PUBLIC relations consultant Di Burton and personal assistant Vicky Raspin found themselves acting out Tom Hanks' predicament in the film Cast Away after agreeing to take part in a TV survival programme.

Armed with just a few essentials and recorded by a film crew, they lived in a tropical paradise on the other side of the world for a week for the BBC2 series Bare Necessities.

Di is manager partner of Cicade Public Relations in Harrogate, where Vicky has worked as her PA for nearly a year. They joined teams of company managers and PAs in the Dominican Republic.

The three-strong competing teams not only had to make their own shelter and fire but also had to carry out various tasks, including skinning a goat for dinner and building a sea-worthy raft. While the PAs got along, the MDs fared less well. One of them became ill and had to be taken to hospital and the other two didn't see eye-to-eye all the time.

"The PAs worked well together but I don't think the MDs did. We're used to getting on with people and not getting our own way all the time," says Vicky, 25, whose team mates - one man, one woman - were around the same age.

At 46, mother-of-two Di was the only woman and oldest in her team. "We probably clashed because we were all fairly strong personalities," she admits. "The others were 42 and 28. The youngest admitted it was much harder than he thought. He got ill and had to be taken to hospital on the fourth day.

"Certainly, there was a personality clash with me and the other, older guy. It wasn't aggressive but we argued. He was the MD of a subsidiary of a big company whereas I run my own business and so did the young Internet guy. There was a slight North versus South thing too."

Despite the fact that they'd never seen Bare Necessities, the pair volunteered to take part after a client told them researchers were recruiting MDs and PAs.

"We went in totally blind," says Di. "For me it was probably just about getting away from the weather here. The big question they asked was, 'why do you want to do it?' and my answer was, 'I've had a hell of a year and I need thinking space'."

The attraction for Vicky was the challenge set by competing although they had no idea where they'd end up. They didn't know their destination when they assembled with the other competitors at Manchester Airport early one morning a month ago. They'd started a course of malaria tablets and had typhoid jabs in preparation for the trip. They were told they could take their own underwear if they wished but survival gear would be given to them on arrival.

A nine-and-a-half hour flight took them to the Dominican Republic, and they finally reached their destination after a further three-hour journey overland. A survival briefing and posing for cameras in their work clothes followed before they were taken to a sandy cove and left there at four in the afternoon.

The two teams pitched camp at opposite ends of the beach, racing against time to build a shelter from palm leaves and coconut trees before sunset.

Fresh water was provided and so was food - on the first night, a dead goat which they had to skin, gut and cook.

"It was a Bounty bar paradise," says Di. "We could see the other team and wave at a distance but we weren't allowed to talk or anything like that."

During the week, the two teams had to undertake additional tasks for points with the winning team staying an extra two nights in a luxury hotel.

Having to build a raft led to "quite a lot of heated debate" between the MDs. So did an obstacle course through an avenue of coconut trees in which one team member had to compete blindfolded.

"We had 15 minutes to complete the course but he made us sit down for four minutes to discuss how to do it. We scored extremely badly. The PAs beat us hands down," says Di.

For Vicky the worse moment was the goat meat. "It was disgusting. It stank. I'm a vegetarian and only ate the goat meat to get the points," she says. Unpleasant, too, was lying in a hammock at night and getting soaked by the tropical downpours.

Both women feel they came off lightly compared to other teams in the series who've been left in far less exotic locations and given worms and sheep's heads for food.

"We got the best programme, easily. I felt as if I'd been for a ten-day holiday in paradise," says Di. "My over-riding thought was that we were jolly lucky. It was absolute paradise but I feel it was an opportunity missed. I was looking forward to being with two first-class brains, sitting and talking about issues - and we did none of that. They were unable to talk about anything apart from how many points we'd got. At the end of the day I felt quite lonely.

"I couldn't fault them in terms of keeping the campfire going night and day. Before we went I said I wasn't hot in the kitchen but once we were there they kept the fire and the physical stuff while I was happy to do the cooking and washing the pots."

Vicky loved going out fishing on the raft while Di, who grew up in South Africa, enjoyed the camping aspect of the survival plan.

As for that trouble in paradise concerning her fellow MDs, she says: "My companions were nice but I wish they had been in tune with me."

Bare Necessities is on BBC2 on Thursday, at 8pm