# River Cottage Australia

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 and ran for two seasons before moving to The LifeStyle Channel's sister network LifeStyle Food 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 the English franchise River Cottage. This marked the first time the series had been adapted internationally. The series saw English host Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 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. The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, premiered on 27 June 2013 and was a co-production between ITV Studios Australia 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 | Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired | Network | Network |
| Season | Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | Network | Network |
| | 1 | 8 | 27 June 2013 (2013-06-27) | 15 August 2013 (2013-08-15) | The LifeStyle Channel |
| | 2 | 8 | 1 May 2014 (2014-05-01) | 19 June 2014 (2014-06-19) | The LifeStyle Channel |
| | 3 | 8 | 26 May 2015 (2015-05-26) | 14 July 2015 (2015-07-14) | LifeStyle Food |
| | 4 | 8 | 29 March 2016 (2016-03-29) | 17 May 2016 (2016-05-17) | LifeStyle Food |

### Season 1 (2013)

| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original Air Date | Overnight Australian viewers |
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 27 June 2013 (2013-06-27) | 110,000 |
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 4 July 2013 (2013-07-04) | 126,000 |
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 11 July 2013 (2013-07-11) | 95,000 |
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 18 July 2013 (2013-07-18) | 95,000 |
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 25 July 2013 (2013-07-25) | 108,000 |
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 1 August 2013 (2013-08-01) | 86,000 |
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 8 August 2013 (2013-08-08) | 87,000 |
| 8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 15 August 2013 (2013-08-15) | 118,000 |

### Season 2 (2014)

| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original Air Date | Overnight Australian viewers |
| 9 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 1 May 2014 (2014-05-01) | 132,000 |
| 10 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 8 May 2014 (2014-05-08) | 103,000 |
| 11 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 15 May 2014 (2014-05-15) | 99,000 |
| 12 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 22 May 2014 (2014-05-22) | 98,000 |
| 13 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 29 May 2014 (2014-05-29) | 106,000 |
| 14 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 5 June 2014 (2014-06-05) | 129,000 |
| 15 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 12 June 2014 (2014-06-12) | 132,000 |
| 16 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 19 June 2014 (2014-06-19) | 96,000 |

### Season 3 (2015)

| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original Air Date | Overnight Australian viewers |
| 17 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 26 May 2015 (2015-05-26) | 69,000 |
| 18 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 2 June 2015 (2015-06-02) | 72,000 |
| 19 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 9 June 2015 (2015-06-09) | 65,000 |
| 20 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 16 June 2015 (2015-06-16) | 58,000 |
| 21 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 23 June 2015 (2015-06-23) | 61,000 |
| 22 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 30 June 2015 (2015-06-30) | 71,000 |
| 23 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 7 July 2015 (2015-07-07) | 82,000 |
| 24 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 14 July 2015 (2015-07-14) | 86,000 |

### Season 4 (2016)

| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original Air Date | Overnight Australian viewers |
| 25 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 29 March 2016 (2016-03-29) | 59,000 |
| 26 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 5 April 2016 (2016-04-05) | N/A |
| 27 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 12 April 2016 (2016-04-12) | N/A |
| 28 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 19 April 2016 (2016-04-19) | N/A |
| 29 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 26 April 2016 (2016-04-26) | 39,000 |
| 30 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 3 May 2016 (2016-05-03) | N/A |
| 31 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 10 May 2016 (2016-05-10) | 43,000 |
| 32 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 17 May 2016 (2016-05-17) | N/A |

## 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

| Year | Award | Category | Outcome | Ref |
| 2015 | ASTRA Awards | Most Outstanding Lifestyle Program | Nominated | |

## Home Media

| Season | Episodes | DVD release dates | DVD release dates | DVD release dates | DVD release dates |
| Season | Episodes | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Discs |
| 1 | 8 | — | — | 16 October 2013 (2013-10-16) | 2 |
| 2 | 8 | — | — | 12 November 2014 (2014-11-12) | 2 |
| 3 | 8 | — | — | 18 November 2015 (2015-11-18) | 3 |