Survivor (UK TV series)

Survivor
Genre Reality competition
Created by Charlie Parsons
Presented by
Theme music composer Russ Landau
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 24
Production
Executive producer(s) Nigel Lythgoe
Running time 60 minutes (inc. adverts) (main show)
Production company(s) Planet 24
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
Original release 21 May 2001 (2001-05-21) – 29 May 2002 (2002-05-29)
Chronology
Related shows International versions

Survivor is the British reality game show based on the popular international reality franchise of the same name. The series aired for 2 series on ITV network from 2001 to 2002. When first launched in May 2001, it received huge promotion and hype from the network and tabloid newspapers.

As in all versions of the show, it features group of strangers who are marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants will compete in challenges to earn either a reward, or immunity from elimination. The contestants will be progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted-off by their fellow contestants until only one remains and is given the title "Ultimate Survivor" and is awarded the grand prize of £1 million.

While it was considered a failure in the ratings by ITV, the programme was watched by more viewers than other reality shows at the time, including Big Brother.[1]

Format

The show follows the same general format as the other editions of the show. The players are split between two "tribes", are taken to a remote island and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for an extended period of time. Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the teams against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for "immunity", forcing the other tribe to attend "Tribal Council", where they must vote off one of their players.

Once about half the players are remaining, the remaining players are merged into a single tribe, and competitions are on an individual basis; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out. Most players that are voted out at this stage form the "Tribal Council Jury". Once down to two people, a final Tribal Council is held where the remaining players plead their case to the Jury as to why they should win the game. The jury then votes for which player should be considered the "Ultimate Survivor" and be awarded the grand prize of £1,000,000.

Series

List of Survivor (UK) series
No. Series Series
premiere		 Series
finale		 Location Days Initial
Tribes		 Winner Runner-up Final
vote
1 Survivor:
Pulau Tiga		 21 May,
2001		 25 July,
2001		 Pulau Tiga, Sabah,
Malaysia		 40 Two tribes of eight Charlotte
Hoborough		 Jackie
Carey		 7-0
2 Survivor:
Panama		 13 March,
2002		 25 May,
2002		 Bocas del Toro,
Panama		 37 Two tribes of six Jonny
Gibb		 Susannah
Moffatt		 7-0

Controversy

I'm a Celebrity ... lawsuit

While Survivor did not succeed for ITV, the network did find success 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."[2]

Potential Revival

Following the Banijay Group's auqisition of Castaway Productions (the owners of the Survivor format), they are looking to revive Survivor in the UK. Banijay Group’s CEO Peter Langenberg spoke to Broadcast Now about the potential return in the UK, stating that RDF, the largest UK production company within Banijay, is attempting to rekindle interest in the format amongst broadcasters. “Having hands on the format means we can polish it and come up with Survivor 2.0, because it needs a refresh,” Langenberg said.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Survivor proves a TV dinosaur". BBC. 25 July 2001.
  2. ↑ "CBS loses lawsuit; ABC's "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" to air in February". Reality TV World. 14 January 2003. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  3. ↑ "Banijay Acquire Castaway Productions, Could Survivor UK Return?". 20 July 2017.
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