Bear Talks… Making the Films

Where did the idea for the show come from?

I'd done a show for Channel 4 last year called Escape to the Legion and they wanted me to do something else. They knew that a big part of my life has always been the climbing stuff and survival stuff, and they said: 'Why don't we just drop you into a lot of different hellholes equipped with nothing, and you do what you have to do to survive?'

They made it very clear that it could be very raw and very real, and it wouldn't all have to work. 'If you fail to light a fire, that's great,' they said. 'We want it to have a real feel to it. It doesn't all have to be very slick and polished. You can be covered in shit, sweat and blood, and everything can be as gruesome as you like. Just do what you would do, for real, to get out of these places.'

You must have had some contingency plans or safety precautions?

Yeah, definitely. If needed there was anti-venom for snakes; they said they could helicopter stuff in. There were really good safety measures if needed. And that gave me the confidence to really get stuck in, to go for it.

We went to some amazing places this year, from pretty aggressive jungle to unforgiving desert to huge Alaskan mountains. Even though it's been hard work where I've spent a lot of time cold, wet and quite cheesed off, it's been a real privilege and everything that I love, and one of those rare things that I'm good at. And it's worked and I'm alive, so I feel very lucky really.

Before you go into each different environment, do you research the flora and fauna and landscape and so on?

Yeah, that's a very important part of it. What I also have is three days in country with the local rangers who are the search-and-rescue guys. There'll be a local survival guide who will outline the useful plants, the dangerous animals at this time of year, and all of that. So I get a really good, thorough briefing. So it's like I'm a sponge cake, and wherever I go I get given a different topping.

You had a camera crew with you. Did they have luxury tents and food and things?

Well, I should say that the camera crew are the real heroes in my eyes in all of this. It was basically the same two guys, Simon and Paul, for the whole series. They're strong and they're reliable and 90% of what I've done they've been there with me, and they've carried all their kit around.

Obviously they've got waterproofs and proper food and that sort of stuff, but they're the unsung heroes. They might get helicoptered out for a night to recharge camera batteries and put back again in the morning, but they're great guys, and really they've been a rock for me in much of this. They've become real friends.

Highs and Lows »

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