Fly on the wall
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Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, the camera crew works as unobtrusively as possible; however, it is also common for participants to be interviewed, often by an off-camera voice.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Decades before structured reality shows became popular, the BBC had broadcast fly-on-the-wall film Royal Family (a 1969 documentary produced in association with ITV),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while 1974's The Family, is said to be the earliest example of a reality TV docusoap on the BBC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1978 the BBC aired Living in the Past recreating a British Iron Age settlement. In the late 1990s, Chris Terrill's docusoap series The Cruise<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> made a star of singer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and TV personality Jane McDonald,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while Welsh cleaner Maureen Rees<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> became popular after her appearances on BBC One's<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Driving School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Other British examples include Airline, Dynamo: Magician Impossible and Channel 4's Educating... series, while in the United States popular examples include American Factory, Cops, Deadliest Catch, Big Brother and Weiner, a film about a political sex scandal which developed during a mayoral election in New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>