Escape to the Legion

IMDB rating: 7.9

Bear stole the show in this four-part series for Channel 4, which was also broadcast on American cable TV. The action followed twelve would-be legionnaires as they underwent a recreation of basic training for France’s infamously tough Foreign Legion in the blistering heat of the Sahara Desert. While no longer on general release, it’s just about still possible to find a copy on DVD if you know where to look. Clips of the show are disappointingly thin on the ground these days too, but photographic evidence show’s Bear with a shaved head buried up to the neck in sand.

Worst-Case Scenario

IMDB rating: 7.2

Based on the books of the same name and produced by the Discovery Channel, Worst-Case Scenario aired in America for a single series in 2010. While not enjoying quite the same critical reception or ratings success as his previous effort, this is nonetheless an excellent show in which Bear teaches us some of his best techniques for surviving various nightmare scenarios. In the clip below, we learn what Bear suggests we do if we’re being chased by an assailant.

Bear’s Wild Weekend

IMDB rating: 7.8

Bear returned to Channel 4 over the Christmas period in 2011 with two special programmes entitled Bear’s Wild Weekend. In the first instalment, Bear helps Jonathan Ross tackle various survival and endurance challenges in some little-known rainforest located on one of the Canary Islands. The other features Miranda Hart being put through her paces in the Swiss Alps. Three further episodes were released in the UK between 2013 and 2014, two of which had originally been produced in the US as stand-alone episodes of Man vs. Wild and Running Wild.

Here’s the trailer the Discovery Channel used for the Miranda Hart episode when it was broadcast on the network in 2012.

Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls

IMDB rating: 7.1

Bear proved that his presenting skills are just as fearsome as his survival abilities with this adventure-themed game-show filmed in New Zealand and broadcast on the American NBC network in 2013. It’s not just lives but also money which is at stake as ten teams of two compete for a handsome cash prize of $500,000. Have a look at just how far the contestants were prepared to go.

The Island with Bear Grylls

IMDB rating: 7.6

Bear shifted the focus onto the general public even more with his next major TV project, survival-themed reality show The Island. In the first series, which was broadcast on Channel 4 in mid-2014, Bear oversaw the survival adventures of thirteen men on Isla Gibraleón, an uninhabited Pacific island off the coast of Panama.

The second series, which aired the following spring, tested the survival skills of two larger groups of fourteen apiece. This included an all-female group, for whom Isla Gibraleón was reused, and an all-male group, who were dropped off on the neighbouring island of Isla San Telmo.

For the third series, the first episode of which was released in time for Easter 2016, the format was adjusted yet again. This time smaller teams of just eight members (again all-female and all-male) were placed on Isla San Telmo, but started off on opposite shores.

For a flavour of what to expect from the third series, have a look at the trailer below.

Running Wild with Bear Grylls

IMDB rating: 8.0

Bear jumps on board the celebrity bandwagon once again for another NBC production, which premiered in America in July 2014. In a format which bears a striking resemblance to that of Bear’s Wild Weekend, each episode follows Bear on a two-day trek accompanied by a famous face.

Running Wild’s Guest stars in series one included Zac Efron, Ben Stiller, Tamron Hall, Deion Sanders, Channing Tatum and Tom Arnold. Series two features Kate Winslet, Kate Hudson, Drew Brees, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed Helms, Michelle Rodriguez, James Marsden, Michael B. Jordan and none other than President Barack Obama. In December 2015, the Obama episode was broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 as Bear Goes Wild with Barack Obama. Have a look at the short – but funny – trailer below.

Bear Grylls: Mission Survive

IMDB rating: 7.2

In this 2015 production for UK channel ITV, we join Bear and eight celebrity friends in an epic twelve day adventure through the Costa Rican rainforest. Each week Bear decides which of his companions to eliminate based on their performance in various survival challenges, including abseiling, foraging for food, building shelters and navigating difficult terrain. In the final episode, Bear must use a series of even more gruelling challenges to choose a winner from the three remaining contestants. The second series premiered on ITV in March 2016.

Here’s the trailer for series one.

Bear Grylls: Survival School

IMDB rating n/a

Bear turns his attention to younger viewers in this educational series for UK children’s channel CITV, which premiered in January 2016. The action follows ten youngsters on a two-week adventure in the mountains, as Bear teaches them the vital outdoor skills they’ll need to survive. For a kid’s show, the challenges are surprisingly intense, as you can see for yourself in the extended trailer below.

Interviews and Appearances

Like all the most successful celebrities, Bear frequently appears on chat-shows and the like to promote his latest project, and just generally because that’s what people in his position do. After all, we all like to get out and meet new people from time to time, and sitting on a plush leather sofa in front of a load of TV cameras and a studio audience chatting to a couple of stand-up comedians and the star of the latest Scandinavian detective series is as good a way as any.

So here are a few of his best interviews in no particular order to give you an idea of what the rugged yet strangely boyish (or boyish yet strangely rugged) adventurer is like when he’s off duty.

The Jonathan Ross Show

Loose Women

TODAY (US news programme)

This Morning

Michael McIntyre Chat Show

The Graham Norton Show

Letterman

Sure Deodorant Commercial

IMDB rating: n/a

As one of the youngest climbers ever to conquer Everest at the tender age of just 23, Bear was already making quite a name for himself very early on in life. So it wasn’t long before he caught the roving eye of the advertising world, resulting in this hair-raising worldwide TV ad for Sure deodorant. Have a look at the video below to see where it all began.

No matter what you think of the Bear, that’s quite an impressive TV CV; one that a lot of professional presenters would bite off your arm for..