Australian Survivor

Australian Survivor was a television series based on the popular reality show Survivor. The series was filmed in November and December 2001 and aired weekly from February 13 - May 15, 2002 on Australia's Nine Network. It was set at Whaler's Way, an Eyre Peninsula coastal nature reserve in Port Lincoln, South Australia in the Great Australian Bight, where numerous ships had sunk off the coast in the past. This set up the nautical theme of the series. The show's host was Lincoln Howes, a current affairs producer with the Australian version of 60 Minutes. The grand prize of $500,000 Australian dollars was won by Robert Dickson in a 5-2 vote by the jury. The runner-up was Sciona Browne. The two initial tribes were named after shipwrecks and they were: Kadina (lime green buffs) and Tipara (blue buffs) and merged to become Aurora (grey). The merge name was not decided by the contestants - which was a first for the series. The contestants also did not receive new buffs at the merge. While this was the only season of Australian Survivor produced, due to the series' middling ratings. In 2006 the competing Seven Network broadcast a spin-off, Celebrity Survivor, featuring Australian celebrities.

Contestants

Australian Survivor contestants (back row - standing, left to right) David Haas, Jeff Brown, Sylvan Dorney, Jane Dalton, Sophie Woods, Naomi Knight, Lucinda Allen-Rhodes, Joel Betts, Lance Brooks, Deborah Peart, Rob Dickson, Tim Duggan (front row - crouching, left to right) Katie Gold, Caren Shaw, Sciona Brown, Craig Abbott in front of the bus that brought them to Whaler's Way.

Voting history

Show Notes

• The show was broadcast by Channel Nine in the Wednesday 8:30 PM timeslot and was rated PG (Parental Guidance recommended). Australian Survivor was also screened in New Zealand, however, Survivor: Marquesas was also broadcast at the same time much to the annoyance of New Zealand Survivor fans. On the other hand, Survivor Marquesas was not shown in Australia.
• The theme of the show was shipwrecks and the theme song incorporated an Irish jig (in a nod to Australian history - First Fleet arriving etc.). The theme song and show's overall theme music were similar and the extended version of the main theme (the official theme song) was played during the closing credits of the live Finale and Reunion show.
• The tribes (before the merge) alternated on which days they could go search for food. On one day Tipara could go to the coast and fish while Kadina could only go to the windmill and pump water and on the next day, the tribes swapped. It was at the windmill, that Rob was approached by Katie to begin an alliance and where Joel felt betrayed when he was asked to vote off Jeff against the wishes of his fellow Tipara Innocents.
• Tribal Council was held aboard a purposely-built shipwreck.
• Challenges on Australian Survivor included woodchopping down a ship's mast, trying to stay balanced on a wobbly pontoon on a lake, retrieving a chest of chocolates from the sea, carrying heavy items either through the sea (such as a log) or on land, an obstacle course, trying to hold a pole over a fire with one hand, brain teasers, trivia quizzes, a human chess game, lighting fires and races along the beach. Some challenges were divided into parts (such as digging through sand and finding flares) where a contestant was eliminated in each round. Fire making, rolling a large and heavy barrel through a chicane and a giant slingshot constituted as other challenges.
• Original challenge ideas of Australian Survivor included testing Survivors' memory and estimation of measurements after days out in the wild; a horizontal bungee; building a ladder to the top of a mini lighthouse, and involving the use of cars in a challenge (rather than just have a car as a reward). Another original idea included all tribe members, bar one, to each stand on a block of wood. Each block was a wedge that formed a circle. When the host, Lincoln Howes, spun a wheel it would stop on a colour. The remaining tribe member (not on a wedge) would proceed to remove the wedge that corresponded to the colour and the point of it all was for the tribe to remain balancing and still standing no matter how many blocks were removed from under their feet. Kadina lost.
• Rewards included Tribal Immunity in the form of a bell, Individual Immunity in the form of a rope necklace with shark's teeth, ice cream and lollies, a Ford Escape 4WD, crab pots, pizza and fishing gear.
• The behind the scenes show aired a few weeks after the series ended and was titled ' Surviving Survivor '. In this special, details were revealed such as the final four wanting to quit the show due to the sudden and dramatic turn of events in the nature of the game concerning Katie's behaviour (her mental breakdown right before the F4 Tribal Council). The producers threatened to hand the prize money to the last eliminated contestant (Sophie) if the F4 decided to continue to defy them.

Production Notes

The official handbook of Australian Survivor - companion to the Surviving Survivor special aired at the end of the season.

• The casting call for Australian survivors began when the advertising campaign was initiated on the night of the broadcast of the season finale of Survivor: The Australian Outback (U.S.) (circa May 3, 2001 to May 10, 2001).
• A British company own the rights to Survivor (via Charlie Parsons - the creator of the show) and the Nine Network's contract involving the rights to broadcast Survivor stated that Nine must produce their own local version, thus giving birth to Australian Survivor.
• Other locations scouted for Australian Survivor included Uluru (formerly Ayer's Rock) in the Northern Territory and Broome in Western Australia.
• Castaway Television were behind Australian Survivor.
• One of the contestants, Lance Brooks started a charity, Communities For Communities after he left the show. The charity is now one of the most prominent charities in Australia.
• Sponsors included Cadbury chocolates, IBM computers, Jetset travel agencies, Schweppes soft drink (as well as Solo, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sunkist and 7UP), Fa deodorant for men, Lays potato crisps (including all other brands under the name such as Smith's, CC's, Twisties, Doritos and Burger Rings etc), Telstra, Ford Motor Company and Intel Pentium which were used in producing the show's graphics and were part of the computer prize package which Naomi won (see above). These products and businesses were involved in a large campaign involving various product placements in the show.
• The show was produced by Stephen Peters.
• The booted contestants featured on the Today show (an early morning breakfast news show) on the Nine Network on the Thursday immediately after the Wednesday night episode where they were featured being voted off Australian Survivor. These interviews were conducted by Richard Wilkins just before the 8:00 AM news. (This parallels the U.S. where evicted Survivor contestants are interviewed on CBS' The Early Show.)
• The three-hour Finale and Reunion show (as opposed to the hour long weekly episodes) was hosted by Eddie McGuire. Both were held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne in front of a live audience. This event had the Tribal Council shipwreck moved to the auditorium to be used as the set on stage.

Controversy & Criticisms

The Australian Survivor Tribal Council site by day.

• The 'Survivor' title design in the official logo was taken from the UK version. The Middle East series also have used the UK Survivor title design, as well as Celebrity Survivor.
• Other foreign networks own the phrases 'Outwit Outplay Outlast' (U.S.) and 'Trust No One' (UK) therefore Australian Survivor was decided to have no slogan, which sparked criticism over the lack of originality (see above) and flavour to the show (see below).
• The contestants believed the prize money would be equal to that of the American version - $1,000,000 (one million dollars). However some were disappointed by the halving of the money for the Australian edition when it was announced at the beginning of the show.
• Producers were also criticised for giving the contestants too many supplies (see above) and the lack of diversity in the casting of the players.
• Producers came under fire in failing to ensure the first ever challenge would work. A sudden death trivia quiz was the replacement challenge the next day when strong winds blew out the fires that the tribes made to light a fuse that would determine the winner.
• Lucinda became the first person ever in the history of the show to vote for herself. (There is a rule enforced in all other versions of the show around the world that you cannot vote for yourself, which did not exist, or was relaxed, in Australia).
• Nine advertised pre-Australian Survivor that Survivor: Marquesas (U.S. Version) would air after the Australian franchise. Australian fans disappointed in the quality of the local version were outraged when Nine decided not to broadcast Marquesas. Survivor: Thailand was shown instead.
• In the week of the Easter non-ratings period, the show took a break in its schedule, which in turn prompted rumours that Australian Survivor had been axed.
• Although the show started off with satisfying ratings, it eventually declined to dismal ratings. This showed especially when Nine decided to air the special, Surviving Survivor, in a late-night timeslot a fortnight after the conclusion of the series.
• Compared to the American version, Australian Survivor was lacking in its production values, editing, location, casting and alterations to the Survivor format (i.e. the producers decided to "play it safe" and didn't think of too many original ways of how to deviate from the original Survivor format) . Because of this, the show was not renewed for a second season (Nine resumed showing the American versions of Survivor after a lengthy break from the show in its schedule, but skipped season four - Marquesas).

See also

• Survivor U.S.
• Survivor U.K.
• Celebrity Survivor
• Survivor: The Australian Outback
• Treasure Island

External links

Australian Survivor archived website news articles

• B&T media magazine
• B&T media magazine
• Nine Network Australia

Australian Survivor archived news articles

• Australian Television Information Archive
• Inside Film magazine
• Australian Survivor at the Internet Movie Database
• Reality Blurred
• Reality News Online
• Sydney Morning Herald newspaper
• The Age newspaper
• The Age newspaper

Australian Survivor archived contestant articles

• Contestant Joel Betts' official site
• Contestant Lance Brooks' news
• Contestant Robert Dickson's contacts
• Contestant Robert Dickson's news
• Contestant Sylvan Dorney's book
• (Note: Contestant Katie Gold's official site now defunct)

Australian Survivor forum archives

• Aussie Phorums
• Aussie Survivor Sucks

Other

• Australian Survivor contestant quiz