Technology and/or paranoia has proved the Achilles heel of most of the “fugitives” run to ground so far in Channel 4’s Hunted, a show that does more than an Edward Snowden Panorama interview to convince us of the massive surveillance capability of the present day state. Last night’s fifth instalment was, essentially, a rerun of the previous four but with added human interest in the shape of toothsome newlywed PR consultants Adam and Emma Channell, who were taking part (masochistically some might say) by way of one last adventure before settling down and having a family.
Unusually, their chances of evading capture were rated high by their pursuers. “They’re young, they’re smart, they’re together. They will plan and execute it better than anyone else,” concluded analyst Julie Clegg. While former undercover cop Peter Bleksley added, on a rare personal note, that if he ever had to go on the run again his wife would be his first choice of accomplice, too.
Not that it made any difference to the Channells’ fate. After two weeks keeping out of sight camping in the belly button of nowhere, a change of tactics to hiding in plain sight by “friend-hopping” in London blew back on them via a text message. The coded missive sent from a monitored mobile was the next best thing to a flare advertising their location. Soon the hunters were knocking on the door.
So much for technology. The equally impressive effects of paranoia caught out Jacqui Omer, whose irrational suspicion of almost every black 4×4 on the road eventually came home to roost when her panicked reaction drew – quite incredibly – the attention of a pursuit team on the trail of someone else entirely.
That leaves just four of the 14 fugitives in the wind for next week’s final episode. Can any go the full 28 days without being caught? It’s hard to see it, though the rebel in all of us continues to hope that one at least will defy the seemingly impossible odds.
