| Survivor | |
|---|---|
 logo of series | |
| Genre | Reality competition |
| Created by | Charlie Parsons |
| Based on | Expedition Robinson/Survivor byCharlie Parsons |
| Presented by | |
| Starring | John Leslie |
| Theme music composer | Russ Landau (2001–2002) Jeremy Birchall (2023) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 42 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Nigel Lythgoe (2001–2002)
|
| Running time | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
| Production companies | Planet 24 (2001–2002) Remarkable Entertainment (2023) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 21 May 2001 (2001-05-21) – 29 May 2002 (2002-05-29) |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 28 October (2023-10-28) – 16 December 2023 (2023-12-16) |
| Related | |
| International versions | |
Survivor (also known asSurvivor UK outside of the UK) is a Britishadventurereality game show based on the internationalSurvivor format. Following the premise of other versions of theSurvivor format, the show features a group of contestants, referred to as "castaways" as they are marooned in an isolated location. The castaways must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in various challenges for rewards andimmunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted off the island by their fellow castaways. The final castaway remaining is awarded the title of "Sole Survivor" and a large monetary prize.
The series aired for two editions on theITV network in 2001 and 2002, but the series was considered a ratings failure despite the programme having a higher viewership than other reality series at the time, includingBig Brother. ITV cancelledSurvivor after two seasons because it had failed to garner a loyal viewership. The network admitted fault for not supporting the series enough in its launch phase, highlighting the key issue with their approach to the scheduling of the series.
In September 2022, a revival of the series was announced by theBBC, and premiered on 28 October 2023 onBBC One andBBC iPlayer.[1]
The show follows the same general format as the other editions ofSurvivor. To begin, the players are split into two tribes and are taken to a remote, isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meagre supplies for a period of several weeks. Frequent physical and mentalchallenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or forimmunity, forcing the other tribe to attendTribal Council, where they must vote one of their tribemates out of the game bysecret ballot.
About halfway through the game, the tribes aremerged into a single tribe, and challenges are on an individual basis; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out. Most players that are voted out during this stage become members of the Tribal Council Jury. When only two (ITV iteration) or three (BBC iteration) players remain, theFinal Tribal Council is held. The finalists plead their case to the Jury as to why they should win the game. The jurors then have the opportunity to interrogate the finalists before casting their vote for which finalist should be considered the "Sole Survivor" and be awarded the grand prize. The prize on the 2001–2002 ITV iteration was £1,000,000[2] and is £100,000 on the 2023 BBC iteration.[3]
Like other editions of the show, the British edition has introduced numerous modifications or twists on the core rules to prevent players from over-relying on strategies that succeeded in prior seasons or other editions of the show. Most notably, the Hidden Immunity Idols (small trinkets hidden on the island) were introduced part way through the third season. Players can use these hidden idols to save themselves or another player at the Tribal Council from being voted off. Also introduced was The Outpost, which exiles players for a predetermined amount of time while offering dilemmas and decisions that may help or hinder their game.
The first series,Survivor: Pulau Tiga, premiered onITV on 21 May 2001.[2] Billboards were shown across the UK displaying the slogan "You Don't Win, You Survive". The billboards created confusion amongst viewers as it misled them into thinking people would die throughout the game. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe complained to theHeat magazine about the decision. He said: "The tagline when I left for Borneo was 'Trust No One', which is great. When I got back it was, 'You Don't Win, You Survive'. Well, you did win – you won a million pounds! And of course you survive, because we're not going to let you die."[4] DespiteSurvivor receiving initial media coverage, the debut episode opened with 6.6 million viewers, which was seen as a disappointment for ITV.[5] Despite the figures, an ITV spokesperson said: "We couldn't have hoped for anything better. We never expected 10m on the first night although we hope it will build to this. You have got to remember that we introduced 16 strangers and a complicated gameshow to the audience and we are confident it will grow. It's already a massive talking point, making the front pages."[5] Ratings for the series then dropped to an average of 5 million, which was half of the audience that the network had expected.[6] In response, ITV made the decision to transmit fewer episodes per week to allow the anticipation for the series to grow.[7] However, their change failed to have an impact on viewing figures.[8] Nevertheless, the finale of the first series received 7.7 million viewers, peaking at 9 million.[9]
Despite being low in ratings by ITV's expectations,Survivor was the most watched reality television series in the UK at its time of airing, such asBig Brother.[10] After the first series had concluded, Julia Lamaison, ITV's Head of Strategy, admitted that the network were too hopeful with their expectations for the series. They had hoped for a series average of 12 million viewers, accrediting their hopefulness to the success of the series in America. Lamaison also admitted that ITV had not supportedSurvivor enough in the first series, particularly with the time slot and the scheduling.[11] Despite the low ratings for the first series, ITV aired the second series,Survivor: Panama, a year after the first.Survivor faced an overhaul, the changes of which included fewer contestants, audience participation and replacing presentersMark Austin andJohn Leslie with one sole presenter,Mark Nicholas.[12] It was aired every Wednesday at 9:45 pm and episodes were repeated on Fridays at 8:30 pm. The second series was also accompanied bySurvivor: The Last Word, a televised interview with evictees, as well as a supporting series,Survivor: Raw, broadcast on sister channelITV2.[13] AfterSurvivor's viewership failed to increase, ITV cancelled it after two series.[4]
AfterSurvivor was axed by ITV, the network began broadcastingI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, the format of which had many similarities toSurvivor,[14][15] and which received better ratings in August 2002.[16] The show's similarity in content toSurvivor led many viewers to believe that the shows had some licensing agreement, however this was not the case. The production company behind Survivor attempted to take legal action, but this was later dropped.[17][18] Legal action was also sought byCBS to prevent broadcast of a planned American version in the US, however the court ruled against,[19] stating that "Celebrity is different enough from Survivor that CBS would have difficulty prevailing in its underlying copyright infringement suit."[20]
Following theBanijay Group's acquisition of Castaway Productions, who own theSurvivor format, it was said in 2017 that the company were looking to reviveSurvivor in the UK. Banijay's CEO Peter Langenberg spoke toBroadcast about the potential return, stating thatRDF, the largest British production company within Banijay, is attempting to rekindle interest in the format amongst broadcasters. He explained: "Having hands on the format means we can polish it and come up withSurvivor 2.0, because it needs a refresh".[21]
Reports began circulating again in 2022 that the series would be revived, this time withBBC One said to be the potential new home of the series.Broadcast reported that the revival deal forSurvivor is "on the brink", and that if the deal is finalised, the third series of the programme will be filmed in 2023 with thirteen episodes.[22]Digital Spy's Daniel Kilkelly put forward his hopes for a revival of the programme. He felt that the key reasons for the series' initial failure lay with having a pre-recorded format which meant that viewers had no say into the events of the series. However, Kilkelly opined that the success ofThe Apprentice andThe Great British Bake Off, both of which use pre-recorded formats, suggested that the British audience would now be ready to support aSurvivor format.[4] In September 2022, it was confirmed that Remarkable Entertainment (a subsidiary of Banijay) would produce a new series and would air onBBC One in 2023 consisting of 16 episodes.[23] Contestant applications opened on 24 November. With the announcement of the application process, the prize of £100,000 was revealed.[3][24] On 17 February 2023,Joel Dommett was confirmed as host of the revival.[25]
In August 2024, it was first reported thatSurvivor would be axed after just one series due to poor ratings[26][27] but this was not confirmed until a year later.[28]
| No. | Title | Game Information | Results | Host | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Start date | Finish date | Days | Castaways | Original tribes | Winner | Runner(s) up | Final vote | |||
| ITV iteration (2001–2002) | |||||||||||
| 1 | Survivor: Pulau Tiga | Pulau Tiga,Sabah,Malaysia | 21 May 2001 (2001-05-21) | 25 July 2001 (2001-07-25) | 40 | 16 | Two tribes of eight players | Charlotte Hobrough | Jackie Carey | 7–0 | Mark Austin[a] |
| 2 | Survivor: Panama | Bocas del Toro,Panama | 13 March 2002 (2002-03-13) | 29 May 2002 (2002-05-29) | 37 | 12 | Two tribes of six players | Jonny Gibb | Susannah Moffat | 7–0[b] | Mark Nicholas |
| BBC iteration (2023) | |||||||||||
| 3 | - | Playa Caleton,Dominican Republic[3] | 28 October 2023 (2023-10-28) | 16 December 2023 (2023-12-16) | 34 | 18 | Two tribes of nine players | Matthew Haywood | Christopher Haul & Leilani Sen | 6–1–1 | Joel Dommett |
| Continent | Locations | Season number(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia |  Malaysia | Pulau Tiga,Sabah | 1 |
| Central America |  Panama | Bocas del Toro | 2 |
| North America |  Dominican Republic | Playa Caleton | 3 |
The series airs on the following channels outside of the UK:
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