So, here we are, one year after Channel 4’s Bear Gryll’s The Island, and Channel 5 has brought the British public the immensely original 10,000 BC. In this female inclusive version of The Island we see a bunch of twenty Brits dumped in a Bulgarian forest and left to ‘fend for themselves’ for a total of two months. Well, kind of anyway.
Having shown up complete with heels, sunglasses and smart-phones, all twenty volunteers begin their new lives as stone age people by sacrificing modernity and changing into ‘authentic’ Stone Age clothing. All except 65-year-old Caroline, who fainted a few hours in and never got the chance to change into her holiday clothes and feast her eyes on the all-inclusive perks of the Stone Age wilderness.
Of course, there were many hardships for the group of volunteers, including lost flints, flies on their complementary meat and the inability to navigate from camp fire to tent in the dark. Despite this, the real suffering came when their fur bedding became infested with fly larvae. Tension built, dramatic music was played and action awas taken. Soon the group leader was informed of the tragedy and, as with any Stone Age tribe, real blankets were provided. Even Klint, their expert survival guy, left them all alone with the 24 hour safety and medical team.
For Paul, the lorry driver who believes he ‘was born 10,000 years too late’, this new life should not only have been expected but enjoyed right? Sure, some of us wish we were alive for the 20’s, maybe even the 60’s or 70’s but the Stone Age leaves the audience unconvinced. I’m not convinced. Though Paul did seem to enjoy playing alpha male whilst leading the skinning of the deer, I think his longing for central heating 30 hours in to the 62 day trip may be fuelling my disbelief.
After watching the first episode of this series I can almost certainly confirm there will be screaming, there will be bickering, there will be a few alpha male show downs, and there most definitely will be tears – lots of tears.
If you enjoyed Bear Gryll’s The Island, then I guess it’s great that Channel 5 have put together an almost-replica. This time around at least someone has acknowledged that women, too, might just be able to survive in the wilderness. At least this wilderness is complete with fresh water, provided tools, food and a stricter health and safety team than a school field trip.
Megan Swailes
Image property of Channel 5