In an unwitting piece of postmodern art, the final 10 contestants in Channel 4’s reality show Eden have left a remote corner of the West Highlands in Scotland to find not celebrity and book deals but that the show has not been on TV in months and has long since dropped out of the collective pop cultural conversation.

The daring show challenged a group of people to set up their own community away from civilisation for a year, but only four episodes have aired so far - the last being broadcast almost eight months ago - recently leading to speculation it has been axed.

Update: Channel 4 assures us Eden will return to screens at some point this year.

13 contestants had already quit the “ground-breaking social experiment”, many citing the Highlands’ relentless midges as the main problem.

The attempt to start a society in the image of Eden went the way of the biblical tale, with the contestants being torn apart by sexual jealousy, myriad arguments, and hunger.

“The last 10 have left, local resident Maria Macpherson told The Press and Journal. “In the end the show was a joke. Some of the participants were even seen in the dentist at Fort William needing treatment after eating chicken feed grit.”