"Reality" programmes are a pain, basically because they are so phoney and manipulative, both of the people involved and of the people watching. And this sounds like a prime example.

The actual situation of a bunch of children managing for themselves is of course an intriguing one. There've been a good number of stories about it, and I doubt if any child has ever failed use it in play or imagination.

The version people always bring up is of course Golding's Lord of the Flies, but there've been others worth reading. There was Ballantine's Coral Island on which Golding drew so heavily, for example, giving it such a pessimistic spin.

One that is s a bit more cheerful is book called Timpetill, by Manfred Michael, originally published in Switzerland 1937, and translated into English in 1951. (Typically, of course, like so many good books, especially good books for children, it is out of print.)

Timpetill is actually rather closer to the scenario of this programme - the parents in a small town get fed up with their kid's being so whingy and difficult, so they decide to leave them on their own for a day. Being efficient and Swiss they make sure to turn off all the gad, water and electricity. Unfortunately they walk a cross a national frontier and get interned, so they are away for a lot longer than they have intended.

As with Lord of the Flies there is trouble with a bunch of nasty kids, who model themselves on the behaviour of grownups across the border from Switzerland (this is 1937...), but unlike Lord of the Flies, the good guys win - and when the parents finally make it back things are running pretty well (well, it is Switzerland).

And they are told "Dear parents of Timpetill! We are extremely pleased to see you here again! But do not think it was foolish of you to run away, for it gave us the chance to prove that we don't always play stupid jokes, and we can work if we have to. We have had good meals, we fixed up water and light, we have cleaned teh streets, and we have tidied up the houses. But we are quite ready for you to do it again."

Now reading a book like that makes a lot more sense than watching a crap TV programme.