We may be living in the first decent era for reality TV in some time. From The Traitors to the revived Big Brother to the juggernaut that is Married at First Sight, reality shows have become talking points again. Survivor has long been a titan of the genre in the US, though its first attempt at a UK version, which appeared on ITV in the early 00s, lasted only two series. Now, the BBC has revived it, with a confident Saturday/Sunday double bill, featuring hosting duties from The Masked Singer’s Joel Dommett, here more rugged and windswept than in his usual Saturday night suit.
The theme tune sounds more like the sort of track you would find over the credits of a gloomy Scandi-noir drama such as The Killing or The Bridge, which is even funnier when coupled with Dommett’s grave explanations of how it all works. As he talks of “a dramatic sunset showdown where they must sacrifice one of their own”, you start to wonder if it’s all going to go a bit Squid Game.
