot with Weekend is that this lot seem in their element without a Snow White.

One of them, Laura Whitfield, claims, ‘People don’t go to the panto to see Snow White. People only go to see the dwarves. The dwarves are the real stars.’ It’s hard not to laugh in their company – even when the jokes are being made about their height, or lack of it – as the seven are accomplished performers.

Take Josh Bennett who, at 20, is the youngest of the group. Josh comes from a dynasty of ‘little people’ actors. His mother and grandfather were Ewoks in Return Of The Jedi and he, along with all six of his housemates, starred in the Harry Potter films as a goblin.