ESCAPE FROM EXPERIMENT ISLAND PRE-AIR
This page is from July, 2002, right after the show was filmed in June.
In late June, 2002, Dave got himself a spot on an engineering competition reality show!
Background (how did I get on the show?)
>>>Here's
my application in MS Word format 
Locator Maps (where is 'Experiment Island'?)
Click here to go to post-air stuff (Q&A, behind-the-scenes pics, show commentary, etc.)
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In May 2002, I saw a blurb about a new competition reality show for TLC. It sounded interesting so I filled out the long application, filmed a short video about why I'd be a good contestant, and sent them in. 3 days later I was being interviewed by Paul, the casting director, at the SF Hyatt. The next day, I was in Golden Gate Park, participating in a mock engineering/building competition, and being observed for skills and abilities to design & build quickly.
Two weeks later, I was selected out of 1000+ applicants and was offered a spot as a contestant on one episode of 'Escape from Experiment Island'. The BBC was going to film six 1-hour episodes, each episode showing a competition between two teams of four (12 different teams total). I accepted and was scheduled to be on the 1st episode filmed (though episodes are not shown in order of filming). For details & pictures of the adventure see below.
On June 21-22, I was flown to Glasgow, where I met up with the seven other contestants that I'd be spending a week with...3 of them would be on my team but I wouldn't know which ones until the competition actually began. The plan was to head to Mallaig, a small town on the western coast, and stay there for one night. Then we'd ferry over to an island off the coast to spend six nights and five full days of competition and filming.
Most common questions asked before I left home for 10 days for Scotland:
"Is there a prize?" Answer: NO. I truly did it because it sounded like a great adventure & challenge. I think that a prize would have made the competition very stressful and not as fun!
"Do you form your own team?" Answer: NO. Unlike Junkyard Wars, the two teams were selected and formed by the casting agency and the producers of the show.
"Do you have to eat bugs? Is it like Survivor?" Answer: NO. This is more about actual competition, design, & building, rather than scheming and eating bugs!
To keep things exciting/fresh/interesting (I suppose), contestants weren't told much beforehand...here's what I knew:
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I’d be a contestant on a 4-person team of strangers, competing against another 4-person team in a reality competition.
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We’d be building some sort of craft.
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There were going to be daily "Challenges", possibly related to building part of the craft...or not.
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We were to bring only socks, underwear, swimwear, nightwear, and items of personal hygiene.
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Electronics, tools, watches, and reading material would not be allowed.
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We’d stay in "modern tents with comfortable sleeping facilities...proper bathroom facilities with hot water are nearby."
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We wouldn’t have to eat bugs or forage for food.
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There was no prize money…we were doing this for the adventure of it.
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Being the first week of filming, things might be extra chaotic.
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This show would be aired by The Learning Channel (TLC) but produced by the BBC.
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Where did the adventure take place? In Scotland on the Isle of Rhum. Rhum has 25 permanent residents, all living near Kinloch, but otherwise is 40 square miles of undeveloped island.
We 8 contestants stayed in a camp on the hillside overlooking Kinloch and the Loch Scresort. Other locations on the island that were used in the filming include beautiful Kilmory beach to the north, and Loch Ogmabac, southwest from Kinloch.
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PHOTO JOURNAL (see other Exp Island page for behind-the-scenes pics)
[click on pics to enlarge!]
PHOTO CREDIT: Thanks to Kareem and Christy for many of these photos!
The scenic Glasgow-to-Mallaig bus ride (June 22nd):
Loch Lomond:
Sheep on a hill, dramatic skies & Lochs (Lakes) & Bens (hills):
Haggis eating, kilt shopping (no, not really...), and riding the charter bus:
The tiny coastal town of Mallaig:
View from my hotel room window at the West Highland Hotel:
The Isle of Rhum (completely obscured by clouds). Dinner at the hotel with the gang:
The wet ferry ride from Mallaig to the Isle of Rhum (aka: Isle of Rum, Forbidden Isle) (June 23rd):
Our 1st island stop was the little community center, where we were given lunch & gear, and many of the contestants showed their musical talents:
The Living Quarters: We trooped off to our living quarters, which was a campground situated on the hill overlooking Loch Scresort harbor. It was complete with a giant-dome mess tent, huge communal 'play' tent, and 3 fabric-enclosed porta-porties. The thick, lush, clumpy, green grass that was everywhere only served to hide the boggy, marshy, goopy mud...all-in-all a very difficult surface to walk on.
The Scenic Isle itself: The Isle of Rhum was at all times cloudy and/or rainy and/or windy, but always green, dramatic, and beautiful:
Kinloch Castle, built by a rich man in 1902, is in the first pic. The 32 members of the production crew got to stay in a hostel in the castle...where they had electricity, showers, heat, and a solid roof! Although the weather was unfriendly most of the time, the wind/rain apparently kept the rampant population of biting midges down to a minimum...we didn't have to use bug juice!
Teams: We were divided into teams pretty much at the same moment that the competition began. We were given many layers of clothing, all of the appropriate color. In the 1st picture are Sam, Kareem, Christy, Stephen, Shawn, Scott, Dave, and Sabrina (You might see a similar picture used at http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/experimentisland/experimentisland.html). In another pic is Loch Ogmabac, a pristine, windswept lake in middle of the island, and the location of one of the sub-challenges.
Production Crew: The crew of 30+ included cameramen, soundmen, show host, science host, producers, science experts (who set up the challenges), pilots, a boat & scuba team, pyrotechnics experts, and our gracious hosts, Amanda and Rebecca (left), who patiently listened to our gripes and complaints about the weather, contest rules, lack of showers, etc., and our camp hosts, Giles and Wee Davie (right), who took care of our camp, food, and drove us around the island as needed.
We got a kick out of the cool Land Rovers that carried us, gear, and crew around the island. There were hopped-up and extended-wheelbase versions:
There was a great traditional Ceilidh/cast party after the filming was over with a great high energy folk band...but I was so tired (had gotten less than 8 hours of sleep for 7 nights in a row!) and was hit by a large wave of homesickness (I haven't been away from Linda this long anytime in the last 8 years!) so I wasn't interested in socializing and did not stay long. On the right are show hosts Vanessa and Steve:
Glasgow on our last day:
The gang left the island at 9:30am on Saturday, June 29th. We arrived at the hotel at 5pm, groggy after a long ferry ride and then a harrowing, rainy charter bus ride during which the driver put the bus into a four-wheel-slide on among other things:
We were revived with a nice dinner in Glasgow, and the sight of a beautiful Ferrari 360 Modena got me going too (a fine & functional work of art):
The next day, I flew home, eager to see Linda, Mudpie, and Miso!
Most common questions asked after I returned:
"Did you win?" Answer: I'm not allowed to tell! You'll just have to watch the show! I can definitely say I had a great time meeting people, being immersed in the 'reality TV' experience, and having a fully paid mini-vacation.