After 400 days in an Egyptian prison, journalist Peter Greste embarked on a huge Reality TV adventure…. which has launched with little fanfare after a 2 yr delay.
EXCLUSIVE:
Former Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has made his first foray into Reality Television in Ultimate Escape, an adventure series shot in New Zealand for Seven.
Greste, who spent 400 days in an Egyptian prison on supposed terrorism charges, appears alongside brother Andrew in the 9 episode series alongside 8 other pairs, competing for a share of a $100,000 prize.
The series, based on a Finnish format, was filmed in NZ in 2023 but delayed in broadcast by Seven.
Described as “Alone meets Hunted” it has now dropped in its entirety on 7Plus with no fanfare from the network.
Greste and his fellow cast members were advised via email shortly before the series dropped.
“There’s been no publicity about it at all. It doesn’t matter to me, either way, to be honest, I had a great time with it. I really enjoyed shooting the show. Obviously, I had more fun than my brother, but I don’t think it’s bad television. I think it’s actually pretty watchable,” he tells TV Tonight.
“It’s unscripted Reality TV that’s obviously highly produced and managed, but I always knew it was going to be that.”
The series by Helium Productions, sees one member of a team placed in a ‘hold’ with no windows and limited communication with their teammate, via brief phone chats and satellite navigation, to direct them to clues and destinations in the freezing NZ wilderness.
Each episode, the rescuers have 24 hours to race from a drop zone to a rendezvous point and on to the next leg, or risk elimination.
Greste endures punishing conditions in his outdoor adventure while, this time, his brother waits it out in the claustrophobia of the windowless ‘hold.’
“There’s no controversy, no villains in there and maybe that’s part of the reason,” Greste says of the broadcast delay. “There’s no-one to particularly hate. I think there’s a lot of people that you fall in love with in the show, and a lot of people who come across out of it looking really good. There’s no arch villain so I suppose maybe it doesn’t carry the same sort of emotional investment as some programs.
“But it’s a good fun adventure show.”
Seven originally announced the show in 2023 under CEO James Warburton, describing it as “fast-paced, jaw-dropping action supercharged by real emotion.”
At its network-ordered 90 minute length the episodes are not exactly fast-paced, but it arguably will appeal to those who enjoy Alone, Hunted or The Summit.
It’s unclear why Seven took two years to finally drop it on 7Plus instead of a later timeslot or multichannel, especially when there is a $100,000 prize on offer.
“I think most of us had given up on it… we kind of assumed that the show just wasn’t going to go anywhere,” says Greste.
“They spent quite a lot of money. That opening shot involved three helicopters, plus a filming chopper. They had a lot shooter / producers on the show tracking each of us. There was a lot of money involved in setting up the technology to make it all work.”
Seven confirmed the prize would still be issued to winners.
A spokesperson said, “We know audiences are always hungry for fresh, on-demand content — especially in genres like travel, adventure, and competition. With our streaming platform 7plus continuing to grow, it felt like the right time to release Ultimate Escape to a digital-first audience that embraces bold, binge-worthy storytelling.”
Greste has no regrets in embarking on the adventure.
“I thought it’d be a lot of fun. I liked the premise, and I could see why they were interested in inviting me and my brother. The one condition that I made before I before I went on the show, which may explain why it hasn’t been pushed out, is because I said I wouldn’t do anything that would humiliate myself or anybody else. So as long as it wasn’t that kind of show, I was really happy to be a part of it.
“I also had a chance to for my brother to get a deeper sense of what my own experience was like in Egypt. That’s that’s given us quite a lot to talk about.”
Ultimate Escape is now screening on 7Plus.