Come clean on Eden show, says councillor

A COUNCILLOR says the makers of a TV programme which caused public access to Ardnamurchan to be restricted have to be more honest.

Last May, 23 volunteers aged 24 to 55 entered Eden, a 600-acre ‘ village’ or film set near Ardtoe which offered the chance to ‘start again’.

Cut off from modern society, the show required them to live off the land for a year.

Produced by London-based KEO films, the reality TV group was protected by an application submitted in 2015 to remove public right of access in Ardnamurchan Estate.

Eden was first aired on July 18 on Channel 4 and attracted 1.8 million viewers but the show failed to gather momentum and disappeared from the airwaves after only a handful of episodes. In October, Channel 4 assured the public the experiment was still under way and that the shows were to be released.

An extension to the planning application was sought and granted earlier this year, as reported by the Lochaber

Times but now, it seems, all the contributors have left.

The Lochaber Times contacted KEO for comment on how the show was progressing, whether it felt it was a success, and if there was likely to be any insight on how the contributors had dealt with their experiences before they left.

A spokesperson said: ‘ The participants left Eden after a year as was always the plan. The story of their time in Eden will be broadcast on C4 later this year.’

Councillor Brian Murphy said the makers should be more honest with their intentions. He added: ‘I have never seen a restriction being asked for or allowed in all my years as a councillor. It is quite a significant thing - the mountain bike event in Nevis Range is one of the biggest events and access is only restricted for three days. So if they do not want to continue the project, they really need to make it be known.’

The Highland Council confirmed an access exemption is in place until March 21 2018.

A spokesperson said: ‘If the purpose for which the order is made, to film a TV series, is no longer intended then the council would seek to revoke the order. Site notices advising of the exemption will be taken down and non-vehicular access would be resumed.’