Bear brings along a companion, actor Jake Gyllenhaal, to test how he measures up to unpredictable and unforgiving Mother Nature.

Grylls is kicked out by helicopter into the water near a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. He demonstrates long distance swimming, shelter building and coconut harvesting. Grylls builds a bamboo raft to look for ships, and is surrounded by tiger sharks. He fishes off his raft using a fish bone hook, and shows how to signal a ship using the reflection produced by his polished knife.

Grylls heads to Romania where he takes on a bear and dangerous water channels.

Grylls is in a post-disaster urban city scenario and he must survive. His thirst to live and survival techniques modified for a city environment keep him alive in a concrete wasteland in Gdynia, Poland.

Grylls parachutes into the Sierra Nevadas, simulating the situation of the hundreds of hikers who become stranded there each year. Equipped with a knife and a canteen, Grylls travels through the alpine, woodland and chaparral areas of the mountains. He unsuccessfully tries to tame a wild horse, and eats a live snake. Using techniques gleaned from the Mono Indians, he brushes his teeth with a manzanita leaf. Most of the ground he covers is traversed by river, using a raft held together by grape vine.

Grylls paraglides onto the edge of the Andes and follows rivers into the Ecuadorian jungle, is attacked by huge colonies of spear-nosed bats[disambiguation needed], and observes giant weevil grubs and piranhas. He builds a bamboo bridge and a bow and arrow to successfully catch fish, but it doesn't always go his way and he's forced to ride the rapids of the Amazon on a single tree trunk.

Grylls shows how to navigate the Cairngorms region in extreme weather using ice formations and moss growth, and how to test snow slopes for avalanche potential. He uses moss to purify water and skins a red deer for shelter. For food, he traps a rabbit and cooks it to demonstrate how to prepare it. Grylls also crosses deep marshes and uses fallen trees to cross ravines.

Grylls travels to Panama, where he travels in the equatorial heat through mangrove swamps and rain forest, and endures more than 100 mosquito bites and one painful snake bite.

Grylls battles the fierce swamps in Sumatra, Indonesia. As he struggles to keep dry and avoid trench foot, he runs into several types of wildlife, including lizards and the deadly mangrove snake.

This week Bear braves the remote wilderness of New Zealand's South Island, crossing the country's tallest mountains and attempting to start a fire with wood that is soaking wet.

Grylls drops into the swamps of Florida's Everglades, where at least 60 tourists need to be rescued each year. He trudges through the swamp and shows how to construct shelter, deal with razor-sharp sawgrass, get out of a muddy sinkhole and avoid alligators and rattlesnakes. He eats frogs and cooks a turtle Seminole-style.

In the sun-scorched Sahara Desert, Grylls uses survival tactics of the indigenous people, including eating a scorpion and a sandfish. He also explains how to escape from quicksand.

Grylls heads to Turkey where he deals with dangerous animals and he also takes to the water.

Grylls demonstrates what it was like for soldiers who had to survive in the jungles of Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.

Grylls takes on Big Sky Country. He paraglides above the Rockies, traverses vast gullies, and makes the most of abandoned debris before making his great escape on a moving train.

Host Bear Grylls parachutes alone into a remote area of the Rocky Mountains equipped with only the clothes on his back.

Grylls is dropped in the Chugach Mountains in Alaska, with skis and his usual gear. He demonstrates Glissading as he traverses snow and glaciers, and climbs down a 200ft (61m) waterfall. He catches a salmon, which he eats raw, and finds a skiff from an abandoned lodge. The skiff sinks, but he reaches the shore and is spotted by a ship.

Grylls parachutes into the extreme landscape of Iceland, the site of vicious blizzard, 50 mph (80 km/h) winds, icy glacial waters, boiling hot mud and volcanic springs. He demonstrates how to make a snow cave, find water in volcanic underground tunnels and avoid frostbite. To find food in this subarctic environment, Grylls scavenges a sheep for its eyeballs and mutton fat, and catches a ptarmigan. He demonstrates with his shoelaces the boiling of the eyeballs and mutton in the geysers, to save digestion energy and disinfect the scavenged food.

In the Kimberley region of Australia, an area with a mixture of huge scrub deserts, dry riverbeds and red sandstone cliffs full of deep gorges, Grylls faces extreme heat, poisonous snakes and the ever present danger of dehydration. Survival tips include how to forage for food (bush tucker), build a shelter and how to prevent sunstroke. He explains why he believes drinking ones own urine can prevent death from dehydration. During his journey, Grylls observes saltwater crocodiles and endures a lightning storm.

Bear Grylls spends a week showing how to survive the challenges of the Pacific Ring of Fire. He is dropped into petrified swamps devastated by the 2004 Tsunami and has to navigate his way out.

With temperatures dipping to -50°C, Grylls has to keep warm before hypothermia sets in. He uses snares to catch his food, and a fire to keep warm. He puts up a scenario for the great dangers to walk over a frozen lake, and how to survive without drowning and/or before hypothermia sets in.

Grylls must cross blistering desert and barren salt plains in Mexico's Baja peninsula. While collecting honey Grylls is stung by a bee and his face becomes severely swollen, nearly blinding him.

Grylls has some tips on how to survive the hurricane season and he also eats a cooked tarantula to survive. He tells us about the hairs on the tarantula's back legs and how they defend themselves using the hairs.

In Mexico, Grylls must find his way out of Copper Canyon, and his only supplies are a water bottle, a flint and a knife. He demonstrates how to build a simple compass and climb sheer cliffs safely. For shelter, he uses ancient caves and makes fire with a traditional "fire saw." Grylls also demonstrates techniques for finding scorpions or grubs and fishing without a rod or line.

In the desert, Grylls offers tips on skinning and disemboweling a dead camel for water.