Spending Christmas solo? SBS VICELAND has you sorted with the ‘Alone’ marathon

Get some ‘me time’ in the wilds of Patagonia with the doughty survivalists of ‘Alone’.

‘Alone’ season 3 contestant Britt Ahart. Source: Leftfield Pictures

Christmas is a time for reconnecting with family and friends, or so the received wisdom goes. But some prefer solitude, and others have solitude thrust upon them. In that spirit – and for others who don’t celebrate Christmas – SBS VICELAND has you covered with a marathon of the epic third season of survival reality series Alone kicking off at 12pm on December 25.

In fact, being fully cognisant of the fact that people are often ready to get the heck away from their loved ones not too long after the seasonal festivities, SBS VICELAND is doing an encore presentation of the whole thing from 12pm on December 26, so if family time on Christmas Day has left you wrung out, you can hi away to the rugged hinterlands of Patagonia on Boxing Day.

Patagonia Ho!

The ten starting contestants of ‘Alone’ season 3. Source: Leftfield Pictures

The concept of Alone is simple: ten contestants are deposited in some remote wilderness far from the comforts of home, where they must simply survive for as long as possible. Each contestant is completely cut off not just from society but from each other – they self-record their daily efforts to construct shelter, gather food, fend off the cold, or whatever other perils may accost them during the course of the challenge.

Anyone can tap out at any time via satellite phone, and for any reason – injury, illness, mental breakdown, loneliness. Without giving the game away, season 3 is the first time we see a medical evacuation in the history of the show.

And perhaps that’s because season 3 is also the first time in a new location. While the first two seasons of Alone took place on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, this one drops out game adventurers in the foothills of the Andes in Patagonia, Argentina, among a series of freshwater lakes. A change in location means a change in conditions – different food sources and climate, and different fauna too – the area is frequented by both wild boar and puma, presenting new dangers for the contestants.

Survival school

Bushcraft teacher Dave Nessia in ‘Alone’ season 3. Source: Leftfield Pictures

While that means that our happy campers can’t draw on the experiences of previous contestants as much, they’re still well-equipped and trained for what lays ahead. As fans know, each season of Alone begins with an Episode Zero “survival school”, wherein prospective hermits are given a crash course in wilderness living. As a general rule, anyone who signs up for Alone is usually pretty comfortable in the great outdoors, but nonetheless, here they’re run through the basics of fire-starting, shelter-building, fishing, and other rudimentaries of outdoorsmanship.

This is also the stage where the intake is winnowed down to the final ten, with those unable to make the grade shown the door (really, it’s for the best). As a viewer, it’s impossible not to ponder how you would fare – would you be one of the chosen few, or would your city hands find no purchase on the fire-starting stick?

‘Alone Sweden’

The contestants of ‘Alone Sweden’. Source: ITV Studios

And if that’s not enough for you, SBS On Demand not only has seven full seasons of Alone to delve into, but has also just added Alone Sweden, a recent European spin-off that sees eight amiable but stoic Swedes dropped into the wintry wilderness of Norway to contend with the survival challenges there. The same rules apply, but the location is different. And so too are the contestants: it’s interesting to contrast the rugged individualist Americans who normally populate Alone with the more self-deprecating Scandinavians here.

Still, there are commonalities. It seems there’s always a tough, experienced guy who finds Alone more of a challenge than he anticipated (in Alone Sweden that’s former Navy SEAL and diplomat, Rick), and there’s always someone who unexpectedly thrives in the harsh conditions (so far that appears to be student priest Erika, who is treating the experience like a spiritual retreat).

Perhaps the very concept of the show simply draws a range of certain personality types. Whatever the reason, if you feel like being alone with Alone this holiday season, you’re not alone.

Alone season 3 airs from midday 25 December and again from midday 26 December on SBS VICELAND. All seven seasons are streaming at SBS On Demand. Start with season 1:

In another spin-off, Alone Denmark arrives at SBS On Demand on 1 January. Brand-new Alone Sweden is now streaming at SBS On Demand: