Hunted (2015 TV series)
| Hunted | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality show |
| Directed by | Miles Blayden-Ryall Helen Cramptom Sam Eastall Georgina Kiedrowski Tim Lawton Abi Mowbray |
| Narrated by | Eddie Marsan |
| Composer | Nick Harvey |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Tim Whitwell Matt Bennett |
| Producer | Lucy Curtis |
| Production location | United Kingdom |
| Camera setup | multi-camera |
| Running time | 52 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Channel 4 |
| Release | 10 September 2015 – Present |
Hunted is a British reality television programme on Channel 4 whose first series ran for six episodes in September–October 2015. The programme returned on 22 September 2016 for a six-episode second series with 10 new fugitives going on the run to be in with a chance to win a share of a prize of £100,000.[1]
Description
A group of every day civilians, known as Fugitives, are willingly sent on the run from a team of former police and intelligence professionals, known as hunters, for 28 days.
Where possible the Hunters try to use the same methods of surveillance employed by the state, including open source intelligence, cyber expertise and interrogating friends and family. When the Hunters did not legally have access to those powers, such as CCTV and ANPR the powers have been replicated for the show.[2]
Series 1
14 civilian contestants (billed as "fugitives" during the show's run) attempted to avoid a team of former police and intelligence officers for 28 days armed with replicated powers of the state. During their time on the run the Fugitives are not allowed to leave the UK mainland and give permission to be tracked as if the state was tracking them using methods that the state may use, such as monitoring of phones, houses searched, analysing of electrical equipment etc. Each fugitive was also given a bank account containing £450.
The contestants still at large on Day 28 were required to meet at a secret 'extraction point', Fairoaks Airport in Surrey.
The series was filmed between 4 May 2015 and 31 May 2015.
Fugitives
| Name | Capture episode & location | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Sandra Cooley | 1, Mansfield | An occupational therapist from Brighton. Partnered with Elizabeth D'Arcy. Captured after CCTV footage caught them using busses. |
| Elizabeth D'Arcy | 1, Mansfield | A tutor from Brighton. Partnered with Sandra Cooley. Captured after CCTV footage caught them using busses. |
| Freddie Young | 5, Caister-on-Sea (Day 7) [3] | A teaching assistant from Essex. Partnered with Jacqui Omer. Captured after the Hunters came across them accidentally while following a lead on other fugitives. (Harinder Singh and Davinder Singh) |
| Jacqui Omer | 5, Caister-on-Sea (Day 7) [3] | A pub manager from Essex. Partnered with Freddie Young. Captured after the Hunters came across them accidentally while following a lead on other fugitives. (Harinder Singh and Davinder Singh) |
| Harinder Singh | 2, Glasgow | Partnered with Davinder Singh. They set a disguise on Caister-on-Sea that eventually Hunter came across Freddie Young and Jacqui Omar accidentally and captured them right after. Captured after getting caught on CCTV entering a friend's business. |
| Davinder Singh | 2, Glasgow | Partnered with Harinder Singh. They set a disguise on Caister-on-Sea that eventually Hunter came across Freddie Young and Jacqui Omar accidentally and captured them right after. Captured after getting caught on CCTV entering a friend's business. |
| Adam Young | 4, Birmingham Coach Station (Day 16)[4] | An NHS support worker from Bridgend. Captured after heading south after an accomplice using his bank card in Leeds called his family in Edinburgh. |
| Ricky Allen | 3, London Euston Station (Day 17)[5] | A GP from Kent. Inspired by The Thirty-Nine Steps he initially heads from Kent to rural Scotland.[6] Captured after taking a train to central London. |
| Adam Channell | 5, Crouch End, London (Day 20)[7] | A PR manager from London. Captured after deciding to visit friends in London. |
| Emma Channell | 5, Crouch End, London (Day 20)[7] | A PR manager from London. Captured after deciding to visit friends in London. Was pregnant during the filming of the show and so found the rough conditions difficult. |
| Stephen Hardiker | Made it to the extraction point | A plumber from Walsall. Partnered with Martin Cole. |
| Martin Cole | Made it to the extraction point | An IT specialist from Staffordshire. Partnered with Stephen Hardiker. |
| Emily Dredge | Made it to the extraction point | An online business owner from Putney. Originally partnered with Lauren English, they separated and continued the run on their own. She and co-fugitive Lauren English compared themselves to Thelma and Louise.[6] Dredge later claimed she was diagnosed with pneumonia a few days before the finish.[8] |
| Lauren English | Made it to the extraction point | A decorator from Surrey. Originally partnered with Emily Dredge, they separated and continued the run on their own. |
Hunters
The team of 30 specialists include former and serving police and intelligence personnel, an ex CIA agent as well as cyber intelligence experts who used the fugitives online footprints to research and hunt them. The team has access to replicated powers of the state, including CCTV and ANPR. Before starting all the Fugitives gave permission to be tracked in the same way the state might track a fugitive - their cash cards and phones were monitored, their houses searched and their friends and family questioned. The Hunters also use media campaigns to recruit the general public into helping them, offering financial incentives.[9] The team is split into two parts: a team in the Hunted HQ to gather Intelligence which they then distribute to field teams.
- Brett Lovegrove - The Chief, the leader of the Hunters and former Head of Counter Terrorism Command for the City of London.[6]
- Peter 'Bleks' Bleksley - Deputy Chief. Former undercover detective with Scotland Yard.[10]
- Ben Owen - Deputy Chief. Ex Military Sniper and member of British Military Intelligence.[11]
- Cindy Storer - Former CIA Analyst
- Paul Vlissidis - Technical Director of NCC GROUP, an online security company, that provided the cyber expertise on the show.[12]
- Julie Clegg - an Open Source Specialist. Formally a Police Detective and Undercover Police Officer, now President of Toddington International Inc.
- David Toddington - The Founder and CEO of Toddington International Inc.
In the field there are a number of teams.
- Marc Cananur - A serving Detective Sergeant specialising in Intelligence and Covert operations.
- Nicola Thorn - Worked previously as an undercover Mettopolitan Police Detective and with HM Forces Covert Investigation Specialist.
- Danni Brooke - Worked previously as an undercover Metropolitan Police Detective.
- Captain David Blakeley - was a commander in the British military unit Pathfinders, also known as ‘The Ghost Platoon.
- Nathan Rose - a surveillance specialist.
- Michelle Thompson
- Paul Cashmore
Series 2
The programme returned on 22 September 2016 for a six-episode second series. Filmed in April 2016 ten new Fugitives went on the run leaving from a location in Birmingham for a chance to win a share of a prize of £100,000 if they go without being captured.[1] Similar to series one, the Fugitives could take with them anything they were able to carry, they were given a bank account with £250 and told not to leave mainland UK. Each Fugitive had with them an embedded camera operator to capture their every move from that moment onwards. 30 minutes after they are sent off, the team of Hunters were given their full details along with the aerial footage of the "escape".
The contestants still at large on Day 28 needed to reach a secret 'extraction point' on the River Thames at the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.[13]
The series was filmed in May 2016.[14]
Fugitives
10 Fugitives went on the run for 28 days with a chance to share a prize of £100,000.[15]
| Name | Capture episode & location | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Kirk Bowett | 2, Blackpool | Ex-military, MOD Facility Manager. Partnered with Jez Scarratt. Captured after going to a restaurant. |
| Jez Scarratt | 2, Blackpool | Ex-military, Army Medic Simulator. Partnered with Kirk Bowett. Captured after going to a restaurant. |
| Mikaela Skinner | 2, Horton Bridge, Wiltshire | Building shop owner partnered with Hamish Thorburn. Captured after a tip off from a member of the bar staff after they were annoying in a pub.[16] |
| Hamish Thorburn | 2, Horton Bridge, Wiltshire | Property investor partnered with Mikaela Skinner. Captured after a tip off from a member of the bar staff after they were annoying in a pub.[16] |
| Lolly Jones | 3, All Saints Church, Theydon Garnon, Essex | A London parliamentary temp. Captured by a hunter disguised as a bush, after she arranged a meeting with friends using a code which was broken after the Hunters intercepted her letter.[16] |
| Madu Alikor | 5, Burghfield Bridge, Reading | A software consultant and developer. Originally paired with Ayo Adesina, but split up after a disagreement. Captured after being caught on CCTV on his way to meet with a friend. |
| Anna May | 6, Shore of Killington Reservoir (Day 26)[14] | A court clerk partnered with Elizabeth Garnett. Caught after being reported by a member of the public. |
| Elizabeth Garnett | 6, Shore of Killington Reservoir (Day 26)[14] | A stockbroker temp partnered with Anna May. Caught after being reported by a member of the public. |
| Ayo Adesina | Made it to the extraction point[17] | A software developer. Originally paired with Madu Alikor, but split up after a disagreement. |
| Nick Cummings | Made it to the extraction point[17] | A house-husband. Successfully fooled the Hunters into capturing a decoy in episode 4. |
Hunters
This series saw a slightly larger team as the Hunters with the addition of an Investigative Psychologist and another former member of British Intelligence. The Hunters also were equipped with sniffer dogs, helicopters and drones. As well as the replicated powers of the state, including CCTV and ANPR from series 1.
- Peter Bleksley - The Chief. Former undercover detective with Scotland Yard.
- Ben Owen - Deputy Chief. Ex Military Sniper and member of British Military Intelligence.[11]
- Louisa Clarke - Deputy Chief. Former Military Intelligence at GCHQ and new to the team this series.
- Dr Donna Youngs - Investigative Psychologist, new to the team this series.
The information assurance company, NCC Group, provide the Cyber Expertise for the show.[18]
Production
Each Fugitive was filmed by a dedicated camera person who followed the Fugitives wherever they went. While filming the production team were split so that the team working with the Hunters were separate from the team working with the Fugitives to prevent information passing between the groups and to provide a more realistic experience. During production there were over 800 Freedom of Information requests submitted to find the location of state owned CCTV cameras positioned throughout the UK mainland. When real footage couldn’t be obtained, Channel 4 owned cameras captured footage which would have been available to the state and it was stored on a central database for the Hunters to access if the wished. However, they had to "officially" request the information as if it was a real fugitive hunt.[19] The Hunters were overseen by an independent adjudicator, former Head of Covert Operations for the Metropolitan Police, Kevin O’Leary, whose job was to make sure that the information requested and gathered by the Hunters reflected the information that would be available to them in real life and within the appropriate time frame. He was the only person who had the power to release information to the Hunters and would only do so when he considered that the Hunters had done sufficient detective work to justify the access to the infomation.[20]
Critical reception
The Telegraph review complimented the series, saying the "game show element was very effective, playing with our instinctive tendency to take the side of the pursued, and skilfully edited to keep the tension high."[21] The Daily Mirror's Adam Postan described the series as "the biggest TV joke of the year", pointing out that most of the surveillance powers were replicated by methods that were unexplained.[22]
International versions
In Spain the show is produced by Movistar+ in collaboration with Shine Iberia under the title La huida ("The escape"), premiered on 8 April 2016 on #0.[23]
In Russia the show is produced by WeiT Media under the title Okhota ("The Hunt"),[24] premiered on 17 September 2016 on free-to-air network NTV.[25]
In Denmark the show is produced by Metronome Productions under the title Menneskejagt, premiered on 24 August 2016 on DR3.[26]
In Netherlands the show is produced by Simpel Media commissioned by AVROTROS under the same title Hunted, premiered on 10 October 2016 on NPO3.[27]
In US, the show is produced by Endemol Shine North America under the same title Hunted, will premiere on 22 January on CBS.[28]
References
- ^ a b Dowell, Ben. "Channel 4 to bring back Hunted… and will pay out £100k in prize money". Radio Times. Radio Times. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ "Hunted: The Makings of a Manhunt". Channel 4. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ a b https://twitter.com/Hunted_HQ/status/652228204632145920
- ^ https://twitter.com/Hunted_HQ/status/649690383929208837
- ^ https://twitter.com/Hunted_HQ/status/647476428477464576
- ^ a b c Ben Travis (10 September 2015). "Hunted, Channel 4 – Episode 1 review: paranoid real-life thriller series is a gripping watch". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ a b https://twitter.com/Hunted_HQ/status/652227202650644480
- ^ Emily Dredge (16 October 2015) "Hunted winner Emily Dredge: 'I was actually prepared to die to win it'", The Guardian (TV and radio blog). Retrieved 19 October 2016.
- ^ "Hunted: Could you go on the Run". Channel 4. Channel 4. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ "The Hunters". Channel 4 Press Release. Channel 4. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ a b Owens, Ben. "Hunted Ben Owens Twitter Account". Twitter. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ "NCC GROUP STARS IN NEW TV SHOW". Fort Consult.Net. Fort Consult. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ Poppy Jeffery (28 October 2016) "Channel 4's Hunted contestants finish on Isle of Sheppey after Sittingbourne stay", Kent Online. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ^ a b c Miran Rahman (28 October 2016) "End of the road for Keighley's Channel 4 "Hunted" show contestant Anna May", Keighley News. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ^ Tate, Gabriel. "Hunted series two: meet the fugitives". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ a b c Natalia Sokolowska (21 October 2016) "Four things from ‘Hunted’ you should know before disappearing", Voice of London (University of Westminster). Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ^ a b Harp, Justin. "Hunted: Ayo Adesina and Nick Cummings evade the high-tech captors and win series 2". Digital Spy. Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ Group, NCC. "NCC Group tracks fugitives in second series of Channel 4 show Hunted". NCC Group. NCC Group. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
{{cite web}}:|last1=has generic name (help) - ^ "Hunted: The Makings of a Manhunt". Channel 4. Channel 4. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ "Series 2 Guide". Channel 4. Channel 4. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ Gerard O'Donovan (10 September 2015). "Hunted, episode one, Channel 4, review: 'intense'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
- ^ Adam Postans (10 October 2015). "Why Channel 4's The Hunted is the biggest TV joke of the year". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
- ^ "Gran estreno de 'La Huida', el nuevo 'reality' del canal #0". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 8 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ НТВ и ВайТМедиа ищут участников для нового реалити «Охота» Template:Ref-ru
- ^ British TV Show 'Hunted' to Get Russian Remake
- ^ "Menneskejagt på DR3". dr.dk.
- ^ "Kun je zomaar verdwijnen? In het nieuwe én spannende TV-programma Hunted moeten twaalf Nederlanders 21 dagen lang uit handen blijven van een team van professionele opsporingsexperts". npo.nl.
- ^ "'Hunted' Reality Series Gets 'Survivor's Slot & NFL-Bolstered Premiere On CBS". Deadline.com.