MUMBAI: It is said that jobs fill your pocket but adventures fill your soul. Sony BBC Earth presents three shows, Extreme Mountain challenge, Extreme River challenge and -Deadly 60- Pole to Pole, featuring Steve Backshall, from 18 November, Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm. 

Backshall has been interested in wildlife since his childhood. His parents encouraged his interest in the natural world. He says, “I grew up in a small farm; I kept many animals from a very young age; lots of rescued animals, and lots of big animals as well. All these things had fuelled a lifelong love for natural history.”

His first show - Extreme Mountain Challenge - is all about encountering strange creatures and ancient mysteries. He and his team also attempt to explore the ancient, sheer-sided mountains and lost worlds cut off from the jungle. 

In the second show Extreme River Challenge, he explores the Baliem River in the island of New Guinea. His mission is to discover the ancient tribes that live along its banks and meet the dangerous animals lurking in the river and the surrounding jungles.

Backshall’s third show - Deadly 60- Pole to Pole- encounters deadly forces of nature, from exploding volcanoes to mighty glaciers and travels with his crew from the Arctic to the Atlantic.

Sharing his experience while shooting his third show-Deadly 60- Backshall said that it’s not about the animals that are deadly to human beings. In fact, animals are deadly to other animals, so they might feature creatures like bull sharks or king cobras or Komodo dragons.

“But we could also feature things like eagles and perhaps even something as small as a tiny beetle that feeds on other insects. So it is a big mix of mostly predators,” he added.

Big cats like tigers, jaguars, snow leopards and clouded leopards were the dangerous animals that he had encountered and were hard to handle. “I have spent months trying to film jaguars without succeeding. And it is something that is constantly a problem,” he said.