Dumped, 8pm Sunday, Channel 4

Posted by Helen Jennings

Our rating:
As one Channel 4 reality show ends this weekend, another begins. But don’t worry – this one doesn’t go on for three very long months or feature Charley Uchea. It does however have similarities with Big Brother in that it involves a bunch of tantrum-prone contestants sharing unusual accommodation.

Dumped asks 11 unwitting volunteers to live on a landfill site near Croydon for three weeks. All they know before they arrive at their new home is that they are to take part in an eco-challenge – but instead of being delivered to a glacier or rainforest, they’re marooned on a stinking pile of household filth in Surrey. No, I am not making this up.

Their challenge, like The Wombles, is to survive on what everyday folk leave behind. Other than access to clean water, it’s survival of the fittest as they build their own shelter and composting toilets and sift through tonnes of rubbish from pots of paint to car parts. 

Apparently this isn’t a cruel and “hilarious” prank. No. It is in fact an attempt to bring green issues to the fore by highlighting what happens to domestic waste when it leaves our homes.

But what we’ll really be tuning in for is to watch a very un-merry band of contestants reel in horror before settling down to the business of suffering. From staunch environmentalists such as recycling fanatic Lawrence and new age advocate Jarvis to the nature-hating student Aaron and ditsy promo girl Sasha, happy families are not on the cards.

Scandal has already reached the tabloids concerning bullying in the camp during filming, with the blame for a potential Shilpa-gate scenario being pointed at semi-professional footballer Jermaine (his survival tips have to date been gleaned from watching Lost). One fight apparently got so heated that the programme makers had to wade in and calm everyone down – which all sounds like essential viewing to me. Celebrity Dumped here we come?