Crusoe

Network: NBC
Episodes: 13 (hour)
Seasons: One

TV show dates: October 17, 2008 — January 31, 2009
Series status: Cancelled/ended

Performers include: Philip Winchester, Tongai Arnold Chirisa, Anna Walton, Sam Neill, Mia Maestro, Mark Dexter, Emma Barnett, Jake Curran, James Lauren, James Middlemarch, Lorcan O’Toole, Kieran Bew, Joaquim de Almeida, Sean Bean, Jeremy Crutchley, and Terence Harvey.

TV show description:
This adventure-drama television series is based on Daniel Defoe’s classic novel, Robinson Crusoe. The show follows the adventures of a shipwrecked man and his desperate attempts to return home to his family. His only companion on the island is a native who he teaches to speak English.

Robinson Crusoe (Philip Winchester) has spent six years being shipwrecked on the island, while his family awaits his return in England. He had gone on the voyage originally because he had been accused wrongly of taking part in a rebellion against the crown, thanks to people he thought were his friends. Having great mechanical talent, he builds a modern home up in the trees of the island for safety and some comfort.

Crusoe’s only companion is Friday (Tongayi Chirisa), a native who he rescued from becoming the cannibal sacrifice of his former tribe. Despite being very skilled, Friday feels like an embarrassment to his father. Crusoe sees Friday for all of his worth, although visitors often wrongly assume “the savage” is his slave.

Santos Santana (Joaquim de Almeida), the Captain of the Spanish Guard, can’t understand Crusoe’s respect for Friday, yet made a deal with them in order to obtain buried treasure from the island. He’s then captured by the cannibals and makes friends with Friday’s father.

Olivia (Mia Maestro) makes believe she is a young man so that she can serve as an assistant physician for an English merchant ship. After a mutiny, she meets Crusoe and Friday while camping on the island, and they see through her disguise. She begins helping Crusoe with medical emergencies while falling in love with Crusoe. Unfortunately for her, Crusoe will not cheat on his wife, no matter how long he’s been away. She agrees to help restore the Captain to power.

In Crusoe’s absence, family friend Jeremiah Blackthorn (Sam Neill) takes up with Crusoe’s family, lending them money when he is named as godfather to Crusoe’s children. He’s in it for illicit means though. He inherited his fortune from his deceased brother who is actually Crusoe’s biological father, making the shipwrecked man the rightful heir to the fortune.

Crusoe’s wife, Susannah Crusoe née Tuffley (Anna Walton), had been his childhood friend. Her family, much more wealthy than Crusoe’s, doesn’t approve of him. Before Crusoe leaves for his voyage, Susannah’s brother makes a deal to seize his funds, the reason why she is forced to get help from Jeremiah. She refuses to believe her husband is dead throughout the entire six years.