(British) Survivor Reviver

Arguably the most surprising survivor from the first UK season of Survivor was the show itself. The show’s executive producer had confidently predicted average ratings of over ten million (while this number may seem small to U.S. readers, it is quite in the UK), but in the event, they ended up at less than half that amount. Therefore some of the show’s critics raised a collective eyebrow when the ITV network announced that there was to be a second season. Extremely low-key pre-publicity for Survivor 2 has added to the bewilderment. Does the network actually want the show to succeed or not?

Well in actual fact, there was very little wrong with Survivor 1. It was beautifully filmed (without the accusations of staged reshots that surrounded the US version). It also became wonderfully nasty as the series approached its climax, particularly the level of personal animosity between the female competitors which, even despite a late gender alliance to eject the last male, lasted right into the final. The show’s failure to meet expectations was probably a combination of overkill (in addition to two episodes per week, there was also a series of very tedious studio interviews with each of the expelled contestants) and its misfortune to air over the same timespan as the Big Brother juggernaut. Susan has already written a comparison of the two versions elsewhere on the site. My take is that British audiences prefer a reality show that runs in real time and therefore can be raw and unpredictable (like BB) rather than a pre-recorded, pre-packaged show such as Survivor. The entertainment pages in the tabloids also find the latter more difficult to write about; as without giving away the name of the winner, there is very little that they could analyse or speculate about.

The new season wisely starts airing two months ahead of Big Brother. Its location is the Panama island of Bocas del Toro, billed on their website as an ‘Ecotourism paradise island’ (yeah, but not for some, hah!). Whether there are actually still bulls wandering around is not known, but there are plenty of crocodiles, snakes and poisonous frogs (presumably having a ‘frog in the throat’ would therefore become a somewhat lethal condition). The weather conditions are also reportedly extreme, which is good news for those viewers who sadistically enjoy seeing objectionable people thoroughly rained on or blown away.

A new presenter has also been coerced in to oversee the fun and the feuding. The first series was hosted by news journalist Mark Austin, in an attempt to convey an air of ‘authority and impartiality’ (which was a pretty thankless task with all of the petty squabbling going on). Mark was lined up for the second series until the events of September 11th, after which he rapidly reassessed his priorities and decided that it was time to get back into the real world (although he was last seen on TV not out in the field in Afghanistan, Israel, or Zimbabwe, but interviewing a government employee caught up in a spat regarding news management, which presumably wasn’t the sort of history-defining assignment he had in mind). He was replaced by Mark Nicholas (with Mark L Walberg on Temptation Island as well, what is it about Marks and islands?) who, even more bizarrely, is a sports presenter. Mark is normally the host of rival Channel 4’s cricket coverage (cricket, for the information of US readers, is a traditional bat and ball game, mainly played by nations of the Commonwealth, in which England usually loses).

Apart from the above, very little else is yet known about the new season, the dozen competitors, or the challenges facing them. One trivial fact that has emerged is the installation of additional secret cameras and microphones in the woods, supposedly to overhear any surreptitious plotting. Only the cynical would add that they would also pick up any out-of-camp sexual encounters, tactical or otherwise, such as the alleged tryst between the eventual series one winner Charlotte and the dubious Adrian, which, with conflicting stories from both parties, has never been proven. (Fans of the voluptuous Welsh law officer will be delighted to know that she is now part of the presenting team.) Anyway, should such an incident happen this time around, viewers will be able to witness all of the erotic excitement of bushes rustling and shadowy shapes twisting through an infrared blur. We hope that nobody falls on any poisonous frogs in the process.

Survivor UK is back – it begins airing this Wednesday, March 13, at 9:45 (British time, of course). Let the bitching begin.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site and be registered for giveaways and special offers! You can find all of our articles about the U.S. Survivor at the Survivor: Marquesas Page, and take a look at our sections on Reality TV Interviews and European Reality TV. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check out RealityTVFans.com, SirLinksALot and the Manly Man!