With Survivor’s SA’s Horse
being packed off to get a second chance on Sunday I obviously wasn’t able to catch up with her after her elimination so instead I caught up with host Mark Bayly to get his take on what’s what with Dead Man’s Island.
Unfortunately, because of all the “twists and shocking turns,” that are tied up in a zillion contracts he couldn’t tell us very much but I tried to get as much insight as I could for us and we had a chinwag about stuff including Brigitte’s body, TVSA and Survivor SA: Season 2.
Tashi: So when are the ones who’ve been sent to Dead Man’s Island gonna come back to haunt the one’s who are left? From what I can work out it’s one person who’ll be returning?
Mark: Unfortunately I don’t have the liberty to give details, all I can say is that several people will go to Dead Man’s Island and once there are a certain number, they’ll compete against each other. More than one person will come back. I can’t tell you how many and it’s definitely not all of them.
Tashi: So you also can’t say how many are gonna be remaining when they come back?
Mark: I’d love to but unfortunately I can’t. To a degree I’m questioning the strategy behind not releasing that. Part of it is that they want people watching and you have to watch to find out, rather than revealing too many details before and then people are lacksadaisical about whether they’re gonna tune in or not.
I think the strategy is that it’ll keep people on their toes to watch so it really is just trying to get the viewership.
Tashi: Will we see footage of what they get up to at this Dead Man’s Island?
Mark: There will be some. There is a camera crew with people on the island so you’ll see Brigitte entertaining herself or not, until she’s joined by another and another etc.
All those who are voted out from now go there and then when they have their challenge to get back into the game, those who don’t fare well will go home immediately after that and the others will go back.
Obviously those who are there now have watched the American series and they’re thinking :”If all these people are leaving and there’s no talk of Jury, what’s happening?” It’ll be an amazing episode when the guys come back.
Tashi: And Nico? There’s no chance of him going back?
Mark: It was unfortunate that we couldn’t manipulate the game to keep someone on. It would have been great to keep him and people on the production were hoping he’d hang on to be a part of it. Brigitte joining him would have been very sweet but we couldn’t manipulate the game for a particular player.
Tashi: So they’re gonna live the same way they’ve been living?
Mark: There’s no food source other than if they fish or if coconuts wash up so it’s not easy by any means. Brigitte’s got fishing line, a tarpaulin and a rope so she can try to make shelter.
Tashi: And a fire?
Mark: I’m not quite sure, I can’t remember if she got a flint. I never visited the island - besides me doing the link I was never there.
Tashi: Where you with them when they do the challenge?
Mark: Ja, I was the judge.
Tashi: So they’re not doing the challenge on that island?
Mark: Ja, I just wasn’t there for any of the reality filming. I’m there for the challenge - whether it’s there or not.
Tashi: Okay. How far away is Burba’s island from this one?
Mark: It’s probably about forty minutes away.
Tashi: Did you know about this Dead Man’s twist from the start of the season or did you just chuck it in later on?
Mark: There’s basically a Survivor Handbook, for want of a better word, which has a lot of the potential twists and turns and stuff that you can add to the game.
The idea of Dead Man’s Island or Exile Island - there is the option to use an extra island and there are lots of different things you can do with it. The way the Americans are using it is very different from the way we’ve used it. It was a decision that was made in the recce when the director and crew first went over and decided how we were going to do it.
Tashi: What some people are worried about is that this same twist happened during Pearl Islands. Losers who went off got the chance to come back and the people who really didn’t deserve the second chance - who’d been voted out for very good reasons - they ended up coming back and did well, whereas those who’d really played hard, lost out. Do you think there’s this problem with the twist?
Mark: The one comparison that comes up is that woman who was the Scout leader who the castaways elected to go back into the game and she got all the way to the final …that’s a comparison we’re gonna have drawn against us.
I know that once you’re voted off there is a degree where you want to say: “You know, you didn’t make it, cheers,” but when you see the calibre of people that will be voted out it changes it to a degree. It’s not losers who are being kicked out, it’s players.
The island’s also bloody harsh. Every bird in the area goes there to use it as a toilet. It stinks and it’s boiling hot so it’s not like they’re chilling in a resort and the challenge to get back in is gruelling. In a way it’s like purgatory and when they come back in they’ve really earned the right to be there.
Tashi: Well hopefully it’s gonna help save Mzi. I can’t stand it when the true Survivors get themselves on the chopping block and he’s in a desperate situation. I’m not happy about Brigitte but I’m happy for him.
Mark: There are several people, myself included, who aren’t happy with “The meek shall inherit the earth.” I want the strong people to go all the way and it doesn’t happen all that often in Survivor.
Tashi: So what’s gonna happen with the Jury? I’m assuming that if Brigitte doesn’t make it she’ll be the first member?
Mark: I can’t get into it too much but there will be a Jury.
Tashi: Is there anything else about Dead Man’s Island you can tell us?
Mark: Just that’s it’s really horrible. There are no frills. I don’t actually even know if Brigitte eats until she’s joined by someone else.
Tashi: That makes me pleased.
Mark: I know how she’s coming across - at a press conference on Sunday we had people saying that she came onto the show to prove that models aren’t doff and she’s done the opposite. I can understand with how it’s being portrayed and I don’t mean to be Mr PC but she’s actually a hell of a nice girl.
Tashi: Yes Mark, her body’s just worked on you.
Mark: No, no, no, no, no, not that. I’m very happy thank you. She’s actually a very sweet girl. I think if it was an Afrikaans show she’d have equipped herself better. She doesn’t have a great command of the English language and that’s something that’s contributed to her seeming out of it.
Tashi: What have you thought about people’s comments about the show on TVSA?
Mark: I’ve agreed with a hell of a lot of them and I’m not the only one. You know, the directors and stuff - as much as you can have watched the American series, it’s a huge learning curve and I’m not being an apologist for the budget and what we had to work with, but it is a reality. When you have a Hollywood budget you can do whatever you want with 10 film crews.
I think many of the things that have been said are very valid. Some of the stuff that hasn’t been shown on the show is the amount of debris that washes up on the beach. A toothbrush that’s been mentioned, that washed up and the guys shared it - how gruesome is that?
Tashi: That's
so disgusting.
Mark: Ja, I’d rather use the husks of a coconut. Gudjugu made some
very good points about the water. It comes down to how much the Americans manipulate to make things look natural and I’m not putting down their show, I love it, but I felt supplying our Survivors with bottles of water was the most honest thing to do. There was no natural water there and if we’re giving it to them why make pains about it.
The nice thing about TVSA is that it’s constructive criticism. Some of the other stuff is just personal and you wonder: how seriously are these people taking everything? It’s an hour of entertainment.
I loved it when I was getting lambasted on the M-Net site and I recognized a few TVSA contributors coming over as my defense team saying things like “Give the guy a break, give him a chance to prove himself.”
On the whole I like what they’re saying, I agree with a lot of it. Obviously knowing the contestants a little better, like me saying Brigitte’s a nice girl, people aren’t gonna see that.
Tashi: No I really don’t want to. Is there any talk about a second season?
Mark: I think there’s generally a feeling - and nobody’s stating it - that there’s a very, very good chance there will be another series. It really is gonna come down to ratings.
I believe the ratings are above the original projections and it’s gonna come down to how well it performs from now and the finale as well so the more people who watch, the more chance we have of having a crack at another one.
Tashi: Of course a second one won’t be in Open Time.
Mark: M-Net Open Time closes, I think at the beginning of next year, April next year - so that will add something to the dynamic again. I hope people watch, even those who have mixed feelings about it. I do think it’s going to get more exciting from now.
I think the same happens with the US one where typically the viewership increases quite dramatically towards the finale. One of the main reasons I’d like a second season - obviously for my career I need it - but also to address a lot of the issues that have come up.
Everybody’s very open to admit that it was a learning curve and that we’ve learnt a number of very good lessons that we’d like to use to improve the second series. From casting the contestants to the production. The one thing I don’t think we can fault is the quality of the pictures, the production quality of that has been world class.
Ends