Reality TV show on hold after death
 |  Carina, front left, with her family as they appeared in "The Colony." |
| |
| YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS |
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- A new reality TV series was shelved on Monday after a teenage participant was found dead just a fortnight before it was due to be broadcast in Britain.
Carina Stephenson, 17, from near Doncaster, in northern England, had spent four months last year filming "The Colony" in Australia for The History Channel.
The show was an attempt to show how modern families would have coped as settlers at the beginning of the 19th century.
Stephenson, who had starred in the show with her family, was reported missing from her home last Thursday.
Police found her body on Saturday in woodlands near her home. Her death is not being treated as suspicious, police said.
The History Channel had been due to screen the six-part series on June 6, but a spokeswoman said Monday that after consulting the teenager's family the show would be shown later in the year.
"The History Channel has decided to delay its transmission of The Colony following the tragic death of Carina Stephenson, a participant in the series," it said in a statement.
"After consultation with the Stephenson family and out of respect for Carina and her family in this very difficult period, we have decided to postpone the series until September 2005."
The program has been shown in Australia and is being screened on Irish channel RTE, which partly financed the program.
The History Channel said the show did not lead to the teenager's apparent suicide. "The whole family came back from Australia nearly six months ago and were very positive about the experience.
"They had been living the life of a convict family, along with families from Ireland and Australia, and were given a certain amount of provisions to live on. If there had been any upset or distress they could have left and gone home at any point. It's not Big Brother," a spokeswoman told PA.
The teenager had appeared "happy and normal" in the days before her death, according to her family.
A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out this week.
