Bear Grylls' The Island C4. Er, is it me or..?

[Vivacia]

Generations have wondered if they could survive being stranded on a desert island. But how would people cope if they had to do it, for real, and with only themselves to rely on?
Adventurer Bear Grylls abandons 13 Britons on a remote, uninhabited Pacific island for a month. They will be completely alone, filming themselves, and with only the clothes they're wearing and some basic tools.
The island may look like paradise but behind the beaches it can be hell on earth.
When stripped of all the luxuries and conveniences of 21st-century living, does the modern Brit still have the spirit and resources to survive?

Sounds reasonable, only when I look at the photos of the contestants there's something I can't quite put my finger on.

Absolutely tobias.

I couldn't work out why, given that they were all dehydrated, other teams didn't go and find their own bit of string and have a go at getting fire.
It's either 'sorting the men from the boys' in reality, or through editing.
Who knows?

I can't help but think that women would pitch in together a bit more.....

Bear G and I each own an island (except mine is somewhere very hot and much nicer than his). Lots of women love survivalist stuff but the press don't like to hear about that. They think we just like doing our nails.

There has been a good few articles though on why this is all about men, in The Times and elsewhere.

Can I come to your island please and do my nails a wimmins survival series please Jessica?

Actually I have a buyer for it although I might buy another. he says I can stay when I want to. It is in a group of 100 islands out there in the Pacific. It's been a lot of fun over 10 years from looking for the missing Lost Treasure of Lima on it (not found, possibly worth $100m) to last year's building project.

I think it will be an interesting dynamic with just men, just the same as a just women, then mixed. I think they should do all three, as controls - and no, im not volunteering.

It will be interesting to see how non-middle class twats fair.

I would love to hear more Jessica.
It's the stuff dreams are made of.
Are you, in fact Lucy Irvine?

I think that'd be really telling LEM.

I suspect neither gender would fare well in the mixed group, compared to women/men only.

I enjoyed the program and think the men only part does make sense as, like others have stated, having mixed gender brings a separate dimension into it.

Judging from the other night's viewing it seems there are only 3 men who will survive the 2 weeks as no-one else seems to do anything other than sunbathing / whinging.

I personally would love to participate in a women's only version if they decided to remake it - and I think if I was in a group I'd be sensible enough to build a decent fire / set up a shelter / collect water whilst people were trying to get a spark lit!

I tell you what I don't like about the concept of that program: "abandoned on a Pacific Island" - not really. There is crew and they will have emergency get-outs (quite rightly), but it is NOT the same as actually being left to you own devices in some kind of hostile environment. Without training etc.

The advert says they filmed themselves. No crew on the island with them. I suspect they had at least some training though.

I forgot to watch it - must look it up on catch up.

There are three (I think) cameramen taking part in the challenge.

The ex copper immediately got my back up.
He's going to be a character -but I think the other blokes were surprisingly tolerant of him.

Yes they have cameras with them so they're all filming one another.

I thought the same about that guy Woman. He was a right bossy sod "stay in single file, I said stay in single file, now look we need to go in single file. Are we going in single file? Let's go in single file"!!!

Made a lot of sense when he said he was a retired Police Officer!

I enjoyed the program and think the men only part does make sense as, like others have stated, having mixed gender brings a separate dimension into it.

Agreed. But state this in the programme's premise., don't send out the message that this is a representative group of society or that women aren't interested or capable in survival.

Oh I totally agree Vivacia - it doesn't sit right to claim that something is testing how modern civilisation would function in a survival situation and then exclude women. It doesn't, however, stop this being an interesting program even if the makers did forget about 51% of the UK when making it.

I agree with you OP. Don't make the premise general then only have men.
If there is a second series it should be women only.

I loved the Joanna Lumley programme. Didn't she make shoes out of her bra or something? Might try to find it on youtube.

From the adverts and articles I read about the show before it broadcast it was made quite clear to me that this was about modern men and have they lost their survival skills, blah blah blah. I think you just found a duff press release.

I think you're right.

I wonder why the focus on one sex though. Women have equally had to survive off the land with limited resources.

I agree with the german guys wife on googlebox that if women were on there you would have sorted yourself out on the first day, women can create a social structure quite quickly, but guys got to huff and puff unless someone is elected boss.

The kinda opposite of what you sometimes saw on the apprentice with the girls only team self imploding.

I think the apprentice has very, um interesting criteria when choosing contestants. Especially the female ones..

Survivor (the original US one) had mixed gender teams. Not sure how "authentic" it was...

I'm hoping that there will be a follow up female version next!