Influenced by concerns about overpopulation, the counterculture of the 1960s and the societal effects of television, the play depicts a world of the future where a small elite control the media, keeping the lower classes docile by serving them an endless diet of lowest common denominator programmes and pornography. The play concentrates on an idea the programme controllers have for a new programme which will follow the trials and tribulations of a group of people left to fend for themselves on a remote island. In this respect, the play is often cited as having anticipated the craze for reality television.
Writing
Nigel Kneale's script predicted 2024 in 1968 with terrifying clarity.
Production
BBC studio maximalism—cheap sets, expensive ideas.
Director
Michael Elliott
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kneale wrote this after witnessing the first moon landing coverage, terrified by how easily mass attention could be manufactured and controlled.
The 'on the island' sequence directly inspired the premise of Survivor—Jeff Probst owes his entire career to a British socialist warning about television's rot.
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