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The fourth season of the reality survival competition on SBS. One Australia went to the ends of the earth in search of a new challenge – and not just metaphorically.
“I would say it’s literally the opposite of anything we’ve done before,” executive producer Riima Daher says of the show’s move to the Arctic Circle. “So many of the familiar features of the survival game are still there, so much of the psychological play is still there. But we essentially turned everything on its head to send survivors from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere to see what happens.”
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The move to northern Finland, the traditional land of the Sami, meant that “the experiment intensified,” says Daher. “The temperature dropped and rose at the same time.”
As always, it starts with 10 participants. There’s no preamble here, they’re just thrown into a landscape that, at first glance, looks a little more welcoming than some of what the Australian version of the show has presented so far. The lake is teeming with fish, mammals roam the forest, wood is plentiful, as well as terrestrial food such as mushrooms and berries.
The fact is that these mammals are prohibited – they are livestock of Sami shepherds. These fungi tend to become infested with larvae. Berries that are not trampled by deer will not survive the first winter frosts. And this lake will freeze, making fishing almost impossible. Oh. There are also bears and wolves there.
As conditions became harsher with the onset of winter, the inability to hunt deer began to weigh more heavily on the minds of those who made it this far. “It was like a Big Mac walking by,” Daher says with a laugh. “There’s a sense of wonder as this majestic creature passes by, but there’s also a realization of ‘I really want to eat you, but I can’t.’
Riima Daher is the executive producer of Alone Australia.SBS
Daher says the contestants knew they were going north when they applied for season four, but didn’t know where until about 10 days before they went. Each participant is allowed to choose 10 items with him, in addition to the standard ones (first aid kit, photographic equipment and a strictly limited amount of clothing). And while their gear was chosen with the Arctic in mind, she says, “once they knew exactly where they were going, intensive research was done to double-check that they had chosen the right fishing gear, that their sleeping bag was right, that their choice of clothes and shoes were the best.”
However, no amount of research and preparation can fully prepare participants for the reality of the environment in which they find themselves.
“It’s one thing to understand it academically, but if you haven’t actually survived in that particular environment, all the training in the world… well, it might help you, but can it really prepare you? I would say absolutely not,” Daher says. “I think it was a shock and a lesson for absolutely everyone.”
This was certainly the case for 35-year-old Dylan (SBS does not reveal last names for privacy reasons, although many inevitably filter them out).
The experienced Palava hunter and fisherman, who grew up in Tasmania, says he’s “never had a problem” feeding himself in the wild. “But I’ve never tried to do this in the Arctic before,” he adds. “Getting food can be very difficult and very frustrating if you haven’t tried to survive before.”
Dylan, a 35-year-old former soldier, came on the show hoping to win a $250,000 prize to fund IVF treatment. SBS
Dylan joined the Army straight out of school with ambitions to join the SAS, but was forced to leave due to a back injury in his early 20s and now works in domestic violence support services in Queensland. The experience taught him that adaptability is the most important skill a person can have, and being on the show only reinforced that belief.
“If you go into a wilderness you’ve never been to before with nothing but what you carry on your back, you have to adapt pretty quickly or you won’t last long,” he says. “It’s a completely different climate. It’s very cold. All the plants and animals are different. There’s a lot to think about, a lot to adapt to.”
However, despite all the physical challenges, what is greatest – as many challengers before him have discovered – is the isolation.
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“Even when I was in the military, you had a team, you had other people you could talk to, brainstorm with, exchange ideas with,” he says. “When you’re alone, it’s just you. You have to learn to talk to yourself well.”
And like many others this season, he realized how much he needed other people.
He and his partner have a young son, born through IVF. They are trying to have a second child, and the $250,000 prize money – and all the treatment it will cover – was a major factor in his decision to take part in the show. But time away from his family only made him realize how much he had let this sense of mission get in the way of what was most important: simply spending time with them.
“When you go through IVF, you spend so much time working so you can afford (the treatment) to expand your family,” he says. “You spend more time with your child in daycare than before, after, and on the weekends.”
The time spent away helped him come to his senses. “I think I never really tried to put my energy and actions where my words were,” he reflects. “I love my job, but now I realize that work is just something I need to do to make sure I can enjoy life with my family as best as possible.”
It’s definitely better than being alone.
One Australia Season 4 premieres on July 15 at 7:30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand.