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British teens versus the Big Chill

Popular BBC series set near Iqaluit

JANE GEORGE

Cameras are turned on every activity that the kids of Serious Arctic participate in. (PHOTOS BY MARSHALL CORWIN)

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Under a bright sun and a brisk, cold wind, the cast and crew of Serious Arctic set out on Easter Sunday towards Frobisher Bay's floe edge via dogteam and skidoo.

Their two-week adventure on the ice of Frobisher Bay and on the Grinnell Glacier will be captured for use on a British Broadcasting Corp. children's series that its senior producer, Marshall Corwin, calls "real," and not "reality" TV.

"To me reality TV tends to be 'unreality' TV. It's contrived, with a lot of gimics and gizmos," Corwin says. "A reality TV show is in a game-show format. It's not about putting people in a real situation. They don't find out what it's really like to live in it."

Serious Arctic is supposed to show what it's really like to travel in the Arctic - blue sky, pressure-ridges, numb fingers and all.

The show is following four girls and four boys from the United Kingdom, aged 12 to 15, from their arrival in Iqaluit on April 4 to the end of their adventure on April 24. They return home on April 25.

Unlike Survivor, there's no prize money and no competitions. The emphasis is on the challenge of living in an extreme environment.

"And why not have a proper goal?" suggests Corwin.

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Building an igloo on the sea ice is almost less of a challenge than keeping sensitive video cameras and other gear warm and in working condition.

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This, for the cast of Serious Arctic, will be finding and cutting out polar bear tracks for study by biologists, as well as staking and measuring the Grinnell Glacier for the Geological Survey of Canada.

In past segments of the "serious" series, the BBC team went to Borneo- for Serious Jungle - and to Namibia- for Serious Desert. In Borneo, their objective was to build a platform in the jungle for orangutans, while in Namibia, it was to track rare desert rhinos.

To date, this combination of adolescence, extreme climates, environmental themes, exotic wildlife and adventure has made the "serious" series a hit for the BBC in the U.K. and many other countries.

More than 9,000 teens applied to participate in Serious Arctic. Their numbers were whittled down by auditions and a camping trip in the damp, chilly Scottish Highlands.

"We were looking for a mix of characters and personality," says Corwin.

The result: each kid has "an average personality magnified," which all viewers can identify with in some measure.

In Serious Jungle and Serious Desert, leeches, humidity, heat and sand were the chief challenges faced by the production team and participants.

In Nunavut, it's the cold. On the day of their departure to the floe edge, the temperature was -17 C, with a wind-chill factor making it feel like -30 C.

"It's more challenging here," admits Corwin, a rookie to Arctic travel who's faced with the task of keeping more than two dozen people and tons of electronic equipment warm - or, at the very least, safe and operational.

Out on the ice and on the glacier, lodging consists of tents, one of which is to be heated. Raw Arctic char and caribou are among the foods on hand, although most meals are of the pre-prepared variety.

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Matty McNair is one of three Iqaluit dog-team owners providing transport for Serious Arctic participants.

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The kids are travelling by dog-teams driven by Iqaluit dog-team owners Matty McNair, Siu-Ling Han and Paul Crowley. Logistical back-up is provided by two former British Marines trained in Arctic skills, and an experienced polar adventurer. A doctor is also along, "so no one is more than two minutes away from medical assistance," says Corbin.

After a week on ice to get used to the climate, the kids are already dealing with homesickness and cold - although their enthusiasm doesn't seem to be dampened yet.

Despite cold feet at bedtime, Fabian, who turned 13 last week, is still upbeat about the two weeks of travel ahead.

Riding by dog-team is great fun, and he's looking forward to being with the entire gang "24-7." The only part he hasn't enjoyed to date is an orienteering exercise when participants had to practice navigational skills to find their lunch.

"I was starving," Fabian says.

Fabian, from Birmingham, England, beat out 9,000 other hopefuls to become one of eight kids chosen to come to Iqaluit.

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Every day, Fabian and the others file "video diaries." They also report back to London, England via a satellite videophone.

And, of course, the cameras are always on them, showing, in one of the first pieces to be shot, the building of an igloo.

During their two weeks on the ice and out at the glacier, Corwin expects to capture some hard moments as the participants struggle with the challenge of living in the cold and dealing with the unfamiliar.

But the idea, he says, isn't to break anyone down - it's to build them up.

"The principle is to push people beyond their comfort zone," he says. "But when they come back, they remember it as 'the experience of a lifetime.'"

No matter what happens in Serious Arctic, the outcome for Nunavut is good. The series is leaving $250,000 in Canada, most of it in Iqaluit, spent on travel, supplies, manpower and accommodation.

When the cast and crew return to Iqaluit, their top priority will be a shower. The production team then returns home to spend the next six months editing six half-hour episodes for Serious Arctic and four for a spin-off series, based on the participants' video diaries.

And then, they'll determine where the next "serious" adventure can take them.

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