Ruby Wax Cast Away: release date, trailer, what happens, interview, episode guide and everything you need to know

In Ruby Wax Cast Away, the famous comedian channels Tom Hanks in the classic film Cast Away when she strands herself for 10 days on a deserted island off the coast of Madagascar, with only boa constrictors, sand flies and a handheld camera for company.

The two-part Channel 5 series Ruby Wax Cast Away follows Ruby on her solo island adventure (apart from being with her photographer and camera team of course) as she learns to collect rainwater, forage for her own food, cope with extreme loneliness and even survive a terrifying tropical cyclone. But will Ruby find a new sense of freedom alone in her island wilderness, or will the experience break her completely?

Here’s everything you need to know about Ruby Wax Cast Away on Channel 5…

Ruby Wax Cast Away release date

Ruby Wax Cast Away starts on Channel 5 on Sunday April 23 at 9pm, with the second episode released the following Sunday April 30 at the same time. Catch up with episodes on streaming service My5. A reality show treat for spring 2023.

Is there a trailer for Ruby Wax Cast Away?

Yes there's a trailer for Ruby Wax Cast Away which Ruby has posted on her Twitter account. Please do give a watch below. Also for reference, there's the trailer for the Tom Hanks film of Cast Away that Ruby is channelling in this two-part series...

What happens in Ruby Wax Cast Away?

Ruby Wax Cast Away follows the comedian over 10 days as she puts her mind to the ultimate test by marooning herself on isolated Madagascan island with only herself and a camera to talk to. By her own admission Ruby, has been battling with depression for over 25 years so it’s a chance for her to confront some of her deepest fears.

The first episode sees her take a crash course in survival skills and also seek advice from her friend Joanna Lumley, who had a similar experience with her 1994 show Girl Friday. But as soon as the production team leave Ruby on her isolated island in the Indian Ocean without food or water reality hits, as she soon ends up battling an upset stomach, night terrors, the frustration of not being able to light a fire and a fierce tropical cyclone that sees her fearing for her life! 

As time goes on, however, she begins to reflect on her life and deals with the loneliness by befriending a crab called Spartacus and making an island skeleton pal called Wilson!

Interview: Ruby Wax on her Cast Away adventure

Have you ever been asked to a reality show like this before?
Ruby Wax says: "No, and I would never do a reality show if it was competing with other people. But although my family thought it was a stupid idea, I like challenges when it’s slightly dangerous and this show looked interesting to me. When are you ever going to have the opportunity to go to an uninhabited island in the Indian Ocean, but also know that if there’s a critical emergency then somebody will come and save you? I wanted to see what I’m capable of and what happens to the mind when you’ve got nothing."

What were you told about the island in advance?
Ruby Wax says: "I wasn’t told anything! The production team kept saying, ‘we’re so sorry for you’, and I couldn’t figure out why. I just assumed I would sleep on the sand, and it would be really pleasant. Nobody had mentioned the bugs and the sand flies! There was every insect known to man there and they just bit me, there wasn’t a spot on my skin that wasn’t a bite because bug repellent just doesn’t work! There was also a four-foot boa constrictor lurking near my camp, but they told me it wasn’t dangerous, so I just believed them!"

How did you find the practicalities of filming?
Ruby Wax says: "I had four cameras, but the hand-held camera kind of became my friend. Of course you assume when you’re talking into it that it’s just a private thing, which nobody will ever see. But when I saw the programme back I had no memory of what I’d been saying! What surprised me most, though, was how awful I looked without make-up!"

When did the reality of your situation hit you?
Ruby Wax says: "When all the crew left. That was scary. The first thing I did was make a desert island skeleton called Wilson, so I felt like I had company on the island. I actually made his whole anatomy out of stones from the beach, so there was a liver, a spleen, and intestines. I even added eyelashes later. I loved Wilson. I even brought his pancreas back with me. I wanted his heart, but I thought it was cruel to take that, but I still have his pancreas upstairs at home! I also made a hermit crab friend called Spartacus. We got quite close. I’d go to the loo in the middle of the night and I’d see Spartacus and I’d feel like I’d be okay,"

Were there any particularly terrifying moments?
Ruby Wax says: "Yes when a cyclone hit the island, it was really pelting down and a tree missed me by a few feet! I knew if it got really bad, I could pick up the emergency walkie-talkie and that would mean the show was over. But when the cyclone hit, the waves were so high that they wouldn’t have been able to come anyway, so the walkie-talkie was useless. I hope viewers get to see how terrifying it was!"

Did you have any health scares?
Ruby Wax says: "Everything got so damp, so I gave up on shoes and I must have cut my foot because bacteria got in and I got a streptococcal infection, which is like a kind of sepsis. By the time I got home my toe had turned black, and it started spreading up my leg so I had to go to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and then take gallons of antibiotics to make sure that my foot didn’t fall off. If that had happened while I was still on the island it would have been a disaster. For two weeks after I got home, I couldn’t walk!"

What was the highlight of your adventure?
Ruby Wax says: "I had a rare sighting of a green sea turtle laying its eggs, which was just magical. Being on an island like that gives you humility. The weather doesn’t care what your opinion is, and there’s death and life all around you." 

Did you learn anything about yourself?
Ruby Wax says: "I realised that I’m tougher than I thought. I thought I’d freak out but I never did. I fought the thought my life was in danger. I just thought, ‘I’m part of this. If I get killed, I get killed. It’s no big deal. I killed a crab and the tree kills me.’ That’s quite interesting. But I don’t think the experience has changed me much. I’m still neurotic and I’m still on my phone all the time. I said I was going to use it less but in fact I’m using it even more. It’s an addictive thing!"

Ruby Wax Cast Away episode guide

Here's what to expect in both episodes of Ruby Wax Cast Away...

Episode 1: Sunday April 23
In preparation for her solo island adventure, she has a crash course in survival skills and gets advice from her best mate Joanna Lumley, who did something similar in the 1994 show Girl Friday.
Landing on Ankerea — a totally uninhabited island covered in dense jungle — 
Ruby quickly realises that she is out of her depth. With only a day of instruction from cheery survival expert Kevin Newton, she’s suddenly totally alone. As she says, 'Call My Agent now!’
At constant conflict between reaping the rewards of an experience entwined in nature (like witnessing a Mother Green Turtle laying a clutch of eggs in the sand) and hating the physicality of menial tasks critical to her survival (like eating rock oysters and hiking into the jungle to collect drinking water), Ruby learns the delicate balance of island survival. Totally alone on her uninhabited island off Madagascar without food or water, reality hits when a fierce tropical cyclone leaves her fearing for her life…

Episode 2: Sunday April 30
It’s day three of complete isolation and Ruby and as the skies finally clear from the tropical storm, she’s able to forage for much needed calories in the form of coconuts, but when the deadly silence creeps in on her, she makes friends with a hermit crab named Spartacus. He’s going to become her companion for the rest of the adventure. 
As island life becomes tougher, Ruby reflects on her own personal traumas growing up, her parents and her own ‘comedy personality’ she switches on and off, and what survival means to her. As another coping mechanism, she builds her own fellow traveller – a man made of rocks, but at least he doesn’t talk back - before hunting down a feast for the night. But the highs of her first proper meal doesn’t last long as another storm hits her camp leaving her imprisoned in her shelter, unable to forage for food. Hungry and weak, a surprise letter from Joanna Lumley may be the elixir of hope she’s needed to get her through the last few days.  
In Ruby’s final 24 hours on the island, she contemplates the effects solitude has had on her personality, and the true person she is underneath the showbiz mask she wears. As the crew arrive to collect her, Ruby battles with the conflicting emotions about what life will be like back home, afraid to lose grip of this real sense of self that she’s discovered on the island.