Alone Australia is leaving Australia, with the second season of the hit survival show heading to New Zealand to pit 10 contestants up against wild deer and snowy, mountainous terrain.

The first season of Alone Australia – part of the global franchise in which survivalists compete to last the longest in the wild – was the most successful show SBS has ever commissioned. More than a million viewers tuned into each episode earlier this year.

Filmed in south-west Tasmania during a “polar blast”, the first season featured incredibly challenging conditions due to mud, rain and strict hunting regulations that left many contestants starving or subsisting on eels as they competed to last the longest.

But there will be no eel eating in the second season, which will air on SBS in 2024: eels are protected for cultural reasons on Te Waipounamu, New Zealand’s South Island, where 10 Australians headed this winter to compete for a $250,000 prize.

Joseph Maxwell, head of unscripted programs at SBS, said the new setting “enabled whole new strategies” not seen in the first season.

“We absolutely loved the innovation we saw in Tasmania, but there’s some pretty strict hunting regulations there,” Maxwell said.

“By choosing New Zealand, we’re able to introduce bows and arrows, which brings in whole new strategies and skill sets. And it is an absolutely stunning location. Where Tasmania had a real, claustrophobic intensity about it, New Zealand is a place of grandeur. It is absolutely stunning.

“And it is very cold and wet – we very consciously chose a very challenging environment to stay long term.”

Some viewers had criticised the constraints placed on the contestants in Tasmania, who were restricted to live-trapping and fishing. In New Zealand, the contestants are allowed to use bows to hunt wild deer and pigs, which are treated as invasive species.

“There were plenty of very strong Alone fans who would never be afraid to have an opinion – which I totally embrace!” said Maxwell.

“We tried really hard to ensure First Nations stories were told – we’re on Māori land now and are able to tell those stories. I do think that certain fans will feel quite excited by the hunting.”

The US series of Alone has been filmed in various locations across Canada, Argentina, Patagonia and Mongolia.

Alone Australia season one winner Gina Chick will return to SBS to host a companion podcast for season two. She is also set to appear as a host alongside Julia Zemiro and Susie Youssef on season two of Great Australian Walks.

“What was extraordinary when we saw Gina on camera was there is such authenticity to her … she’s a great addition to [Great Australian Walks],” said Maxwell. “And she is an unabashed Alone superfan, so getting her to do the podcast is really exciting.”

Other shows on SBS’s 2024 slate, announced on Tuesday, include Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye, in which the broadcaster plans his own funeral and explores Australia’s attitudes to death.

“We start off with this startling fact that, statistically, he’s only got four years left to live, so he wanted to explore that,” said Maxwell. “Death doesn’t have to be negative – there are real moments of humour and discovery.”

The former MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong, Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis and the actor Samuel Johnson have all teamed up for a three-part series titled The Hospital: In the Deep End, which will explore the challenges facing frontline workers in Australia’s public health system.

Maxwell said all three presenters had “very strong personal experiences” with hospitals: “There’s more tears in that than any recent series that I can remember.”

The network also announced Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey, in which the comedian will travel abroad with other Australian comedians to explore their cultural roots around the world.

SBS will also air the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, and another season of hit geneaology show Who Do You Think You Are?, with Pat Rafter, Wayne Blair and Miranda Otto coming on as guests.

NITV and Netflix will air Eddie’s Lil’ Homies, a new animated children’s series based on the books by former AFL player Eddie Betts. NITV will also air documentary Journey Home: David Gulpilil, which will explore the Yolngu actor’s journey back to Country before his death in 2021.