The record-breaking smash hit survival series Alone Australia returns Wednesday, 27 March, at 7.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand.
This time, 10 Australian survivalists will be dropped into the extreme and wild terrain of New Zealand’s South Island (Aotearoa’s Te Waipounamu), where they face the ultimate test of human will.
In this trailblazing 10-part documentary series, participants are completely isolated from the world and each other, stripped of modern possessions, contact and comforts, to self-document their experience – the last one standing winning $250,000. Challenged by the merciless forces of nature, hunger, and perhaps the toughest challenge of all: loneliness, who will survive the longest?
Dehydration, starvation, relentless rain, snow, freezing sub-Antarctic fronts, Roaring Forties winds and the always imminent threat of tree avalanches, earthquakes, and landslides. These are just some of the hurdles they face in their mission to outlast everyone else.
With no camera crews or help from the production team, they must fend for themselves, sourcing food, water, shelter, and warmth using only their wits, 10 carefully selected survival items, and the natural resources at hand. And for the first time on Alone Australia, participants are permitted to hunt with bow and arrow. With wild pig, possum, tahr and red deer for the take, this raises the stakes and the intensity in their quest for sustenance and survival.
Unable to contact other participants and unaware of who remains in the competition, the 10 must battle their own emotional, psychological, and physical limits. Self-documenting their struggles, triumphs, and daily survival, this is the ultimate test of endurance, with only three ways to exit – voluntary tap out, medical extraction or as the winner.
This season, delve deeper into each episode with SBS Audio’s companion podcast Alone Australia: The Podcast – hosted by Alone Australia Season 1 winner Gina Chick and SBS Presenter and Alone superfan Darren Mara. Listen in weekly from Friday 29 March as they debrief each episode. They’ll unpick every success, mistake, near-miss, and lesson learnt with special guests including S2 cast, S1 alumni, series creators and well-known fans of the show. Catch the podcast on SBS On Demand, SBS Australia on YouTube, the SBS Audio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
“Alone Australia became the breakout TV hit of 2023 and most successful original show in SBS history. The series is unique. It’s real, unfiltered and authentic and this struck a chord with viewers. We’re so thrilled to premiere a second season in which the stakes are raised even higher and for Australia to get to know and love our new cast,” said SBS head of unscripted Joseph Maxwell.
Alone Australia was a massive success for SBS with the series achieving a mass reach of 1 million + where almost half the audience was digital.
“In Australia there are a handful of shows that are guaranteed cross platform ratings juggernauts – Alone Australia is now firmly cemented as one of those shows, delivering audience across both broadcast TV and BVOD,” said Adam Sadler, SBS’s director of media sales.
“Season 1 of Alone Australia delivered massively for advertisers with a series average 1.24m with BVOD out rating traditional broadcast, for some episodes, and most importantly Season 2 in New Zealand promises to be even bigger”.
“A lot of people might have missed it at the time, but in the all-important 25-54s demographic Alone Australia was seeing off bigger and more long running TV franchises to become the no.1 most watched show over 28 Days. This show is unique in the Australian media landscape – it truly reflects TV viewing in 2024 – as a mass reach audience vehicle with a demographically pure audience focused on 25-54s”.
Last seasons winner, Gina Chick will be featured in the ‘Handing Over Creative Control: Inside Alone Australia’ session at this years Cannes In Cairns. Secure tickets to see Gina and a pool of other incredible guests now.
