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Survivor (British TV series) series 1

Survivor
Series 1
Presented by
No. of days40
No. of castaways16
WinnerCharlotte Hoborough
Runner-upJackie Carey
LocationPulau Tiga, Sabah, Malaysia
No. of episodes14
Release
Original networkITV
Original release21 May (2001-05-21) –
25 July 2001 (2001-07-25)
Series chronology

The first series of Survivor, commonly referred to as Survivor: Pulau Tiga, premiered on 21 May 2001 and ran until 25 July 2001. The series was presented by journalist Mark Austin, who was on location with the contestants, and television presenter John Leslie, who conducted exit interviews with the players and presented additional footage of events. It consisted of 40 days of gameplay with 16 castaways competing for a prize of £1,000,000.[1]

The series was set in the South China Sea on the remote Malaysian island of Pulau Tiga in the state of Sabah, about 6 miles (9.7 km) off the north coast of Borneo, Malayasia. The sixteen contestants were initially separated into two tribes, named Helang and Ular, meaning "eagle" and "snake" in Malaysian, respectively. On Day 20, the ten remaining players merged into one tribe, named Sekutu, the Malaysian word for "together". The final nine players remaining made up the final two players and the seven members of the jury, who ultimately decided who would be the "Ultimate Survivor". After 40 days of competition, police officer Charlotte Hoborough was named the "Ultimate Survivor", defeating airline industry purchaser Jackie Carey in a 7–0 jury vote.[2]

Production

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The series premiered on ITV on 21 May 2001. The programme initially aired 4 times a week. An hour-long show aired on Mondays and Wednesdays which showed the highlights from the island with presenter Mark Austin. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a studio show presented by John Leslie aired. This programme included an interview with the castaway voted off the previous episode and included unseen footage from the island.[3] Billboards were allotted around the UK displaying the slogan "You Don't Win, You Survive". The billboards created confusion amongst viewers as it misled them into thinking people would die throughout the game. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe complained to Heat magazine about the decision. He said: "The tagline when I left for Borneo was 'Trust No One', which is great. When I got back it was, 'You Don't Win, You Survive'. Well, you did win – you won a million pounds! And of course you survive, because we're not going to let you die."[4]

Contestants

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Zoe Lyons

There were 16 contestants, divided into two tribes, Helang and Ular. After six contestants were eliminated, the tribes were merged to form one tribe, Sekutu. The final seven eliminated contestants made up the jury that decided who would be the winner.

List of Survivor: Pulau Tiga contestants
Contestant Age From Tribe Finish
Original Merged Placement Day
Nick Carter 38 Gedling,
England 		Ular 1st voted out Day 4
Jennifer "J.J." Adams 37 Barry,
Wales 		Helang 2nd voted out Day 7
Uzma Bashir Sheikh 30 Croxley Green,
England 		3rd voted out Day 10
Sarah Odell 30 Fulham,
England 		Ular 4th voted out Day 13
Jayne Maylar 47 Steyning,
England 		Helang 5th voted out Day 16
Adrian Bauckham 22 Gravesend,
England 		6th voted out Day 19
Simon Dunkley 35 Sutton Coldfield,
England 		Sekutu 7th voted out Day 22
Andy Fairfield 41 Syresham,
England 		8th voted out
1st jury member 		Day 25
James Stroud 40 Wimbledon,
England 		9th voted out
2nd jury member 		Day 28
Peter "Pete" Farrar 30 Stockport,
England 		Ular 10th voted out
3rd jury member 		Day 31
Zoe Lyons 29 London,
England 		11th voted out
4th jury member 		Day 34
Eve Holding 30 Wantage,
England 		12th voted out
5th jury member 		Day 37
Michael "Mick" Easton 55 Dartford,
England 		13th voted out
6th jury member 		Day 38
Richard Owen 33 Cardiff,
Wales 		14th voted out
7th jury member 		Day 39
Jackie Carey 31 Woking,
England 		Runner-up Day 40
Charlotte Hobrough 24 Rhoose,
Wales 		Helang Ultimate Survivor

Season summary

[edit]
The series was filmed on the island of Pulau Tiga in Malaysia.
Challenge winners and eliminations by episode
Episode Challenge winner(s) Eliminated
No. Air date Reward Immunity Tribe Player
1 21 May 2001 None Helang[a] Ular Nick
2 24 May 2001 Ular Ular Helang J.J.
3 28 May 2001 Ular Ular Helang Uzma
4 31 May 2001 Helang Helang Ular Sarah
5 4 June 2001 Helang Ular[b] Helang Jayne
6 7 June 2001 Ular Ular Helang Adrian
7 11 June 2001 None[c] Andy Sekutu Simon
8 18 June 2001 James
[Andy] 		Pete Andy
9 25 June 2001 Survivor
auction 		Richard James
10 2 July 2001 Pete Richard Pete
11 9 July 2001 Richard
[Charlotte] 		Eve Zoe
12 16 July 2001 Eve Richard Eve
13 23 July 2001 None Richard Mick
Charlotte Richard
  1. ^ Although Ular finished first, they failed to light one of the torches resulting in them being disqualified and Helang winning the challenge.
  2. ^ Although Helang finished first, one of their tribe members failed to complete the obstacle course, resulting in them being disqualified, and Ular winning the challenge.
  3. ^ There was no reward challenge due to the merge.

Voting history

[edit]
Original tribes Merged tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Day 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 38 39
Tribe Ular Helang Helang Ular Helang Helang Sekutu Sekutu Sekutu Sekutu Sekutu Sekutu Sekutu Sekutu
Eliminated Nick Tie[a] J.J. Uzma Sarah Jayne Adrian Simon Andy James Pete Tie[b] Zoe Eve Mick Richard
Vote 5–3 4–4 4–2 4–2–1 5-2 5–1 3–2 6–2–1–1 6–2–1 6–1–1 5–1–1 3–3 Countback[b] 4–1 3–1 2–1
Voter Votes
Charlotte J.J. J.J. Jayne Jayne James Eve Richard Zoe Eve Zoe 1 vote[b] Eve Mick Richard
Jackie Nick Sarah Simon Andy James Pete Zoe Eve Mick Richard
Richard Nick Sarah Simon Andy James Pete Zoe Eve Mick Jackie
Mick Jackie Sarah Simon Andy James Pete Charlotte Eve Jackie
Eve Nick Zoe Simon Andy James Pete Charlotte Jackie
Zoe Nick Sarah Simon Andy James Pete Charlotte 5 votes[b]
Pete Jackie Sarah Simon Andy James Charlotte
James J.J. J.J. Uzma Jayne Adrian Zoe Richard Mick
Andy Uzma Uzma Uzma Jayne Adrian Zoe Jackie
Simon Uzma J.J. Uzma Jayne Adrian Richard
Adrian J.J. J.J. Jayne Jayne James
Jayne Uzma Uzma Uzma Adrian
Sarah Nick Zoe
Uzma J.J. None[c] James
J.J. Uzma None[c]
Nick Jackie
Jury vote
Episode 14
Day 40
Finalist Charlotte Jackie
Votes 7–0
Juror Vote
Richard Yes
Mick Yes
Eve Yes
Zoe Yes
Pete Yes
James Yes
Andy Yes
Notes
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c d The first Tribal Council vote resulted in a tie. The tied castaways were involved on a Tribal Council countback was called as a tiebreaker. Charlotte had one previous vote but Zoe had five, therefore Zoe was eliminated.
  3. ^ a b J.J. and Uzma were not eligible to vote in the second Tribal Council vote.

Ratings

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The series was perceived as being not very popular with UK viewers.[5] Despite Survivor receiving initial media hype, the debut episode opened with 6.6 million viewers, which was seen as a disappointment for ITV.[6] Despite the figures, an ITV spokesperson said: "We couldn't have hoped for anything better. We never expected 10m on the first night although we hope it will build to this. You have got to remember that we introduced 16 strangers and a complicated gameshow to the audience and we are confident it will grow. It's already a massive talking point, making the front pages."[6]

Ratings for the series then dropped to an average of 5 million, which was half of the audience that the network had expected.[7] In response, ITV made the decision to transmit less episodes per week to allow the hype for the series to grow.[8] However, their change failed to have an impact on viewing figures.[9] Nevertheless, the finale of the first series garnered 7.7 million viewers, peaking at 9 million.[10] Despite being low in ratings by ITV's expectations, Survivor was the most watched reality television series in the UK at its time of airing, such as Big Brother.[11] After the first series had concluded, Julia Lamaison, ITV's Head of Strategy, admitted that the network were too hopeful with their expectations for the series. They had hoped for a series average of 12 million viewers, accrediting their hopefulness to the success of the series in America. Lamaison also admitted that ITV had not supported Survivor enough in the first series, particularly with the time slot and the scheduling.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "How to survive Survivor". BBC. 17 May 2001. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Charlotte wins £1m Survivor". BBC News. 25 July 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  3. ^ "How to survive Survivor". BBC News. 17 May 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Why Survivor deserves a second chance on UK television". Digital Spy. 1 May 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  5. ^ "BBC top ITV ratings for first time". Daily Mirror. 2 February 2002. Retrieved 24 February 2008. [dead link‍]
  6. ^ a b "Survivor makes disappointing debut". Digital Spy. 22 May 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Survivor to be cut back?". Digital Spy. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  8. ^ "ITV confirms Survivor shift". Digital Spy. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Survivor fails to gather pace". Digital Spy. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Survivor final draws 8m". Digital Spy. 26 July 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Survivor proves a TV dinosaur". BBC. 25 July 2001.
  12. ^ "Survivor 2 decision awaited". Digital Spy. 28 August 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2022.