In this first episode, Simon revisits some of those amazing encounters, from the Burmese human rights campaigner who took him on a dangerous undercover mission into the country in 2010, to the homeless woman he met living inside a railway bridge just a few miles from the glamorous streets of Hollywood. The journeys have taken him from a £10,000-a-night hotel in Mexico to eating soup made from zebu (ox) penis in Madagascar. And most movingly of all, Simon catches up with a ten-year-old boy he met working in terrible conditions in a glass factory in Bangladesh and finds out what has happened to him ten years later.
In this second programme, Simon focuses on some of the dodgiest and most dangerous situations he has found himself in while travelling the globe – from coming under fire in war-torn Mogadishu to squaring off with a female wrestler in Mexico City. These journeys take him from a police cell in the far east of Russia to a crazy ambulance trip through the streets of San Salvador.
In this third programme, Simon focuses on some of the incredible wildlife stories he’s encountered – from the eccentric Yorkshireman who founded a giant tortoise sanctuary on his island in the Seychelles to the armed conservationists defending a forest in Belize. These journeys reveal threats to the natural world from human encroachment, as well as meeting the dedicated and sometimes maverick conservationists fighting to preserve some of the planet's most iconic wildlife. And while catching up with old friends, Simon discovers how one of his programmes help protect a crucial whale sanctuary off the coast of Australia.
In the final programme, Simon looks at his journeys through some of the world’s most spectacular and unspoilt wildernesses, and reflects on the huge challenges faced when trying to protect them. From the vast, icy expanses of Siberia to the tropical forests of Central and South America, Simon’s films have repeatedly exposed the causes and consequences of climate change, as well as suggesting solutions to one of the greatest issues facing mankind. And from Hawaii to the Mediterranean, Simon was one of the first TV journalists to expose the horrifying extent of plastic pollution in our oceans. Here, Simon recalls some of the meetings with indigenous peoples from around the world who have had first-hand experience of the damage being done to our planet.
