Australian Survivor season 1
| Australian Survivor | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
 | |
| Presented by | Lincoln Howes |
| No. of days | 39 |
| No. of castaways | 16 |
| Winner | Rob Dickson |
| Runner-up | Sciona Browne |
| Location | Whaler's Way, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia |
| No. of episodes | 13 (plus 2 specials) |
| Release | |
| Original release | 13 February – 15 May 2002 |
| Additional information | |
| Filming dates | November – December 2001 |
| Season chronology | |
The first season of Australian Survivor is the inaugural Australian adaptation of the popular reality game show Survivor. The season was filmed in Whaler's Way, an Eyre Peninsula coastal nature reserve near Port Lincoln, South Australia in the Great Australian Bight, where numerous ships had sunk off the coast in the past, setting up the season's nautical theme.
Hosted by 60 Minutes journalist Lincoln Howes, the program consisted of 16 Australian castaways competing for 39 days for a grand prize of A$500,000 and a Ford V6 Escape. The series was filmed in November and December 2001 and aired weekly between February and May 2002 on the Nine Network, culminating in a live finale on 15 May 2001, where former Victorian Football League player Robert "Rob" Dickson was crowned the "Sole Survivor" over former test pilot Sciona Browne in a jury vote of 5–2.
The program was criticised by fans and critics for poor casting and lower production values than the popular American edition (which also aired on Nine) and was not renewed due to low ratings.[1] However the series did return (albeit on a different network) in 2006 with a celebrity edition.
Production
Conception
In 2000, Nine began airing Survivor: Borneo, the first season of the American Survivor production. The agreement for Nine to air the American series included the condition that they must produce their own local Australian edition of Survivor. The local edition was announced publicly during the night of the local airing of the finale of Survivor: The Australian Outback in early May 2001. This announcement also began the casting call for Australians willing to compete on the show.
Filming and development
The people included for consideration for host included Grant Kenny, Jamie Durie and Richard Hatch, the "Sole Survivor" of Survivor: Borneo. Eventually, Lincoln Howes, a journalist from Nine's 60 Minutes, was named as host.[2]
The production scouted locations across Australia to be used for the series. Locations considered included Uluru/Ayers Rock in the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region in Western Australia. However production settled on Whaler's Way, on the South Australian coastline, 30 km (19 mi) from the town of Port Lincoln, where the production crew was based. This location set up a nautical/shipwreck theme for the series. A majority of the challenges centred around the water (many of which were originally created by the show and not derived from the American series), Tribal Council was located on a shipwreck called "The Great Beyond", tribal immunity was in the form of a bell, and individual immunity was in the form of a rope necklace with shark's teeth. The theme song incorporated an Irish jig in a nod to Australian history – First Fleet arriving.[citation needed] An extended version of the main theme was played during the closing credits of the live finale and reunion show.
Broadcast
The show was broadcast by the Nine Network in the Wednesday 8:30 pm time slot and was rated PG. In addition to 12 regular hour-long episodes and the 3-hour long finale/reunion show, two specials for the series were produced. An auditions special hosted by Ben Dark aired the day before the main series aired, showing some of the highlights and lowlights from the 8,500 audition submissions sent into the show before revealing the 16 people who would compete on the series. Additionally, the program included an interview with Ethan Zohn; the "Sole Survivor" of Survivor: Africa.[3] The other special was a behind-the-scenes show that aired a few weeks after the series ended and was titled Surviving Survivor. Among other things, this special revealed that the final four wanted to quit the show due to the dramatic turn of events concerning Katie's behaviour (her mental breakdown right before the Tribal Council on Day 37). The producers threatened to give the prize money to the last eliminated contestant (Sophie) if the contestants continued to defy production.
The format of the Finale and Reunion shows of Nine's Australian Survivor was rather different to the American edition's finales at the time. The finale/reunion program featured reunion show host, Eddie Maguire introducing each segment of the show live from the finale venue as the night progressed. The American production adopted this format starting with its 28th season, Survivor: Cagayan, in 2014.
Promotion
The evicted contestant from each episode was featured for an interview on the Today show on the following day. These interviews were conducted by Richard Wilkins just before the 8:00 AM news. This paralleled the American edition, where evicted Survivor contestants were interviewed on CBS' The Early Show during its time on air.
The program had several sponsors who were involved in product placements spots on the show (most as rewards for reward challenges). Sponsors included Cadbury, IBM, Jetset travel agencies, Schweppes, Fa deodorant for men, Lays potato crisps, Telstra, Ford and Intel Pentium (which was also used in producing the show's graphics).
Contestants
The sixteen players were initially separated into two tribes, Kadina and Tipara, both named after ships that traveled in the area. On Day 19, the ten remaining players merged into the Aurora tribe. The final nine players made up the two finalists and the seven members of the Tribal Council jury, who ultimately decided who would be the "Sole Survivor".
| Contestant | Original tribe | Merged tribe | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucinda Allen-Rhodes 43, Byron Bay, NSW |
Kadina | 1st voted out/Quit Day 3 | |
| Tim Dugan† 51, Green Point, NSW |
Kadina | 2nd voted out Day 6 | |
| David Haas 34, Sydney, NSW |
Kadina | 3rd voted out Day 9 | |
| Jeff Brown 52, Canberra, ACT |
Tipara | 4th voted out Day 12 | |
| Deborah Peart 26, Sydney, NSW |
Kadina | 5th voted out Day 15 | |
| Sylvan Dorney 25, Sydney, NSW |
Kadina | 6th voted out Day 18 | |
| Caren Shaw 28, Darwin, NT |
Kadina | Aurora | 7th voted out Day 21 |
| Naomi Knight 22, Melbourne, VIC |
Kadina | 8th voted out 1st jury member Day 24 | |
| Craig Abbot 27, Point Lonsdale, VIC |
Kadina | 9th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27 | |
| Lance Brooks 39, Sydney, NSW |
Tipara | 10th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30 | |
| Jane Dalton 18, Newcastle, NSW |
Tipara | 11th voted out 4th jury member Day 33 | |
| Sophie Woods 30, Sydney, NSW |
Tipara | 12th voted out 5th jury member Day 35 | |
| Katie Gold 24, Melbourne, VIC |
Tipara | 13th voted out 6th jury member Day 37 | |
| Joel Betts 22, Sydney, NSW |
Tipara | 14th voted out 7th jury member Day 38 | |
| Sciona Browne 49, Perth, WA |
Tipara | Runner-up Day 39 | |
| Robert "Rob" Dickson† 37, Traralgon, VIC |
Tipara | Sole Survivor Day 39 |
Season summary
The sixteen players were divided into two tribes: Kadina in green, and Tipara in blue. Tipara won more immunity challenges, and their members stuck together to systematically eliminate the Kadina members after the merge. A final three alliance of Rob, Sciona, and Joel emerged, and Rob eliminated Joel after winning the final immunity challenge. The jury respected Rob's leadership over Sciona's quieter gameplay, naming the former as Sole Survivor.
| Episode | Challenge winner(s)[4] | Eliminated | Finish | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Episode Title | Air date | Reward | Immunity | ||
| 1 | "Journey To Whaler's Way" |
13 February, 2002 | Tipara | Lucinda | 1st voted out Day 3 | |
| 2 | "Violent Weather and Violent People" |
20 February, 2002 | Kadina | Tipara | Tim | 2nd voted out Day 6 |
| 3 | "The Losing Streak" | 27 February, 2002 | Kadina | Tipara | David | 3rd voted out Day 9 |
| 4 | "The Struggle of Both Tribes" |
6 March, 2002 | Tipara | Kadina[a] | Jeff | 4th voted out Day 12 |
| 5 | "It's Just Too Hard!" | 13 March, 2002 | Kadina | Tipara | Deborah | 5th voted out Day 15 |
| 6 | "This Game is Way Different Then it Looks" |
20 March, 2002 | Tipara[b] | Joel [Tipara][c] |
Sylvan | 6th voted out Day 18 |
| 7 | "It's Time to Merge" | 3 April, 2002 | Craig | Caren | 7th voted out Day 21 | |
| 8 | "Pick Off" | 10 April,2002 | Naomi [Craig] |
Craig | Naomi | 8th voted out 1st jury member Day 24 |
| 9 | "I Just Feel So Bad" | 17 April, 2002 | Lance [Jane, Joel, Katie, Rob, Sciona, Sophie] |
Sophie | Craig | 9th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27 |
| 10 | "He's a Threat, She's A Threat, We're all Threats!" |
24 April, 2002 | Jane | Joel | Lance | 10th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30 |
| 11 | "Cockiness Comes to an End" |
1 May, 2002 | Joel | Sciona | Jane | 11th voted out 4th jury member Day 33 |
| 12 | "Who's the Odd Man Out?" |
8 May, 2002 | Katie [Joel, Rob, Sciona, Sophie] |
Katie | Sophie | 12th voted out 5th jury member Day 35 |
| 13 | "Finale/Reunion" | 15 May, 2002 | Katie [Joel, Rob, Sciona] |
Rob | Katie | 13th voted out 6th jury member Day 37 |
| None | Rob | Joel | 14th voted out 7th jury member Day 38 | |||
| Sciona | Runner-up Day 39 | |||||
| Rob | Sole Survivor Day 39 | |||||
- In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.
- Notes
- ^ In addition to winning Immunity, Kadina also won the right to participate in a special reward draw for the car used in the challenge. Sylvan drew the right key and won the car.
- ^ Tipara felt Kadina lost due to bad luck, and shared their reward.
- ^ This challenge was a one-on-one duel, with Joel and Sylvan being chosen to participate by their respective tribes. Joel won the challenge and won immunity for his entire tribe.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Timeline | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Journey To Whaler's Way" | Days 1-3 | 13 February 2002 |
| 2 | 2 | "Violent Weather and Violent People" | Days 4-6 | 20 February 2002 |
| 3 | 3 | " The Losing Streak" | Days 7-9 | 27 February 2002 |
| 4 | 4 | "The Struggle of Both Tribes" | Days 10-12 | 6 March 2002 |
| 5 | 5 | "It's Just Too Hard!" | Days 13-15 | 13 March 2002 |
| 6 | 6 | "This Game is Way Different Then it Looks" | Days 16-18 | 20 March 2002 |
| 7 | 7 | "It's Time to Merge" | Days 19-21 | 3 April 2002 |
| 8 | 8 | "Pick Off" | Days 22-24 | 10 April 2002 |
| 9 | 9 | "I Just Feel So Bad" | Days 25-27 | 17 April 2002 |
| 10 | 10 | "He's a Threat, She's A Threat, We're all Threats!" | Days 28-30 | 28 April 2002 |
| 11 | 11 | "Cockiness Comes to an End" | Days 31-33 | 1 May 2002 |
| 12 | 12 | "Who's the Odd Man Out?" | Days 34-35 | 8 May 2002 |
| 13 | 13 | "Finale/Reunion" | Days 36-39 | 15 May 2002 |
Voting history
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- Notes
- ^ The first Tribal Council vote resulted in a tie. Per the rules, a second vote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those who tied.
- ^ a b c d As the revote could not resolve the tied vote, a Tribal Council countback was called. Joel received no votes from earlier Tribal Councils while Jane received four, eliminating her from the game.
- ^ a b Joel and Sciona were not eligible to vote as the only eligible players they could vote for were each other, canceling both votes out.
- ^ a b Joel and Jane were not eligible to vote in the second Tribal Council vote.
Controversy and criticisms
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2018) |
The program received a large amount of criticism from fans of the American series, mainly centred on how this series was of lesser quality when compared to the US series.[5]
The casting process was criticised as the cast lacked diversity, being almost completely composed of 16 white middle class Australian people with very few of the 16 being there to "play the game". This lack of drive was especially evident in contestant Lucinda Allen-Rhodes, who not only asked to be voted off, but also was one of the very few people to cast a vote against herself at Tribal Council. In most other editions of Survivor, contestants cannot vote against themselves.
The nature of the camp life of the castaways was also criticised. The tribes were limited on which days they could go search for food. 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. Additionally, the producers were also criticised for giving the contestants too many supplies.
The show also resulted in criticism in how the network aired the American series. Nine advertised that Survivor: Marquesas would air after the Australian series. Australian fans were upset when Nine decided not to broadcast Marquesas. It was skipped and instead, the network aired Survivor: Thailand. In late 2018, Marquesas was made legally available to Australian viewers via the 10 All Access streaming platform, which includes all prior seasons of the American edition.
In New Zealand, both Australian Survivor and Survivor: Marquesas aired concurrently.
Ratings
Although the show started off with satisfying ratings, it eventually declined to dismal ratings (possibly due to the popularity of another reality TV show, The Mole, which aired on Channel Seven an hour earlier at 7:30pm for all but four weeks of the Australian Survivor run). 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.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Knox, David (7 August 2015). "Could Survivor Australia's torch be lit once more?". TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ Survivor Oz (1987 Articles) (12 August 2012). "Lincoln Howes Interview". Survivor Oz. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Innuyasha20 (27 June 2012), Australian Survivor E00 [Auditions], retrieved 22 June 2016
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Bindley, David (20 March 2010). "Survivor: The Complete Challenge Guide (1st ed.)" (PDF). Retrieved 16 December 2010.
- ^ "Survivor: demise of the clone - theage.com.au". www.theage.com.au. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
