The British Tribe Next Door

Series 1 - Episode 1

Review

by Frances Taylor

Channel 4 commissions rather odd things from time to time, and this has got to be up there with some of the strangest. Former Gogglebox and reality TV star Scarlett Moffatt and her family are travelling to Namibia to live with the Himba tribe for a month. Also travelling with the Moffatts is their house, as their suburban semi from County Durham has been painstakingly re-created and plonked in the middle of the desert, complete with around 20,000 of their possessions, from “Tupperware to tat”.

Many of the tribe haven’t seen stairs or a mirror before, which somehow comes as a shock to the Moffatts. The loose point of this intense culture swap is to “discover what really matters in our short time on Earth”, but this feels extreme and unnecessary.

Summary

Scarlett Moffatt and her family are plucked from the UK and transplanted into a replica of their terraced family home - complete with running water, electricity and their possessions around them - slap bang in the middle of a Namibian tribal village. They are to stay in Otjeme village, home to 100 semi-nomadic Himba cattle herders, who choose to live very traditional lives, but are overwhelmed by what their first impressions. The first Himba visitors arrive at the house - including Kandisiko, who quickly strikes up a friendship with Scarlett - and are shocked by the overwhelming amount of clothes and shoes owned by Scarlett compared to their one outfit.