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Will ABC renew Escape from the City?

Presenter Jane Hall isn't sure if ABC will go again with its lifestyle series.

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Next week ABC will present its 2020 programming slate.

If Escape from the City is renewed it is unlikely to screen next year due to the long production time involved.

Fremantle produced 60 episodes of the series in 2018 which also helped showcase parts of rural Australia.

Originally the series was planned for a 6pm slot in 2018, but after ABC settled on The Drum in the slot it screened in 2019 on Thursdays (and The Heights to Fridays).

Presenter Jane Hall told TV Tonight she hadn’t heard of further filming.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Because we made 60 episodes of that -we being the ABC- I don’t know.

“I think they’re just going to do that ABC thing of keeping it on a loop for a very long time. We’ll still be watching it 10 years from now.

“So I’m not sure, but I am actually contracted to do it if they want to go again.”

ABC’s 2020 slate will be revealed next Thursday afternoon.

11 Responses

  2. I love the show, and I’ve gotten over the lack of closure now, just love seeing all the different areas of Australia. My favourite eps were the ones around Byron and Port Douglas. My favourite presenter is Jane Hall, followed closely by Dean Ipaviz.

  3. The US equivalents on ch 94 have closure. Escape From The City is a world of arti climax. Why the f would you broadcast an episode where the buyers are still undecided about moving 12 months later?

  5. Wield the axe. Everything about the show is amateurish – from the wonky logo to the folksy, pun-laden commentary. And they’d clearly run out of ideas when they visited the second oyster farm about halfway. through the series. If they were serious about making some solid real-estate porn they’d double the number of properties visited and make a serious effort to actually meet the guests’ briefs, rather than see them as the vaguest possible suggestions. The UK “escape” formats manage to cover the same number of properties in 30 minutes; padding it out to an hour is just a snooze.

  6. I am enjoying the show but I skip over the Simon Marnie ones (we hear his voice for a long time on Saturdays on the radio). I like that at the end they state what ultimately happens, unlike Escape to the Country.

    I agree that it may need some polishing, but it is a great show. Another series, I suppose, depends on the cost of production. I wish that it had taken the place of The Drum. We are long past the stage where the ABC should be duplicating shows over two different channels.

  7. I would be happy to watch another series with some adjustments. I find some of the presenters disingenuous and the interactions awkward. The format of the show appears to make provision for commercials with lots of unnecessary repetition of things that occurred in earlier scenes. With some tweaks this could be a really enjoyable programme.

  8. Love it! It’s pretty much the only show on free to air that I look forward to each week and watch without fail. Great learning about the areas, seeing the houses and each host has their own style. Withdrawals!!

  9. Lets hope not. We gave up watching the show weeks ago … same old, same old. I recorded it & we watched the last few mins only. 99% of the “escapees” failed to actually escape !!!

    1. Ditto Baz, big time. I set my PVR to record the whole series but I guess with limited properties for sale when filming, the choices are rather left of field and ‘meh’.

      With 60 of them one is unlikely to watch the same episode twice.

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