Channel 4 has confirmed the commission of an epic new series Eden from KEO Films.
Beginning in 2016 the series will follow the experience of more than 20 highly skilled Brits as they face building a new life with the bare minimum needed to survive creating their own shelter, society and rules. For one year this community will hunt, sleep and live together, cut off from the rest of the world.
The series will be filmed from the inside by embedded crew, personal cameras and a fixed rig, the group will be alone as they start their lives in a remote and isolated part of the northern hemisphere.
So, given the opportunity to live a new way of life will the group learn from our mistakes to create a new Eden? Or will they end up in purgatory?
The community will be made up of a diverse group of people, with a range of skills – from fishermen to foragers, builders to botanists, engineers and entertainers who will each have to cast aside everything from their previous lives to begin again.
With no prescribed infrastructure the group will be given the basics needed to kick start their experience relying on the abundant natural resources and whatever they can scavenge . The series will challenge everything about modern living, raising questions about what we want and need from our communities and how this could shape our belief in society as a whole.
Of the commission Liam Humphreys said ‘Eden developed partly as a response to a growing malaise amongst the young with traditional political systems. It offers a simple insight, what would the world look like if we started again? It promises to be a bold idea, not least because of the scale of the concept but also because as programme makers we have absolutely no idea what will happen’.
Of the commission Colleen Flynn from KEO Films said: “Eden (w/t) is a truly unique proposition, taking highly skilled people, giving them basic resources and seeing what they can create given time and opportunity away from the constraints of modern life. We can't wait to work with Liam and Channel 4 on this highly ambitious and game changing series”
The series was commissioned for Channel 4 by Head of Factual Entertainment Liam Humphreys and Factual Entertainment commissioning editor Ian Dunkley. It will be produced by KEO Films with Executive Producer Colleen Flynn. The series will TX in 2016.
