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The Summit – ITV1
A group of inexperienced strangers finds themselves stranded in a remote wilderness on the other side of the globe. Cooperation is their only chance of survival, yet they quickly descend into chaos and conflict.
This isn’t a modern adaptation of “Lord Of The Flies,” but rather a new mountaineering reality show hosted by Ben Shephard, titled “The Summit.” ITV’s response to “The Traitors,” it features 14 contestants trading cloaks for cagoules and using pickaxes in metaphorical backstabbing.
On paper, the concept might have sounded exciting. However, the scenic yet vast New Zealand setting, as opposed to the confined quarters of a castle, presents logistical challenges that the format struggles to overcome.
The result is stilted, staged, blatantly fake and frequently nonsensical. The scenery’s nice, though.
We are meant to believe that these climbing novices, aged from their 20s to their 50s, are going to cover more than 100km (roughly 70 miles) in a fortnight, much of it on steep or boggy terrain, some of it vertical, at high altitude, ending on a mountaintop.
They don’t appear to be carrying spare clothes, food or safety equipment, let alone ropes and crampons. All they’ve got in their rucksacks is the prize money, currently standing at £200,000.
The blokes are in jeans, the women in leggings. Frankly, I’d be worried if I saw them setting off for a picnic in the Lake District.
Yet when they reach their first campsite, helpfully set up by the invisible production crew, no one is complaining of sore feet or tired muscles.
Ben Shepherd’s (pictured) ITV take on The Traitors is overwhelmed by logistical problems
Contestants Warren and Jenny on the show. The show feels stilted, staged, blatantly fake and frequently nonsensical
Afton, 24, (pictured) sobs helplessly when she gets mud on her pink outfit
Even if they’re only covering five miles a day, I’d expect all but the fittest to be exhausted.
Several of them are playing panto roles. There’s 24-year-old Afton, all in pink, sobbing helplessly when she gets mud on her outfit.
Publican Miranda, 50, is quick to tell everyone that she lost her mother when she was a teenager, and no one thinks it odd that she chats to her mum’s ghost whenever she’s anxious.
Construction manager Dockers, 36, has apparently been told to make himself as obnoxious as possible. He swaggers about, proclaiming himself to be ‘the ultimate shark’ and boasts of his ability to manipulate the other players.
He’s clearly been told to pick fights, and he does it without any guile or subtlety. On the second morning, he accused the others of trying to ‘sabotage’ him by throwing his gloves on the fire. When they denied it, he blurted, ‘You calling me a liar?’ like a drunk in a pub.
The beauty of The Traitors is that all the cast have to pretend to be friends, even while they know some are bound to be enemies.
These ‘mountaineers’ are supposed to be co-operating. True, they must select candidates for elimination each day but even that is done by a group vote. Stirring up conflict and splitting into factions makes no sense.
It’s all weirdly pointless… summit and nothing.