‘No producer or director intervening…. no sudden reveals. It’s really raw and authentic.’

“What I love about this it’s so different from any other show,” says SBS Head of Unscripted, Joseph Maxwell.

“There’s no interventions, no sudden reveals . It’s really raw and authentic.”

Alone also just happens to be the biggest factual hit at SBS on Demand, by a country mile.

No surprises then that the broadcaster sought to commission Alone Australia. But for Maxwell, Alone still sits within the SBS Charter.

“It’s extraordinarily unique and distinctive. There’s simply no other show like this.

“In many ways, I would argue this is the truest form of documentary you could have. No narration, entirely self-shot, no producer or director intervening. So that feels intrinsically SBS. It’s totally distinctive, which is intrinsically SBS.”

Alone is a US format in which 10 individuals are challenged to survive alone in the wilderness, unassisted, using a limited amount of equipment. The last man or woman standing will walk away with a $250,000 prize -the biggest the broadcaster has ever offered, courtesy of sponsors.

Participants must document their own experience with supplied cameras, but have no insight on whether their competition has ‘tapped out’ via satellite phone.

“You might think ‘Am I the penultimate person standing or is everyone still left?'”

“The genius of the show in a sense is it’s simplicity. I mean, there’s not that many rules, because it really is about you alone, trying to survive as long as you can. So yes, you have to abide by local hunting rules and so on, but you have no idea what anyone else is doing. You could have been in there for a week, and you might think ‘Am I the penultimate person standing or is everyone still left?'” he muses.

“They have no knowledge whatsoever of what is going on elsewhere.”

The 11 part series, which kicks off with a double episode, was shot in deep western Tasmania last June -a punishing season in an unforgiving land, to be sure.

“We wanted to start just on that cusp of winter. We’ve looked at the US series and you want to go in somewhere that feels kind of green and verdant. But you know that the conditions are always going to get progressively more challenging,” Maxwell explains.

“There’s 250 days of rain a year so that’s where you see people opening up.”

“Cold is obviously a challenge, but wet is a real challenge, I think. There’s quite a lot of times in the series, you’ll see when the rain comes down, contemplation begins. I think it’s often quite hard to get out there and do too much in the heavy, heavy rain. There’s 250 days of rain a year so that’s where you see people opening up.

“Across the 11 episodes, you’re going to really see people’s characters emerge as they start to confront things, challenge and explore things within themselves. Funnily enough, the rain is very often a backdrop for all that.”

The scenery, and shots by producers ITV Studios Australia, add hansomely to the production. The wilderness location, similar to that used in The Bridge, adds to the escapism of the series.

“We needed to be able to be inland where out 10 participants are in genuinely isolated plots…. that do not intersect with each other. So for example, you can shout as loud as you want, you can light a fire, (nobody will) hear or see that. So that isolation is super important to us. But it’s very hard to find a plot of land big enough to be able to do that with access to fresh water as well,” he continues.

“So yes, The Bridge was shot nearby, but it’s a very large stretch of land.”

“What it really does come down to is how your head can deal with being alone”

As fans of the franchise know too well, the isolation and conditions impacts on participants in extraordinary, base ways that comment on endurance and the human condition.

“What it really does come down to is how your head can deal with being alone. There’s some pretty iconic shots of people alone in their shelter. The rain starts to challenge you about who you are and what you want to do.

“What I find fascinating is it’s kind of real documentary stories that keep unfolding, but are totally self-shot.

“Some of them are more playful, some of them are more serious, some are totally focused on the end goal. Some of them are just finding ways to keep themselves keeps going. But you also see people crack, in a very real, authentic manner. Peole start to go, ‘I can’t do this.'”

“It’s very hard when you see them start to ‘tap out'”

Amongst the cast are a Wildlife & Environmental Officer, Rewilding Facilitator, Hunting Guide, Solo Adventurist, and School Teacher.

“We made such an effort to get a really strong diversity of cast across the board, and I mean everything,” Maxwell insists. “The strategies they employ, the skill sets they’ve got, why they’re there in the first place…. I hope our audience is going to start falling in love with our cast and back them. And it’s very hard when you see them start to ‘tap out,” Maxwell reveals.

Unlike other reality television, there also isn’t any set trajectory of eliminations at the end of every episode.

“It’s far more organic that that. You’ll see you will certain days where you just go, ‘Oh, my goodness, what is happening?’ And other days when you think no one’s ever going to leave.

“There’s not a predictability to it.”

Alone Australia double episode premiere 7:30pm Wednesday on SBS.