6.2 /10 1 Votes
Genre Reality competition Country of origin Australia No. of seasons 3 First episode date 13 February 2002 | 6.3/10 IMDb Created by Charlie Parsons Original language(s) English No. of episodes 51 (and 2 specials) Number of seasons 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Presented by Ian Dickson, Jonathan LaPaglia Networks Network Ten, Nine Network, Seven Network Nominations Logie Award for Most Popular Reality Program Cast Jonathan LaPaglia, Rob Dickson, Ian Dickson, Sciona Browne Similar Survivor, The Bachelor, I'm a CelebrityGet Me Out of, Celebrity Survivor, Family Feud Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Survivor (also known as Australian Celebrity Survivor during season two) is an Australian reality game show based on the popular international Survivor format.
Contents
Following the basic premise of other international versions of the format, it features a group of contestants who are marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants until only one remains and is awarded the title of "Sole Australian Survivor" and the grand prize of A$500,000.
The series first aired in 2002 on the Nine Network, who hold the Australian broadcast rights to the American edition. In 2006, a celebrity edition aired on the Seven Network. Both incarnations of the series only lasted one season due to low ratings.
In November 2015, the Network Ten, at its network upfronts, announced that it would be reviving the series in 2016. The series commenced airing on August 21, 2016. Unlike its predecessors, the series was successful, enough so for Australian Survivor to be renewed by Network Ten for another season to air in 2017.
Format
The show follows the same general format as the other editions of the show. The players are split into two or three "tribes", 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 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 one of their players out of the game.
Once about half the players are remaining, the tribes 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 during this stage become members of the "Tribal Council Jury". Once only two people remain, the "Final Tribal Council" is held where the remaining players plead their case to the members of the Jury as to why they should win the game. The jury then votes for which finalist should be awarded the title of "Sole Australian Survivor" and be awarded the grand prize of A$500,000 (or a A$100,000 charity prize in the celebrity season).
Like other editions of the show, the Australian edition has introduced numerous modifications, or "twists", on the core rules in order to keep the players on their toes and to prevent players from relying on strategies that succeeded in prior seasons or other editions of the show. These changes have included tribal switches, seasons starting with more than two tribes, players being exiled from their tribe for a short time, hidden immunity idols that players can use to save themselves at Tribal Council from being voted off, special voting powers which can be used to influence the result at Tribal Council and players being given a chance to return following their elimination.
History
The first Australian version of the Survivor format was filmed in 2001, and aired in 2002 on the Nine Network. The program was a contractual obligation if the network were to be allowed to continue to broadcast American Survivor. The program was criticised by fans and critics for poor casting and lower production value to the popular American edition and it was not renewed due to low ratings. The Nine Network continued to broadcast the American edition of the program ever since. Since 2013, recent seasons air on Nine's secondary channel; 9GO! within hours of the original American airing.
In 2006, the Seven Network found a loophole in the contract between the Nine Network and Castaway Television, which allowed them to produce a celebrity version of the series, due to a celebrity format being viewed as different from the original format. The Seven Network did not renew the series.
In November 2015, Network Ten revealed at its upfronts event that it would air a new season featuring regular contestants to air in the last quarter of 2016. This new season gives Australian Survivor the distinction of being one of the few Australian programs to have aired across all three major commercial networks in Australia.