The Summit, ITV1/STV
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It is a long way from The Summit, ITV’s new reality game show, to the Glasgow Empire of old, but the fabled heckle aimed at Mike and Bernie Winters — “Christ, there’s two of them” — came to mind when one contestant appeared on screen.
Bright pink leggings, sobbing at the drop of a bush hat, nicknamed “Her Divaship”, who was this less-than-intrepid traveller attempting to scale a mountain in New Zealand for a possible £200k prize?
Why, none other than Afton McKeith, daughter of Perth-born I’m A Celebrity contestant Gillian. You remember her: You Are What You Eat, the obsession with bodily waste, the hunger for fame. The very same. Yes, we have reached the point in television where the children of reality show contestants are following them into the family business. Gillian and Afton McKeith: Scotland’s answer to the Kardashians.
Originating in Australia, the UK version of The Summit is presented by This Morning's Ben Shephard. Fourteen mountaineering novices are flown to New Zealand’s South Island for a 100km trek. Those who don't make it to the summit go home empty-handed.
But there’s more. Of course there is. To heighten the sense of Darwinian struggle, regular vote-offs will see the weak, slow and unpopular ditched early, with their share of the prize money returned to the pot.
Oh, and a black helicopter, dubbed the “Mountain’s Keeper”, is meant to hover menacingly over the group, though it clearly isn't getting too close for safety reasons. Likewise, during the challenge of crossing a rickety rope bridge, the contestants were clipped to safety lines.
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The cast is a mixed bunch with various reasons for being there, from buying a house to making their mother proud, and the production team has done an admirable job selecting personalities guaranteed to rub each other the wrong way.
Making an early bid to be chief plonker is “Dockers”: ex-Army, now in construction, calls himself an Alpha male and “the ultimate shark”. Dockers shouts a lot, and by the end of the first episode, he had already made an enemy of Warren, a Church of England Minister. Not just any Church of England minister, but the former “Ace” from Gladiators, who looks like he’s kept up his gym membership. That bodes well, though perhaps not for Dockers.
I'm also curious to see how young Miss McKeith fares. Despite the tears, there's a resourceful young woman in there who could yet surprise everyone.
Commissioned two years ago, The Summit has been on a fair old trek of its own to reach the screen. It may fill a gap while the Winter Olympics are on, but otherwise it feels as tired as the would-be Boningtons already look.
The shouting matches, the backstories, the carefully controlled risky challenges, we’ve seen it all before, spectacular scenery included. In a post-Traitors world, even The Apprentice is filming abroad. Could be worth sticking with to see how they get on past base camp; otherwise, for hardcore survivalism, try Lord of the Flies, BBC1, Sunday, instead.
Continues tomorrow, 9pm
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