MUMBAI: Non-fiction broadcaster Discovery Networks International (DNI) has announced the return of survival expert and global phenomenon Bear Grylls with a new series: ?Bear Grylls: Ultimate Survivors?.

This six episode one hour series - commissioned by DNI creative director, head of production, development Julian Bellamy and DNI VP development, factual programming Sarah Davies will air on Discovery Channel internationally, available in 217 markets across the Asia-Pacific Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Grylls said, "I am super excited to be working with Discovery again - the channel where the ?Man Vs Wild? journey began. ?Bear Grylls: Ultimate Surviviors? and any future endeavours will be intense-but that?s where the fun is! ?Man Vs Wild? took me to some of the toughest climates and terrains out there, and this new series is an exciting evolution of that. The aim is to follow incredible real-life survival stories and demonstrate dynamic life-saving know-how along the way."

DNI chief content officer, executive VP Luis Silberwasser said, "We are thrilled to welcome Bear back to the Discovery fold. He is a true game-changer in the survival genre, integral in shaping it into the programming powerhouse that it is today. We are now poised to push the limits even further for our international audience."

Bellamy said, "We are hugely excited about Bear?s new series, which brings a fresh take to what he does best: survival extremes. ?Bear Grylls: Ultimate Survivors? will pair Bear?s unique brand of survival knowledge and techniques with some of the most mind-blowing survival stories ever documented. This show will prove to be a must-see for adventure lovers around the world."

In the show, Grylls takes his survival expertise one step further as he reveals the stories of ordinary people stranded in devastatingly dire situations. Coupled with archive footage and interviews with the survivors, he will pit himself against the very same dangers and scenarios, re-living their journeys through first-hand experience, and showing us how to survive through some of the world?s most desolate landscapes.

From a plane crash in the Amazon, to the remote crevasses of the European Alps, to the unforgiving North African desert, Grylls navigates through ever more hostile terrain to show the skills needed to make it back to civilization. The show aims to go beyond mere endurance skills. It aims to offer insight into the human spirit under pressure. It marries emotion and real experience that celebrates instinct, endeavor, and the will to survive in the face of dangers.

MUMBAI: After years of mastering the subsistence tactics by being dropped off in remote locales around the globe, the survival expert and extreme adventurer Bear Grylls returns with a new season of Man Vs. Wild on infotainment broadcaster Discovery every night at 9 pm from 1 November.

The new episodes will see Grylls tackling the terrain and braving the elements, from raging waters and the biting cold to mudslides and deserts, to make it out alive. Grylls will search for new extreme destinations and challenges and shares invaluable survival strategies along the way.

Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, "Man Vs. Wild is one of the most popular programmes on Indian television. It attracts millions of viewers from across India. It also demonstrates the entertainment quotient in Discovery Channel?s unmatched programming."

Grylls has served with the British Special Forces, explored the Arctic and was the youngest British climber to complete a summit and descent on Mount Everest. In the show using his specialist survival skills, he attempts to navigate his way through these environments. Drawing upon years of experience as a soldier, mountaineer and seasoned adventurer, viewers can watch as Grylls claws his way back to civilization, armed only with a few supplies and the clothes on his back.

In this season viewers can follow Grylls as he faces obstacles that push him to his limits in the wilderness and endures the most intense journeys with some of the harshest conditions possible. Some things Grylls does are scaling towering escarpments in the Malaysian archipelago, traversing a mountain range in New Zealand?s South Island, tackling vertical drops in Arizona?s arid desert and facing blinding blizzards in Iceland.

Tagging along Grylls in an episode is the Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal. For two days Grylls and Gyllenhaal embark on a survival experience to an Icelandic landscape dominated by mountains, huge glaciers and some of Europe?s most active volcanoes.

Also part of the series is a Global Survival Guide episode, which features never-before-seen footage from Bear?s challenges from around the planet.