Channel 4 has cornered the market in reality shows which speak to our deepest fears.
In Temptation Island it’s that your partner is going to disappear with a himbo or bimbo; with SAS: Who Dares Wins there’s the fear of your PE teacher shouting at you, while Married At First Sight conjures the ghastly spectre of having a stranger in your house who may see your bare bum – and you theirs.
I suppose Hunted, which returned last week, is all about the idea the government’s tentacles are everywhere, feeling us up like a licentious octopus at the Christmas do.
Contestants have 23 days to evade capture which, if successful, will see them win £100,000.
The ordinary people taking part are painted as oblivious, childlike lambs while a grave voiceover outlines how the crack team of ex-cops and IT wizards will work out who their favourite Backstreet Boy is by the way they pick their nose; the reality is a bit different.
“Stop running!” the Hunters shout at giggling contestants as they flee, hoping their tone of voice will make them forget there’s a hundred grand on the line. Which it never does.
Pictures of one Hunted pair are placed on the wall: Abi and Grace, looking so similar as to be clones. “I think they might be sisters,” one of the Hunters deduces, suggesting our Orwellian future may yet be some way off.
Hunted, Channel 4
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