''River Cottage Australia'' is an Australian adaptation of the English franchise of the same name. The series sees former chef Paul West showcase local produce and farming while attempting to live in a self-sufficient manner. The series premiered on 27 June 2013 on

The LifeStyle Channel Lifestyle (formerly known as The LifeStyle Channel) is an Australian television channel. The channel launched on 1 September 1997. The channel has an emphasis on contemporary lifestyle interests. Its programming covers topics including food an ...

and ran for two seasons before moving to The LifeStyle Channel's sister network

LifeStyle Food Lifestyle Food (stylised as Lifestyle FOOD) is an Australian pay-TV food channel, solely dedicated to food, wine and restaurant society. The channel is a subsidiary of Lifestyle, which runs 24 hours a day on the Foxtel. On 19 September 2016, ...

in 2015 where it aired a further two seasons.

Development

On 30 November 2012, The LifeStyle Channel announced they had commissioned a local adaption of English franchise ''River Cottage''. This marked the first time the series had been adapted internationally. The series saw English host

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Hugh Christopher Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall (born 14 January 1965) is an English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer, and campaigner on food and environmental issues. Fearnley-Whittingstall hosted the ''River Cot ...

travel to Australia to search for an Australian host and mentor them. The series was set to begin production in early 2013. On 25 March 2013 it was announced the host would be Tasmanian chef Paul West and the River Cottage would be located in

Central Tilba, New South Wales Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba are two villages near the Princes Highway in Eurobodalla Shire, New South Wales, Australia. At the , Central Tilba and surrounding areas had a population of 288 (Tilba Tilba had 95). History The area was original ...

. The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, premiered on 27 June 2013 and was a co-production between

ITV Studios Australia ITV Studios Australia is an Australian television production company and the Australian arm of UK company ITV Studios. It was formed as Artist Services in 1989, later becoming Granada Media Australia before being rebranded to its current name in ...

and Keo Films. On 16 August 2013, The LifeStyle Channel renewed the series for an additional two seasons. However, unlike season one which was a co-production between ITV Studios Australia and Keo Films, the new seasons would solely be produced by Keo Films. The second season premiered on 1 May 2014. In April 2015, it was announced the third season, consisting of 8 episodes, would premiere on 26 May 2015. However, unlike previous seasons, the series would premiere on The LifeStyle Channel's sister network LifeStyle Food. On 5 November 2015, it was announced the series had been renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on 29 March 2016. It was confirmed in January 2017 that the program had been cancelled. In June 2017, the 22 acre property featured in the show was sold with West and his family relocating to Newcastle.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2013)

Season 2 (2014)

Season 3 (2015)

Season 4 (2016)

Reception

In addition to Episode 2 being the 47th most watched non-sport show of 2013, the first season was "the number one non-sports program across the STV platform while it was airing" and had "the second largest consolidated audience for The LifeStyle Channel in 2013".

Awards and nominations

Home Media

References

{{RiverCottage Lifestyle (Australian TV channel) original programming 2010s Australian reality television series 2013 Australian television series debuts 2016 Australian television series endings English-language television shows Australian television series based on British television series