BBC One began 2000 by marooning thirty-six men, women and eight children on Taransay, a windswept Hebridean island, with instructions to build a sustainable community without crew or prize. The castaways filmed themselves living in turf pods, erected a wind turbine, slaughterhouse and school, and watched their cattle, pigs and chickens through flu outbreaks and supply drops that sank in the surf. A 26-year-old producer, Tanya Cheadle, shouldered most of the camera work; fixed rigs and diary-room cams were added later, but the footage still missed the clashes, escapes and boat-borne journalists who breached the experiment. Some islanders left for funerals, others fled for good: Ray Bowyer, Ron Copsey, Hilary Freeman and the Carey family quit, while Copsey later sued the BBC and Lion Television for libel over a manufactured feud and won £16,000. Viewers peaked at 8 million in January, slid to 4.9 million by the January 2001 finale, and critics noted the irony of a social experiment whose integrity was eroded by smuggled phones, visiting sailors and a self-declared "Taransay Five" who stopped filming. The show won Indie and TRIC awards, earned a Bafta nomination, and turned only one participant into a television regular: Ben Fogle, the affable Old Etonian who became a staple of Countryfile and The Holiday Show. Taransay reopened to tourists, the eco pods were dismantled, and when the BBC revived the format in 2007 it halved the headcount and tripled the cameras.
Production Details
BBC One / 2 Seasons / 59 Episodes / 2000
Producer(s): Chris Kelly
Main Cast
Robert Lindsay as Narrator (voice)
Julia Bradbury as Self - Host
Ben Fogle as Self
Danny Wallace as Self - Host
