Aussie fugitives “were incredibly hard to hunt”

Australian participants in 10’s new reality chase Hunted were amongst some of the best that Ben Owen has encountered.

“The Australians were the most amount of fugitives that I’ve ever had to hunt in the shortest amount of time,” he tells TV Tonight.

“But also, they’re incredibly good. There’ll be doing some stuff that even people who have watched the UK show before, have never seen fugitives do before. They’re really dynamic, really adventurous and in some cases, incredibly strategic and clever. They were incredibly hard to hunt. I think people are in for a right treat with this one.”

Owen has participated in nine seasons of the UK original, plus one US series. Now he appears as Deputy Intelligence in the series filmed in Victoria in Febraury and March.

There are nine teams of ‘Fugitives’ being pursued for 21 days by the Hunters, led by Former Detective Superintendent David Craig at Hunters HQ. Ground Hunters will also chase them across the state as they make their way to a secret extraction point, hoping not to be detected.

Fugitive teams are given just $500, part cash, part debit card, and the rest is up to them.

“That’s it, they don’t get any more from Production. That’s what they go on the run with. It’s trying to simulate real world. If someone had to go on the run at a moment’s notice, they might be able to grab their wallet, grab a few things from a household and go,” he explains.

‘But of course, they can be inventive. If they want to go back to mum’s house, they can go back and get cash, albeit that we’re probably looking at mums house. They’ve got to be quite dynamic. They can potentially go and work for it. It’s really up to them as long as it stays legal and safe.”

“We take this really seriously”

Hunters are only given a name, date of birth and state of their fugitives. But Owen, a former British Intelligence Officer, admits that sometimes the chase becomes so real that his team sometimes toss demeaning and derogatory language towards their prey in HQ.

“We take this really seriously, because I think it’s bored into us when we’re doing it in the real world. Military intelligence services and police are actually going out and finding horrible people to keep the public safe. So as we enter this we’ve sort of said, in our own mind, we’re going to enter this as if it’s real,” he continues.

“So even though this is a TV show, we’re not dampening down our efforts or enthusiasm. I think that shows that’s displayed on set. And although obviously, these are wonderful people who haven’t committed a crime, it’s unfortunate that some things may come across as derogatory. It’s only borne out of passion for having done this in the real life. That’s probably the best way I can explain that.”

“Whatever you think, portray it”

There’s also the need to explain hunter actions for the cameras, as they are being carried out, in order to make the show for television.

“Whatever you think, portray it,” Owen confirms.

“We’re doing exactly what we do in the real world, but we’re just talking about it, rather than thinking in our heads. Often if we talk a lot of jargon that no one would understand the production team were very good at saying ‘Talk to me as somebody who’s never experienced this before.’ So we break it down and discuss how we’ve got to a certain decision or hypothesis.”

Hunters also have access to phones, allowing them to access messages, social media posts and emails, in order to build up a profile and help track them down.

“If someone in real life went on the run, law enforcement would be turning up at their house, get all of their equipment and hardware for forensic analysis. So again, we’re simulating what happens in the real world to make it as real as possible,” says Owen.

“We are able to access their devices”

“When they sign up for this, they are signing up for the fact that we are able to access their devices. So we’re doing it legitimately. We’re doing it legally. They understand as part of their time on the run that they are treated as a real fugitive.

“Obviously, they’re not real fugitives, but as part of this process, we’re simulating that they are real fugitive.s They give us the signature, and then it’s all fair game and obviously their trade off is maybe $100,000.”

So do the Hunters always get their man or woman? Owen isn’t saying for the Australian season but confirms only one season of the UK involed a “clean sweep” of all fugitives prior to the extraction point -which isn’t known to the Hunters..

“Every other show at least a few people have made it. But statistically speaking, the Hunters have always won, if that makes sense. We’ve always got about a 90-95% success rate.”

Hunted premieres 7:30pm Sunday on 10.