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The first two instalments of the BBC reality show filmed on Great Barrier Island have bombed with viewers in Britain.
Seven years ago, before reality television had annexed the schedules, the BBC staged what was described somewhat grandly as a "social experiment".
Thirty-six people were set adrift on the wind-swept Hebridean island of Taransay to spend 12 months living together in a self-sufficient community, growing their own food, fishing, arguing and procreating.
The result was some pioneering television that pleased the critics as well as the viewers and at its peak Castaway 2000 drew ratings of seven million - commanding a 30 per cent audience share.
It also created a star out of well-spoken contestant Ben Fogle. News that the show was to make a return was greeted with considerable excitement among those who remembered it from the first time around.
However, unfortunately for the BBC and series makers Lion TV, the viewing public appears to have abandoned the show after only two episodes.
The first instalment drew an average audience of 4.1 million. By Sunday that figure had dropped to just 2.9 million, having been trounced by ITV1's new drama Fallen Angel - which drew 6.7 million viewers - and beaten into an embarrassing third place by Channel Four's film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It also failed to match the appeal of the final of the Crufts dog show which preceded it on BBC2, presented by none other than Ben Fogle.
The BBC was putting a brave face on its flagship Sunday night offering yesterday, insisting it was still too early to write off Castaway 2007 as a lost cause.
"The series got off to a good start. It's early days for the programme," said a spokesman.
"There are some good characters there that we hope viewers will enjoy getting to know over the coming weeks."
The corporation has already drawn flak from those who felt the ideals of the first series had been watered down this time around.
The new series is due to run for three months rather than 12, and there has been criticism that the current contestants are enduring nothing like the isolation experienced by the original incumbents.
Journalists have noted Great Barrier's popularity with tourists and its thriving local community, boasting an Irish pub and a Thai restaurant.
Reports the 120-strong film crew are able to stock up on lager and wine from the local shop and send out their clothes to be washed at the local launderette, have done nothing to add to the sense of remoteness.
Others have claimed that the current castaways, who include a lap dancer, a former drug addict and a prospective MP, have been selected for their ability to generate controversy rather than their suitability to endure hardship.
The BBC has insisted that the show remains true in spirit to the original, while Lion TV claimed it was "reality television with a purpose".
But the world of television has transformed out of all recognition since the original Castaway was produced. The proliferation of channels and the internet has seen audience size for programmes shrink dramatically.
The advent of Big Brother and other confrontational reality shows, not to mention the success of glossy desert island drama Lost could, it has been claimed, render Castaway somewhat tame by comparison.
- INDEPENDENT
