The format business is cautiously exploring whether entertainment shows addressing environmental themes can travel globally, despite buyers still prioritising proven hits over riskier propositions.

Amid the industry’s obsession with reboots and low-risk commissions, something unusual happened this summer when ITV premiered Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters – a new high-end reality format that fuses entertainment with urgent themes about the planet’s fragile ecosystems. Produced by Plimsoll Productions, the show was described by its creators as a rare example of a broadcaster backing an original concept that is both ambitious and environmentally aware.

Andrea Jackson, creative director for factual entertainment at Plimsoll, calls the series a “Trojan horse” format. “It’s got this shouty, slightly obnoxious title but baked into the show is purpose and an important message about the importance of sharks to the ocean’s ecosystem,” she says. “It’s bringing an audience that wouldn’t ordinarily watch a traditional natural history series.”

ITV Studios is handling international distribution, and interest was strong at Mipcom last week, with Australia’s Nine Network confirming the first international adaptation. According to Mike Beale, MD of ITV Studios’ creative network, alongside all the company’s reboots, Shark! is part of a growing slate of bold, environmentally themed entertainment shows.

They include Apocalypse, an eight-part survival reality series coproduced by ITV Studios-owned The Garden and Studio Lambert for Channel 4 in the UK and Foxtel’s Binge in Australia. It places ordinary people in a simulated post-apocalyptic environment with no water, heating or electricity. While its premise avoids explicit reference to climate catastrophe, Beale says it carries a very strong message.

“We are not saying: ‘this is what’s going to happen if you don’t sort your life out and start using solar panels, et cetera’. But it is clearly showing how close this could be and what life could be like if we don’t start having the right behaviours,” he explains.

Another ITV Studios acquisition, Greenhouse, makes its ecological message more overt. Originally produced for S4C, the format challenges eight ‘eco-offenders’ to give up modern comforts at an off-grid retreat. Beale says the company picked it up “because we wanted some programming that really got to the heart of the issue rather than everything being subtle”.

Even Love Island – also distributed by ITV Studios – has found a way to integrate sustainability into its brand through a pre-loved fashion partnership with eBay. According to BAFTA’s sustainability initiative, Albert, the partnership has made measurable impact, with 3.1 million viewers becoming aware of fashion’s environmental effects and 2.7 million reporting more sustainable shopping choices.

Sustainable fashion is also the focus of Re/Style, a six-part competition funded by Vinted and coproduced by All3Media’s Lion Television Scotland and Mindshare UK. The series follows emerging designers from across Europe as they create collections from second-hand clothing. Lisa Hazlehurst, head of Lion TV Scotland, says authenticity is crucial: “Viewers can sniff a mile out somebody who might be there just because they’re being paid a bit of money to say something – you don’t want that. You want passion that shines through on the screen, and you can’t fake that.”

ITV Studios Netherlands is also exploring climate storytelling through Humberto & the Bigger Picture, which launches in November. The series sees TV presenter and environmental advocate Humberto Tan visit locations set to disappear within a decade due to climate change. His established work with WWF and the Black Jaguar Foundation lends the project credibility.

Beale says it was the “purposeful message” of Shark! that “attracted a different level of celebrity to that show… You had people taking part that would never do a reality show.” The bigger question, however, is whether these titles signal a genuine shift in the unscripted landscape or are simply a handful of exceptions.

Simone Pruyssenaere de la Woestyne, director of sales and acquisitions at Primitives, says climate-themed formats are still rare in the international market. “It’s not something that is clear in the briefings that we receive from buyers,” she explains. “Channels are still looking for the big entertainment shows.”

Yet she believes sustainability can sell when packaged correctly, citing the success of Salvage Squad, a home renovation show focused on upcycling, which recently sold to Viasat2 in Hungary. “The fact that it was directly connected to sustainability, but in a fun and approachable and entertaining way, was why we immediately fell in love with the show,” she says.

Beale admits “it’s hard to convince buyers” to take on smaller, purpose-driven formats like Greenhouse, but insists sustainability is “embedded in everything ITV Studios does”. He stresses the need for balance between proven franchises and riskier concepts. “As soon as you start finger pointing, then people switch off – you’re not reaching the audience with the message that you want to get to them,” he says.

Hazlehurst agrees that the key lies in tone and storytelling rather than overt preaching. “What we do in telly is to reflect the world out there,” she says. “The overwhelming majority of people are concerned about the planet. So why would we not be doing this?”

The format business is cautiously exploring whether entertainment shows addressing environmental themes can travel globally, despite buyers still prioritising proven hits over riskier propositions.

Amid the industry’s obsession with reboots and low-risk commissions, something unusual happened this summer when ITV premiered Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters – a new high-end reality format that fuses entertainment with urgent themes about the planet’s fragile ecosystems. Produced by Plimsoll Productions, the show was described by its creators as a rare example of a broadcaster backing an original concept that is both ambitious and environmentally aware.

Andrea Jackson, creative director for factual entertainment at Plimsoll, calls the series a “Trojan horse” format. “It’s got this shouty, slightly obnoxious title but baked into the show is purpose and an important message about the importance of sharks to the ocean’s ecosystem,” she says. “It’s bringing an audience that wouldn’t ordinarily watch a traditional natural history series.”
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