Question:
I wonder if they went to this format because the first group of
Castaways--though lovely people, most of them--cheated so flagrantly on
the premise of the first series?
no, not really. They presumably decided to market it in the US as a
followup to "Castaway" because of the success of "Survivor", but it's
actually a sort of rerun of a similar experiment the BBC did in the
seventies, in the light of new archeological knowledge.
Answer:
The first Castaway I saw on BBC America was taped, I think, in 2000. Set on
the island of Taransay. The people were supposed to live in a self-sufficient
community. Featured the truly lovely and loveable Ben (I still have my
BenPet), Julie, Trevor (too funny) and a host of others including scary ol' Ray
and Ron, the problem child.
What I noticed, at least in the episodes broadcast on BBCAm was that it quickly
went from a weekly recap to a series of compilation episodes. Which I watched
anyway. The other thing I noticed was that about half the community seemed
intent on sticking to the original concept--self sufficiency ala the 18th
century--and some of the others seemed to feel this was a nice, year-long
holiday. I did a little research and the Harris papers were having a field day
with this thing. Seems some of the local fisherpeople were supplimenting their
income by smuggling contraband onto Taransay (the contestants brought cash,
some of them) and taking some of the contestants off island for some recreation
on Harris. That in itself was interesting, if not in line with the producers'
plans.
This is why the 'Iron Age' thing interested me; I was wondering if they found a
remote enough location to keep the contestants from bringing in fresh veggies,
booze, chocolate and cigarettes when they felt the need
