Television series
Running Wild with Bear Grylls
- Survival adventure
- Relentless
- Dip in and out
Bear Grylls drops celebrities into remote wilderness for 48-hour survival ordeals. It's part travelogue, part character study, mostly about watching famous people discover their limits in genuinely uncomfortable places. Ideal if you enjoy watching confident people humbled by nature, or if you're curious what your favourite actor looks like covered in mud.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like watching a celebrity who is out of his depth in the wild, where the fun comes from the bickering, the awkward small talk and the slow realisation that nobody is really in charge.
Skip it if you want survival tension or real stakes, since the celebrities are escorted and the mood is light, and the travel-show polish can feel more like a lifestyle product than an adventure.
What it asks of you: Each episode runs about an hour and asks you to settle into a rambling, sociable pace, with long stretches of chat and scenery between the bursts of physical effort.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Shark Week1988
Structured like a nature documentary but obsessed with spectacle and danger. Each special builds dread magnificently, and there's something genuinely thrilling about footage of predators in their element without artificial drama.
But Once you've seen a few, the formula becomes transparent. The peril is real but the storytelling is engineered, and you start noticing the manipulation.
Man vs. Wild2006
The template that inspired Running Wild. Bear himself at his hungriest and most reckless, surviving extreme environments with ingenuity and alarming risk-taking. If you like the concept, this is the original done at peak intensity.
But Pacing is slower and less polished than modern survival TV. Some sequences drag, and later seasons lean harder into manufactured scenarios than genuine survival.
Survivor2000
The godfather of stranded-person entertainment. Real people in real hardship, competing for a prize. The social dynamics matter as much as the survival, and the format has stayed compelling for two decades.
But Seasons vary wildly in quality. The politics can overshadow the adventure, and it's a massive time commitment per season.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Running Wild with Bear Grylls
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Planet Earth II2016
Running Wild is about humans invading nature and proving themselves. Planet Earth reverses the gaze—nature as the subject, humans as the observers. Same wilderness, opposite perspective and patience.
David Attenborough narrates the most stunningly gorgeous nature footage ever assembled, showing creatures in extreme environments solving survival problems with elegance. It's adventure without the ego, crisis without the celebrity.
But You're watching animals, not people. If you need the human drama and the familiar faces, this is nature without narrative stakes you can immediately grasp.
More like this (6)
The Traitors2022
Celebrities in remote locations facing psychological challenges as much as physical ones. The betrayals and alliance-building create genuine tension that's often more interesting than the survival element.
But Heavy on interpersonal drama, light on actual wilderness competence. If you want adventure over soap opera, this skews the wrong way.
Expedition Unknown2015
Josh Gates travels to culturally significant and genuinely remote locations solving mysteries and meeting locals. It balances adventure with anthropology, and Gates is endlessly curious and warm with the people he meets.
But Less survival-focused, more destination-focused. If you're here for people suffering in nature, this is insufficiently brutal.
Dual Survival2010
Two survival experts—often with clashing philosophies—dropped into extreme environments and forced to cooperate. The friction between their approaches creates genuine problem-solving drama.
But Later seasons got more melodramatic and less focused on actual survival instruction. Early episodes are stronger.
Naked and Afraid2013
Two strangers stripped down and dropped into wilderness for 21 days. The vulnerability is real, the challenges are serious, and watching people adapt to genuine discomfort is hypnotic.
But Repetitive structure and heavy editing to manufacture drama where none exists. Also genuinely uncomfortable to watch at times, which isn't always in a good way.
Bear Grylls: Mission Survive2015
Amateurs compete in a survival competition with Bear overseeing. Tighter format than Running Wild, more competition stakes, and you get to see real people pushed to actual limits.
But The competition element dilutes the character exploration. It's more game show than journey, which some find diminishes the genuine adventure.
The Dawn Wall2017
Both follow people testing themselves against unforgiving environments, but The Dawn Wall is interested in obsession and precision while Running Wild is interested in celebrity and reaction. One film about the climb itself; one show about famous people being surprised by difficulty.
Documentary about two climbers scaling a nearly impossible vertical rock face in Yosemite. Intimate, technically breathtaking, and the stakes are genuinely life-or-death. You feel the commitment and the fear in every frame.
But Niche subject matter and technical climbing knowledge helps but isn't required. Some find it slow; the actual climbing spans 19 days and the film doesn't cut away from that duration.
People
Cast
Writing
- Delbert ShoopmanCreator
Production
- Bear GryllsExecutive Producer
- Ben SilvermanExecutive Producer
- Chris GrantExecutive Producer
- Delbert ShoopmanExecutive Producer
- Laura CaraccioliExecutive Producer
- Viki CacciatoreExecutive Producer
Recommended by
The Great American Road Rally: Celebrity Edition, Stacey Dooley's Australia: Off the Beaten Track