The show followed a year-long effort by thirty-six men, women and children from the British public to build a community on Taransay, a Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides.
Billed as a bold experiment for the new millennium, the castaways were to build a sustainable self-sufficient community from scratch (apart from some buildings which were already there, and some which had been placed there for them). They were to grow their own vegetables, kill their own animals and become a community for the year.
The series differed from some reality shows in several essentials. First, there was no supporting crew. The castaways filmed themselves. Second, there is no competition. Castaway 2000 had no prize on offer at the end of the year-long experience, in comparison with Channel 4’s Big Brother, which came along later in the year. The goal was to build a community rather than select a "winner". In this it is as much a documentary of a yearlong experiment in community building as it is a reality television show.
