Win the Wilderness: Alaska - BBC1

(Image credit: BBC/Twofour)

In Win the Wilderness: Alaska, six couples head to Alaska to try and win a good chunk of secluded wilderness

Married couple Duane and Rena Ose are the embodiment of American ‘true grit’ (Sunday, 9pm, see our TV Guide for full details).

For three decades they’ve devoted their lives to building their remarkable yet isolated home in Interior, Alaska.

Duane and Rena Ose

Giving it all away: Duane and Rena Ose

Now in their 70s, they’re on the hunt for someone to carry on their legacy before they retire to Minnesota.

They’re offering one deserving couple the chance to inherit their life’s work: A three-storey house with a guest cabin, greenhouse, gardens and an airstrip (because their home is inaccessible by road and miles from anywhere!).

Enter six British couples all with the dream of living off-grid.

But how do these competing couples get on? TV Times talked to hopefuls Tina Perkins, 29, an industrial designer, and sales manager Chris Cullen, 30, to discover more…

"There was a competitive side but it never reared its head in an ugly way," said Tina.

"It was weird how well everyone got on – probably because we all crave similar lives."

Chris agreed: "We were one camp. You see it in the first challenge when we’re told to build dwelling structures. Everyone could have worked separately, but we all got stuck in together. We’ve all stayed in touch!"

MORE: Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild

Will the Oses deem Tina and Chris, or any of the other five couples, worthy enough to inherit their home in this beautiful, but often brutal, part of the world?

Tonight’s opening episode raises more questions that it answers, and is all the more intriguing for it…

TV Times rating: ****

Elaine Reilly
Writer for TV Times, What’s On TV, TV & Satellite Week and What To Watch

With twenty years of experience as an entertainment journalist, Elaine writes for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and www.whattowatch.com covering a variety of programs from gardening and wildlife to documentaries and drama.

 

As well as active involvement in the WTW family’s social media accounts, she has been known to get chatty on the red carpet and wander into the odd podcast. 


After a day of previewing TV, writing about TV and interviewing TV stars, Elaine likes nothing than to relax… by watching TV.