Like a lot of people trapped in apartments during Covid lockdowns, I discovered the pleasures of Alone, the survival show in which contestants compete for a big cash prize after being dropped in remote wilderness to survive (alone) for as long as they can. “Pleasures” is possibly the wrong word, as the show often involves watching people starve, get the runs, fall over on muddy embankments or cry desolately in a wet sleeping bag about their families. But it settles into a meditative rhythm that prompts the viewer to ponder: just how would I go?
Australian fans of the show could consult the show’s list of approved survival gear and choose the 10 items they would take with them (I have selected mine), safe in the knowledge we’d probably never have to make good on it. But when SBS announced that Alone was coming to Australia, it was action stations among survivalists nationwide.
