The Island -Bear Grylls

[MTech535]

I must have missed something.

When and why did Mercedes leave?

[Robertj21a]

Schermerhorn said:

I have a naive question; how do pigs end up on such remote islands anyway?

Boat.....

[nicanary]

MTech535 said:

I must have missed something.

When and why did Mercedes leave?

She left at the end of last week's episode - 16 April. Hungry and dog-tired and couldn't be a*sed any more. I think she knew herself that physically she wasn't cut out for it. I expect Greggs welcomed her back.

[Piha]

The "animals" are most definitely introduced to the island IMO. There would be an established human community already living there if there was such an abundance of tasty beasties. It also makes sense to provide food to make the final edit entertaining and it doesn't reduce my enjoyment of the show. Some people just need to manage their expectations of a primetime TV show a bit.

[Ayahuasca]

nicanary said:

Ayahuasca said:

shedweller said:

It is real, I do some work for the guy that decides wether the island can support the people for that period if time by being placed there with minimal equipment for a couple of weeks.

He's an adventurer and a safety & survival expert that has worked with bear for years, A really interesting chap..... He's the one you want to be stranded with... Not Bear...... Bears a great motivator and leader with great energy but he's not a true survival "expert" like Dave is.

No, it is not. The pigs and flightless birds do not live on the island.

Out of curiosity, what do the snakes eat? Surely it's usually small mammals and birds, but there don't seem to be any.

I haven't seen any episodes with snakes. There is one in the intro, looks like a fer de lance (but I would be surprised if it was, as they are deadly and aggressive. A native told me there were no fer de lances on the small islands. There are some boa constrictors but they are rare. They eat small birds, nestlings, frogs and so on. There are loads of sea birds nesting.

[HTP99]

Ayahuasca said:

nicanary said:

Ayahuasca said:

shedweller said:

It is real, I do some work for the guy that decides wether the island can support the people for that period if time by being placed there with minimal equipment for a couple of weeks.

He's an adventurer and a safety & survival expert that has worked with bear for years, A really interesting chap..... He's the one you want to be stranded with... Not Bear...... Bears a great motivator and leader with great energy but he's not a true survival "expert" like Dave is.

No, it is not. The pigs and flightless birds do not live on the island.

Out of curiosity, what do the snakes eat? Surely it's usually small mammals and birds, but there don't seem to be any.

I haven't seen any episodes with snakes. There is one in the intro, looks like a fer de lance (but I would be surprised if it was, as they are deadly and aggressive. A native told me there were no fer de lances on the small islands. There are some boa constrictors but they are rare. They eat small birds, nestlings, frogs and so on. There are loads of sea birds nesting.

Didn't they find a snake on the fist episode and the guy that killed it was a vegan, he couldn't live with himself for doing so and left?

[timmymagic73]

Piha said:

The "animals" are most definitely introduced to the island IMO. There would be an established human community already living there if there was such an abundance of tasty beasties. It also makes sense to provide food to make the final edit entertaining and it doesn't reduce my enjoyment of the show. Some people just need to manage their expectations of a primetime TV show a bit.

I think we’re all totally in agreement and have no problem accepting that some flora and fauna has been introduced by Bear to ensure that the contestants have enough food to survive. It’s also clear that “fresh” water is artificially ponded for their consumption too.

What spoils my enjoyment of the show (and others may feel the same) is that without fail the contestants are always totally hopeless at catching the wildlife or finding edible vegetation without intervention from the crew. I keep watching in the vain hope that someone will catch something that hasn’t had it’s wings clipped, been sedated or planted in a trap or net off-camera…

Would I rather they starve to near-death and the show is cancelled in week 2?! Or would I rather see the producers choose some participants who might actually be capable of fending for themselves rather than cause confrontation in the name of entertainment for the edit…

Right, I’m off to watch Ed Stafford make a skirt out of some twigs.

[Ayahuasca]

Some island snakes can be incredibly dangerous, because their main prey is birds, so the venom has to kill them fast before they can fly away. There is an island off the coast of Brazil that is so infested with a species of fer de lance that landing on it is prohibited. They kept wondering why the lighthouse keepers kept dying...


https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/snake-island-i...

Maybe a good location for the next series?

[Ayahuasca]

timmymagic73 said:

Right, I’m off to watch Ed Stafford make a skirt out of some twigs.

Ed Stafford is the real deal.

Me with Ed when he was here to film a series in the Darien.

[nicanary]

Ayahuasca said:

Some island snakes can be incredibly dangerous, because their main prey is birds, so the venom has to kill them fast before they can fly away. There is an island off the coast of Brazil that is so infested with a species of fer de lance that landing on it is prohibited. They kept wondering why the lighthouse keepers kept dying...


https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/snake-island-i...

Maybe a good location for the next series?

A good place for one of the celebrity editions. We get entertaining TV and get rid of some tiresome Z-listers at the same time.

[Robertj21a]

nicanary said:

Ayahuasca said:

Some island snakes can be incredibly dangerous, because their main prey is birds, so the venom has to kill them fast before they can fly away. There is an island off the coast of Brazil that is so infested with a species of fer de lance that landing on it is prohibited. They kept wondering why the lighthouse keepers kept dying...


https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/snake-island-i...

Maybe a good location for the next series?

A good place for one of the celebrity editions. We get entertaining TV and get rid of some tiresome Z-listers at the same time.

Can we add in that nice Tony Blair..............please....!!!

[croyde]

Would love to see a series with capable people.

Squaddies, builders, hunters etc

[Brigand]

croyde said:

Would love to see a series with capable people.

Squaddies, builders, hunters etc

As would I, but it wouldn't make for good TV! By the end of episode one they'd have basic shelter and water, episode five they'd have huts, food, water and a good routine going. Plus us on PH wouldn't have anywhere near as much to talk about as it would all be working smoothly with minimal dramas...

EDIT: I suppose they could have one island with the normal people on like at the moment, and another with the squaddies, builders, hunters etc as a kind of comparison show.

[Halb]

THere needs to be an element of competition. Men v women was good...posh twits v scummy lot doesn't work.
...posties v plumbers?
It wouldn't get mae, but I think muslims v christians would be fun. Or maybe vicars versus imans

[Schermerhorn]

Halb said:

THere needs to be an element of competition. Men v women was good...posh twits v scummy lot doesn't work.
...posties v plumbers?
It wouldn't get mae, but I think muslims v christians would be fun. Or maybe vicars versus imans

Politicians vs snake infested island would be far more hilarious.

[LittleBigPlanet]

Now, I know that editing hasn't exactly been a strong point of this series, but did anybody else feel like last night's episode was a total mess?

I hadn't actually realised that it was the final episode so I was more than a little surprised to find them saying that their stay was coming to an end in the final eight minutes of the show!

There was no, what has come to be, traditional walk around the camp, no meet and greet and emotional phone calls on camera, nothing. Zilch. Perhaps that's what tonight's episode is all about? I'm totally lost with it!

[Robertj21a]

LittleBigPlanet said:

Now, I know that editing hasn't exactly been a strong point of this series, but did anybody else feel like last night's episode was a total mess?

I hadn't actually realised that it was the final episode so I was more than a little surprised to find them saying that their stay was coming to an end in the final eight minutes of the show!

There was no, what has come to be, traditional walk around the camp, no meet and greet and emotional phone calls on camera, nothing. Zilch. Perhaps that's what tonight's episode is all about? I'm totally lost with it!

Sorry to say that it's been the worst series to date. Even after heavy editing and trying to create a bit of drama, neither group of participants seem to have actually done very much at all (what has that large female in the pink actually done ?). I'm sure there was a black female in last night's episode who hasn't featured at all previously. The guys didn't seem to be too bad - eventually.

[Halb]

yeah, got realy bored wit this...I'll still watch tonight...yeah I'm a mug

[dvb70]

I won't be bothering with another series after this last one. It's been going down hill every series and it's become clear to me with this one the producers are only interested in the drama of infighting. A little bit of that can be Ok but the last series feels like that's all it's been about. The actual survival elements of the show at just incredibly weak now.

Just on the whole posh vs. poor thing I actually think the entire situation of them splitting into two camps was contrived. I believe they were told to do that by the production team. I just think it came about far too quickly when it seemed like there had barely been any interaction between the groups.

I can take all the animals and stuff being dropped off on the island fakery but I can't take the fact all they seem to do is sit around for the entire time doing very little. I actually found it just boring. This series also has to be the worst for the people in it. No one really memorable or really very likeable and honestly I was not interested in their squabbling.

Edited by dvb70 on Tuesday 1st May 13:22

[Chimune]

Well said dvb70.
Bring back Shipwrecked....
At least it was hot students arguing!