Survivor (UK TV series)

Survivor UK
Genre Reality competition
Presented by Mark Austin (2001)
Mark Nicholas (2002)
Theme music composer Russ Landau
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 25
Broadcast
Original channel ITV
Picture format 480i (SDTV) (2001–2002)
Original run 21 May 200129 May 2002

Survivor in the UK was broadcast by the ITV network. It hit screens in the United Kingdom in 2001, with huge promotion and hype from tabloid newspapers. The Grand Prize was £1,000,000.

The series was considered a failure in the ratings and only ran for two series before being axed. Many in Britain believed it was a knock-off of American excesses, and turned away. However the series, particularly the first, was watched by more viewers than other reality series at the time, including Big Brother.[1]

Contents

Format

A group of contestants (sixteen in the first series; twelve in the second series) were marooned on a desert island and split into two tribes. For the first 20 days, the two tribes competed against each other in reward challenges and immunity challenges. The tribe that won the reward challenge received a special treat that made their life on the island more comfortable. The tribe that won the immunity challenge was completely safe from any eliminations for three days.

Meanwhile, the tribe that lost the immunity challenge were forced to vote one of their own number off the island. Contestants were free to discuss and scheme about who they wished to vote off, and many alliances were made and broken as the series went on.

After 20 days, the remaining members of the two tribes merged, and the game changed completely. Reward and immunity challenges were competed for on an individual basis, with the remaining contestants battling to prevent themselves from being voted off. After tribal merger, every contestant who was voted off joined a jury that decided who won the £1 million prize. They were given the choice from the final two contestants.

Series One (2001)

Survivor (Series 1)
Genre Reality television
Winner Charlotte Hobrough (7-0)
No. of episodes 14
No. of days 40
No. of survivors 16
Tribes      Helang
     Ular
     Sekutu
Production
Location(s) Pulau Tiga, Malaysia
Broadcast
Original run 21 May 200125 July 2001
Chronology
Followed by Survivor (Series 2)

The first series was filmed on the island of Pulau Tiga, Malaysia in the South China Sea, which was also the site of the first American Survivor series. It was broadcast weekly from May 21, 2001 to July 25, 2001. The initial tribes were Helang (Eagle) and Ular (Snake).

Contestant Original Tribe Merged Tribe Finish Total Votes
Nick Carter
38, Drugs Company Manager
Ular
1st Voted Out
Day 4
5
Jennifer "J.J." Adams
37, Personal Assistant
Helang
2nd Voted Out
Day 7
4
Uzma Bashir
30, Nursery Owner
Helang
3rd Voted Out
Day 10
8
Sarah Odell
33, Model
Ular
4th Voted Out
Day 13
5
Jayne Meyler
47, Massage Therapist
Helang
5th Voted Out
Day 16
7
Adrian Bauckham
22, Barrister's Clerk
Helang
6th Voted Out
Day 19
4
Simon Dunkley
35, Financial Sales Manager
Helang
Sekutu
7th Voted Out
Day 22
6
Andy Fairfield
41, Long-haul Airlines Pilot
Helang
8th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 25
6
James Stroud
40, Property Developer
Helang
9th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 28
9
Peter "Pete" Farrar
30, Model and Actor
Ular
10th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 31
5
Zoe Lyons
29, Bartender and Actress
Ular
11th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 34
8
Eve Holding
30, Project manager
Ular
12th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 37
6
Mick Easton
55, Retired Policeman
Ular
13th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 38
4
Richard Owen
33, Clinical Psychologist
Ular
14th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 39
5
Jackie Carey
31, Airline Industry Purchaser
Ular
Runner Up
7
Charlotte Hobrough
24, Policewoman
Helang
Sole Survivor
4

The Game

Episodes Challenges[2] Eliminated Votes Finish
Reward Immunity
1 Helang12 Nick 5-3 1st Voted Out
Day 4
2 None Ular J.J. 4-4 2nd Voted Out
Day 7
3 Ular Ular Uzma 4-2-1 3rd Voted Out
Day 10
4 Ular Helang Sarah 5-2 4th Voted Out
Day 13
5 Helang Ular Jayne 5-1 5th Voted Out
Day 16
6 Ular Ular Adrian 3-2 6th Voted Out
Day 19
7 None Andy Simon 6-2-1-1 7th Voted Out
Day 22
8 James
[Andy]
Pete Andy 6-2-1 8th Voted Out
Day 25
9 Survivor
Auction
Richard James 6-1-1 9th Voted Out
Day 28
10 Pete Richard Pete 5-1-1 10th Voted Out
Day 31
11 Richard
[Charlotte]
Eve Zoe 3-3 11th Voted Out
Day 34
12 Eve Richard Eve 4-1 12th Voted Out
Day 37
Finale None Richard Mick 3-1 13th Voted Out
Day 38
Charlotte Richard 2-1 14th Voted Out
Day 39
Reunion Jury Vote Jackie 7-0 Runner Up
Charlotte Sole Survivor

^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 Ular appeared to have won the challenge but because they missed a torch to light it, they were disqualified and Helang won reward and immunity.

The series was perceived as being not very popular with UK viewers.[3][4] Despite initial media hype which surrounded the show, the debut episode opened with 6.6 million viewers, which was considered as a disappointment for ITV.[5] Ratings for the show then began to hang around the 5 million mark, which was half of the audience that the network had expected.[6]

The show initially aired four times a week on ITV. On Monday and Wednesday, highlights from the camp were shown, presented by Mark Austin who also spent 40 days on the island with the contestants. On Tuesday and Thursday, an interview was conducted with the latest contestant to be voted off the island, presented by John Leslie.

However, ITV later decided to air fewer episodes per week to give the show a greater opportunity to "grow",[7] but this failed to have an effect on viewing figures.[8] Nevertheless, the final show managed to attract 7.7 million viewers, peaking at 9 million.[9]

The show was won by Charlotte Hobrough. She was a member of Helang tribe, who were outnumbered by Ular tribe members at tribal merger. However, after successfully voting out everybody but her, the Ular tribe members began to vote against each other, allowing Charlotte to make it through to the final two, along with Jackie Carey. Hobrough won by a 7-0 vote. There was controversy when viewers were invited to phone in to cast their preference; this was via a premium rate phone call. Despite being told many times by the host that the phone vote would not be counted in the final tally, several viewers felt cheated. This was rectified for the second series, where the phone vote did count.

Voting history

Original Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Finale
Eliminated
Nick
5/8 votes
J.J.
4/8 votes
Uzma
4/7 votes
Sarah
5/7 votes
Jayne
5/6 votes
Adrian
3/5 votes
Simon
6/10 votes
Andy
6/9 votes
James
6/8 votes
Pete
5/7 votes
Zoe
3/6 votes4
Eve
4/5 votes
Mick
3/4 votes
Richard
2/3 votes
Jackie
0/7 votes
Charlotte
7/7 votes
Voter Vote
Charlotte
J.J.
Jayne
Jayne
James
Eve
Richard
Zoe
Eve
Zoe
Eve
Mick
Richard
Jury Vote
Jackie
Nick
Sarah
Simon
Andy
James
Pete
Zoe
Eve
Mick
Richard
Richard
Nick
Sarah
Simon
Andy
James
Pete
Zoe
Eve
Mick
Jackie
Charlotte
Mick
Jackie
Sarah
Simon
Andy
James
Pete
Charlotte
Eve
Jackie
Charlotte
Eve
Nick
Zoe
Simon
Andy
James
Pete
Charlotte
Jackie
Charlotte
Zoe
Nick
Sarah
Simon
Andy
James
Pete
Charlotte
Charlotte
Pete
Jackie
Sarah
Simon
Andy
James
Charlotte
Charlotte
James
J.J.
Uzma
Jayne
Adrian
Zoe
Richard
Mick
Charlotte
Andy
Uzma
Uzma
Jayne
Adrian
Zoe
Jackie
Charlotte
Simon
Uzma
Uzma
Jayne
Adrian
Richard
Adrian
J.J.
Jayne
Jayne
James
Jayne
Uzma
Uzma
Adrian
Sarah
Nick
Zoe
Uzma
J.J.
James
J.J.
Uzma
Nick
Jackie

^Note 3 : Simon first voted for Uzma, causing a tie; however, in a revote, Simon changed his vote and voted for J.J., sending her home.
^Note 4 : Charlotte and Zoe were tied 3-3 at Tribal Council and in a Tribal Council countback Charlotte had 1 previous vote, but Zoe had 5, and she was eliminated.

Elimination Notes

Series Two (2002)

Survivor (Series 2)
Genre Reality television
Winner Johnny Gibb (6-0)
No. of episodes 11
No. of days 37
No. of survivors 12
Tribes      North Island
     South Island
     Columbus
Production
Location(s) Bocas del Toro, Panama
Broadcast
Original run 13 March 200229 May 2002
Chronology
Preceded by Survivor (Series 1)

Despite the lack of success of the first series, ITV decided to bring back Survivor with some major changes. The second series, known as Survivor: Panama, was filmed on two islands in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama. It was broadcast from March 13, 2002 to May 29, 2002. The initial tribes were South Island (with a turtle as their mascot) and North Island (with a frog as their mascot).

Contestant Original Tribe Merged Tribe Finish Total Votes
Sarah McCombie
22, Financial Trader
South Island
1st Voted Out
Day 4
5
Lee Capon
25, Car Sales Manager
South Island
2nd Voted Out
Day 8
4
Tayfun Kadioglu
27, Professional Latin-American Dancer
North Island
3rd Voted Out
Day 12
5
Meeta Bose
34, Financial Manager
North Island
4th Voted Out
Day 16
5
Helen Carney
22, Hotel Worker
North Island
Columbus
5th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 20
5
Alastair Brogan
34, Oil Company Director
North Island
6th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 24
4
Drew Agger
27, Firefighter
North Island
7th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 28
4
Dave Porter
55, Retired Firefighter
North Island
8th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 32
4
Bridget Griffiths
43, Shepherdess
South Island
9th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 34
9
John Dalzell
32, Former Marine/Law Worker
South Island
10th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 36
2
Susannah Moffatt
27, Teacher
South Island
Runner-Up
6
Jonny Gibb
30, Police Detective
South Island
Sole Survivor
0

Note: Columbus did not have an official tribe color, they simply had a flag resembling the flag of Panama with the frog and turtle replacing the red and blue stars. Purple is used here because it is a combination of the 2 tribe colors.

The Game

Episode Challenges[2] Eliminated Vote Finish
Reward Immunity
1 North Island Sarah 5-1 1st Voted Out
Day 4
2 North
Island
North
Island
Lee 4-1 2nd Voted Out
Day 8
3 South
Island
South
Island
Tayfun 5-1 3rd Voted Out
Day 12
4 South
Island
South
Island
Meeta 4-1 4th Voted Out
Day 16
5 None Jonny Helen 4-4 5th Voted Out
Day 20
6 Drew Jonny Alastair 4-3 6th Voted Out
Day 24
7 Bridget,
Dave, John
Jonny Drew 4-2 7th Voted Out
Day 28
8 John John Dave 4-1 8th Voted Out
Day 32
9 None John Bridget 3-1 9th Voted Out
Day 34
Finals Susannah Susannah John 1-0 10th Voted Out
Day 36
Reunion Jury Votes Susannah 6-0 Runner Up
Jonny Sole Survivor

Voting history

Original Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode #: 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 Finale
Eliminated: Sarah
5/6 votes
Lee
4/5 votes
Tayfun
5/6 votes
Meeta
4/5 votes
Helen
4/8 votes
Alastair
4/7 votes
Drew
4/6 votes
Dave
4/5 votes
Bridget
3/4 votes
John
1 vote
Susannah
0/6 votes
Jonny
6/6 votes
Voter Vote
Jonny Sarah Lee Helen Alastair Drew Dave Bridget Jury Vote
Susannah Sarah Lee Helen Alastair Drew Dave Bridget John
John Sarah Lee Helen Alastair Drew Dave Bridget Jonny
Bridget Sarah Lee Helen Alastair Drew Dave Susannah Jonny
Dave Tayfun Meeta Bridget Susannah Susannah Bridget Jonny
Drew Tayfun Meeta Bridget Susannah Susannah Jonny
Alastair Tayfun Meeta Bridget Susannah Jonny
Helen Tayfun Meeta Bridget Jonny
Meeta Tayfun Helen
Tayfun Meeta
Lee Sarah Bridget
Sarah John

Elimination Notes

Facts

There were several changes in the traditional format. The number of contestants was dropped to twelve, to allow viewers to get to know the cast better. Presenters Mark Austin and John Leslie were dropped in favour of Channel 4 cricket presenter Mark Nicholas. In the fifth episode, the remaining players were merged and then told there would be no immunity this episode. At the Tribal Council they were then told nobody was being voted off that episode and that a vote by the television audience would act as a seventh jury member in the final vote. Other additions included tree mail. Contestants were given a cryptic clue about what the day's challenge would hold for them by producers.

Viewers were also promised that any major action - such as the sex that was edited out of a first series episode - would definitely be shown this year. There was extra footage available to digital viewers. An extra show, Survivor: Raw was shown on ITV2 after the main show had aired. This was presented by last year's winner, Charlotte Hobrough, and Ed Hall. It included extra footage not shown on the main show, discussions, interviews with evictees, phone-ins and emails.

The show was more predictable the second time around, as the contestants decided to stay loyal to each other after tribal merger. The former South Island members successfully voted off all of the remaining North Island members after merger.

The Grand Prize winner, Jonny Gibb, won by a 7-0 vote against Susannah Moffatt. The audience vote was 89% in his favor.

Surprisingly both winners were from the police force. Charlotte being a Dectective Constable and Jonny a Police Detective.

Despite the changes, Survivor still received low viewing figures for its second series, and ITV decided not to bring it back for a third series. This is in stark contrast to the US version which has enjoyed consistent success and popularity.

ITV finally found a successful reality TV show with I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, with many similarities to Survivor, and which received massive ratings in August 2002. The show's similarity in content to Survivor led many viewers (both in the UK and US) to believe that the shows had some licensing agreement, however this was not the case. Legal action was sought by CBS to prevent broadcast in the US however the court ruled against, stating that "Celebrity is different enough from Survivor that CBS would have difficulty prevailing in its underlying copyright infringement suit."[10]

1st series contestant Zoe Lyons, has since become a successful comedienne and has appeared on several BBC radio shows including Clive Anderson's Chat Room (BBC Radio 2), PMQ with Andy Parsons (BBC Radio 4), 4 Stands Up (BBC Radio 4) and The Jon Richardson Show (BBC 6 Music). She has also appeared on the BBC panel show Mock The Week twice.

Notes

  1. ^ "Survivor proves a TV dinosaur". BBC. 25 July 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1457378.stm. 
  2. ^ a b Bindley, David (March 20, 2010). "Survivor: The Complete Challenge Guide (1st ed.)". http://snideasides.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/survivorcompletechallengeguidev1.pdf. Retrieved December 16, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Flop Survivor lives again". The Sun. 19 October 2001. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article142010.ece. Retrieved 2008-02-24. 
  4. ^ "BBC top ITV ratings for first time". Daily Mirror. 2 February 2002. http://www.mirror.co.uk/archive/2002/01/02/bbc-top-itv-ratings-for-first-time-89520-11509022/. Retrieved 2008-02-24. 
  5. ^ "Survivor makes disappointing debut". Digital Spy. 22 May 2001. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a2932/survivor-makes-disappointing-debut.html. Retrieved 2008-02-24. 
  6. ^ "Survivor to be cut back?". Digital Spy. 6 June 2001. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a3024/survivor-to-be-cut-back.html. Retrieved 2008-02-24. 
  7. ^ "ITV confirms Survivor shift". Digital Spy. 6 June 2001. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a3032/itv-confirms-survivor-shift.html. Retrieved 2001-06-07. 
  8. ^ "Survivor fails to gather pace". Digital Spy. 6 June 2001. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a3199/survivor-fails-to-gather-pace.html. Retrieved 2001-06-29. 
  9. ^ "Survivor final draws 8m". Digital Spy. 26 July 2001. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a3451/survivor-final-draws-8m.html. Retrieved 2001-06-29. 
  10. ^ "CBS loses lawsuit; ABC's "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" to air in February". Reality TV World. 14 January 2003. http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/cbs-loses-lawsuit;--abc-im-celebrity-get-me-out-of-here!-air-in-february-872.php. Retrieved 2009-05-04. 

External links