Alone UK

I wasn't 10 min into this show before things felt, "off". My first comment to my partner was, "Is she wearing make up?".

I had to go online and find out why. Random people with no survival skills see how long they last. But they all look like models, in shape, the typical cast you see in most reality shows.

The first episode we see two of them get naked, one to "get fresh" after half a day in the woods. Unlike Alone Aussie where people were gaining 30-40lbs.

In the entirety of the show Alone, I've never heard anyone complain about the taste of boiled water. Well you won't have to wait long to hear people here.

I think if they made this a spin-off show called, "Alone for Dummies", I'd be okay with it. But watching people with no skills flail about with comments like, "I heard something, it's definitely not human"....well duh, you're in the forest. I can't do it. Please don't do more like this in this formate and if you do, call it something else.

I have no interest in format for Alone.

I have seen the original Alone series and thoroughly enjoyed it so I had to give this one a try. I was skeptical at first after seeing the lack of experience the contestants had. I underestimated quite a few of them and it was great to see them persevere and adapt to the unknown. I would like to see more experienced members take on the second season; many of them didn't seem to know what they were getting themselves into. The lack of research done beforehand was frustrating to watch. I think it would be more endearing to watch people that are skilled, enthusiastic and well equipped to succeed.

I have not watched the American or Australian versions of this show which apparently have more experienced contestants however if you like to watch complete novices survive in the Canadian wilderness with bears coming into camp you'll love this. Contestants have basic skills as it would be pretty boring if they were survival experts. The whole point of the show is to watch them struggle to deal with the psychological effects of being terrified alone at night with wild animals roaming around the woods and hunt for food in order to stay as long as possible to win the cash not breeze through it like Bear Grylls as implied in other reviews. Best reality TV I've seen for a while. Ignore the negative reviews and give it a go.

What happened?

I've watched all the series of alone. When I discovered this series ages ago I was mesmerised. Firstly, the idea of the person actually being alone and trying to survive in the wilderness without cameras following them around is an excellent idea.

Secondly, the first seasons did not have some of the annoying things most reality TV shows have; One. Intrusive background music to evoke emotion. This UK version of alone is ruined by overly dramatic Music. So annoying. What I found refreshing in the earlier seasons was that the viewer was able to someone imagine what it might be like to be alone in the wilderness. The sounds of nature, or silence - Not being bashed over the head with Music better suited to a blockbuster action adventure movie. So annoying. Watching the show used to be a relaxing experience, now every two seconds a voice-over narrator tells us something about the contestant. Shut up! In the earlier seasons information was conveyed via subtitles. Now we have to put up with this annoying voice-over narration.

The other annoying difference is that the footage of the contestants in the wild is interspersed with footage of the contestants talking to the camera interview style. Why? So it looks more like all the other 5000 Reality TV shows? Very annoying.

Other reviews mention that the contestants are all very good looking. Looking back over all the seasons this is generally the case, you can't really get on TV if you're ugly. That has been a staple for at least a decade now.

The characters are very relatable (being from a modern day background myself) and the show is very inclusive such as a survivalist with autism, another survivalist with mental health issues/ex addiction etc. This show is amazing! People with no survival skills are put into an environment they have never been with risk of predatory animals, starvation and cold weather.. can't go wrong for a TV show! I have watched three seasons of the American version of this show and I found this just as entertaining if not even better than the American version! If you enjoy bushcraft and wilderness survival (and don't mind occasional scenes of animal cruelty/death) then this show is for you.