Location(s) Moturakau and Rapota, Cook Islands, South Pacific Original release 21 January – 10 June 2007 Preceded by Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands 2006 Followed by Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands 2008 | ||
Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands is a UK reality television series on Channel 4. The fifth series of Shipwrecked was aired in 2007 and used the "Battle of the Islands" format, which was first seen in the previous year.
Contents
The game
The basic premise of Shipwrecked works in a Survivor style situation in which a group of strangers are placed in the Cook Islands. However instead of voting off members of their island they must persuade new arrivals to the game to join their island in an attempt to outnumber their rivals and win a share of £70,000. There are two competing tribes, the Sharks and Tigers which start out with five castaways on each island, and at the end of each weekly beach party in which all the castaways meet a new person joins and spends three days with each island before making their decision and choosing which tribe to join making each episode a seven-day cycle.
There are also numerous ways to make your tribe bigger without initially winning new arrivals. If a member of a tribe wishes to defect to the rival team they must announce at the beach party then state a case to the island he/she wishes to join. Unless there is a unanimous decision the person requesting to move must remain on their island for another week.
Punishments are harsh and severe in Shipwrecked, such as a permanent banishment to the rival island and being told to stay on your respective island during the beach party which could mean a big loss for that particular island wishing to obtain the new arrival. If a team is larger in number the producers may decide to shipwreck two castaways who must join the same team in order for the tribe with the lower number to stand a chance in the final week.
The 2007 series is notable for having three new twists into the competition, starting with a men vs. women divide, then in the final weeks a No Man's Land in which two new arrivals lived on that island for six days and two previous castaways from Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands joined the current islanders to decide the winners of the competition. The two previous castaways agreed to join the Tigers in a joint decision, meaning Tiger Island won overall with 15 tribe members to the Sharks' 14.
Island nominations
The following is a list of which wreckee asked to move, and the opposing tribe's response;
Week 3: Lucy to join Sharks - Accepted
Week 6: Lucy to re-join Tigers - Accepted
Week 8: Amy to join the Sharks - Accepted
Week 10: Sophia and Allen to join the Sharks - Sophia is Accepted, whilst Allen is Denied.
Week 12: Will to re-join Sharks as part of his punishment - Accepted
Week 13: Jane to join the Tigers - Accepted
N.B. Lucy has used both nominations and cannot move back to Sharks.
N.B. Week 10 was the first time that two people from the same tribe requested to move islands; the Sharks could only choose one person to join them.
Punishments
The following is a list of people who have broken rules and the subsequent punishments given to those involved.
Week 1: Lucy and Lianne by sneaking onto Shark Island to leave an assortment of thongs for the boys.
Punishment: Lucy and Lianne were banished from the following week's beach party.
Week 7: Lucy and Terri by sneaking onto Shark Island to steal a flipper.
Punishment: Because there was a rule break and the Tigers failed to admit who went over, the Sharks were granted the chance to have one Tiger as a hostage for a week. They chose Terri.
Week 9: Stevie and Will Colin swam to Tiger Island to ask Ben, Fiona and Terri to join the Sharks for a single night to celebrate Stevie's 21st birthday. All but Fiona accepted the invitation.
Punishment: Will Colin and Terri moved to the opposing island for three weeks.
Tribes
As the tribes entered their final week on the islands, the Sharks led 14 castaways to the Tigers' 13. Two former castaways (John and Charlie) from the 2006 series joined the current castaways to choose their favourite island and hence decide the winners of Shipwrecked 2007. They both decided that the Tigers be crowned winners of the competition. Although Amy, Terri and Sophia nominated over to the Sharks it was concluded that the Tigers had won more new arrivals, 11 in total, compared to 8 for the Sharks.
Ben Lunt was revealed as the winner of the "Shipwrecker Of The Year" award during the T4 studio reunion show on 10 June. The other finalists included: Paul Harris, James Green, Lianne Dauban, Jane Barrie and Lucy Buchanan.
^Note 1 : Lucy can no longer move tribes.
^Note 2 : Terri was temporarily a member of Sharks for rule breaking in Week 7. She again went to Sharks for rule breaking a second time in Week 9.
^Note 3 : Will was temporarily a member of the Tigers for rule breaking in Week 9.
^Note 4 : Jane was a prize in the pontoon race in Week 12.
^Note 5 : John Melvin and Charlie Freeman were previous castaways from Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands 2006.
Controversy
To date, three contestants have been in the National Press for acts of racism, theft and accusing of putting castaways into a bad light on purpose for the sake of ratings.
On the Season Premiere, contestant Lucy Buchanan got bad press when she stated that she backs slavery, claiming black people are "really bad" and saying she was open to many cultures but should not bring them to Britain. Ofcom received 196 complaints. The press also called for Bristol University to consider axing her from the course she had enrolled in. This came just after Celebrity Big Brother contestants Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd were accused of racism towards Bollywood Star Shilpa Shetty.
Shark Island contestant Lorenzo Preecha defended Lucy from claims that she was a racist saying she was "a pawn in their game" and "she is being used by the producers". Days later, it was revealed that Lorenzo decided to quit the contest after three weeks, but he actually left on Day 70.
Week 12 contestant Louis Rennocks was charged with theft of alcohol from a local Sainsbury's and may be fined his winnings if the tribe he joins (the Tigers) wins. He was later arrested at Heathrow Airport on 26 January 2007.