Castaway 2000

Castaway 2000
Genre	Reality
Developed by	Lion Television
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Running time	60 mins
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	18 January 2000 – 1 January 2001

Castaway 2000 was a reality TV programme broadcast on BBC One throughout the year 2000. The programme followed a group of thirty-six men, women, and children who were tasked with building a community on a remote Scottish island.

Described as a pioneering early form of the new genre of reality TV, while a ratings success it nonetheless featured a number of issues during filming, leading to bad publicity and even a legal dispute. It launched the television career of participant Ben Fogle, but according to the Radio Times, the show is probably "remembered for little else."

Seven years later the BBC resurrected the show for Castaway 2007. In 2016 Channel 4 began airing a similar show, Eden, which drew many comparisons to and lessons from Castaway.

The show followed a year-long effort by thirty-six men, women and children from the British public to build a community on Taransay, a remote Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides.

Billed as a bold experiment for the new millennium, the castaways were to build a sustainable self-sufficient community from scratch (apart from some buildings which were already there, and some which had been placed there for them). They were to grow their own vegetables, kill their own animals and become a community for the year.

The series differed from some reality shows in several essentials. First, there was no supporting crew. The castaways filmed themselves. Second, there is no competition. Castaway 2000 had no prize on offer at the end of the year-long experience, in comparison with Channel 4’s Big Brother, which came along later in the year. The goal was to build a community rather than select a "winner". In this it is as much a documentary of a yearlong experiment in community building as it is a reality television show.

The series producer was Chris Kelly for Lion Television, Executive Produced by Jeremy Mills for Lion and Colin Cameron for BBC Scotland.

Tanya Cheadle, a 26-year old television producer, did much of the filming for the show - it was believed that having too many camera operators would undermine any sense of isolation. Smaller cameras were later provided to castaways, and a fixed camera was installed in a "diary room". Every two weeks, producers would visit to collect the footage. At the end of the year some episodes were transmitted live and the castaways were joined by presenter Julia Bradbury.

...
Wikipedia