Episode list

Steve begins his search for the world's deadliest animals in South Africa where he has a terrifying encounter with a hippopotamus, finds a surprisingly docile spider and declares Africa's deadliest species of snake.

Continuing his search in South Africa's Kruger National Park, Steve watches a fish eagle catch it's prey, tests the strength of a spider's web and shows just how hard it is for Africa's big cats to stalk their prey by trying it himself.

Steve concludes his South African adventure in the Cape where he's chased by a honey badger, mauled by a caracal at a wildlife sanctuary and swims with docile stingrays, an animal with a bad reputation after the death of Steve Irwin.

Steve heads to Australia where he's joined by Aussie herpetologist Mitch to look for a tiger snake in Perth's parks and backyards. Off the coast, the team encounter sea lions, pelicans and dolphins.

In Queensland Steve finds an invasive cane toad and meets a victim of a tick bite at a veterinary clinic before heading into the forest in search of deadly reptiles and the notorious black widow or redback spider.

While Steve and his team try to catch an elusive platypus on camera in South Australia, they encounter a kangaroo and a trapdoor spider. Later, Steve heads into the sea to observe the giant Australian cuttlefish.

Steve heads north for the final part of his Australian adventure where he helps catch a saltwater crocodile before hitting the road to witness a bushfire and track down ghost bats at an abandoned goldmine.

In India Steve joins his old friend Gerry for a snake hunt, proves that the sloth bear is deadlier than the tiger and gets a lesson in praying mantis style kung fu from a local grandmaster.

Continuing his search in India, Steve admires the Gharial, a native species of crocodile before heading on a wild hunt for tigers which brings the crew dangerously close to charging elephants.

Steve and his team make their way through Borneo's rainforests, braving bloodsucking tiger leeches before descending into the Gomantong Caves, home to insect eating bats and the venomous centipede scutigera.

Steve goes diving in Borneo's seas, not knowing what deadly creatures he'll find. In the reef he encounters the impressive lionfish and mantis shrimp but it's a giant shoal of barracuda that amazes him most.

Back home in Britain, Steve takes on gannets in a diving competition, comes face-to-face with the only snake that has ever hospitalised him and uncovers a hornets' nest in a loft as he proves that British wildlife is anything but boring.

Steve heads to Scotland where he joins his hero Terry Nutkins to watch otters before observing the aquatic raft spider hunting it's prey and finally racing a peregrine falcon in a sports car, Top Gear style.

Looking to find a polar bear, Steve and the crew take a flight to frozen Alaska where they also encounter an arctic fox and a wolverine. Later, they go river rafting to watch bald eagles and brown bears catch salmon.

Leaving Alaska behind, Steve heads to Arizona's Sonoran Desert, an environment that couldn't be more different. There he shows off the harris hawk, goes hunting for a mountain lion and finds a rattlesnake.

Steve and his team are in Louisiana, America's gator country but Steve is instead searching for two other deadly animals with alligator in their name, the sharp toothed alligator gar and the gigantic alligator snapping turtle.

In the Bahamas Steve is joined by shark expert Dr Sam "the Doc" Gruber to go diving with three different species of shark as he sets out to prove that sharks are more than just mindless killers.

Steve takes to the skies in a helicopter to traverse Brazil's grasslands in order to get up close with the bizarre giant anteater before heading into the rainforest to show off two of the world's deadliest arachnids.

Venturing further into Brazil, Steve and his crew take a cruise along the Amazon River in a luxurious river boat. Steve wrestles with a huge arapaima and goes fishing for piranhas but it's the voracious candiru that terrifies him most.

Steve concludes his Brazilian adventure with a nighttime trek through the rainforest in search of a giant spider before descending into the caves to find a vampire bat and taking advantage of a rare chance to observe a colony of army ants.

All the animals that made it onto Steve's list are deadly in their own right, but a handful of them are deadly to humans. This programme looks at those animals in detail, dispelling myths and showing just how incredible they truly are.

Sharks, especially the great white, have a deadly mouthful of razor-sharp teeth and bite like a chainsaw. At scale, carnivorous bats can compare. Biting power champions include crocodilians and the alligator turtle. Claws can be deadly too, as with birds of prey, the praying mantis, which inspired kungfu, and its homonym aquatic counterpart, a lobster. Venom is often deadly, with millipedes as well as snakes such as cobras. Speed is often part of deadly hunting, as with falcon and tuna.

In this extra episode on species Steve couldn't show in the regular ones, he starts in Australia with a spider. In Borneo, a viciously poisonous centipede made him sweat, especially as it seemed caught in his wristwatch. peaceful encounters followed with a viper and a kingfisher, as well as a moraine. In Africa, a 'gliding spider', more vipers and other serpents. In Alaska, Steve's favorite predator, the grey wolf.

The making of an adventurous documentary like Deadly 60 is an adventure in itself, even if most of the time is spent waiting and searching, preferably with local guides or other experts, yet often even in vain. The tricks of the trade include safety measures, as for climbing, and getting acquainted in advance with dangerous animals, such as 'domesticated' hippo Jessica. Yet surprises always lurk, especially with wild animals. Biotopes themselves can be pretty uncomfortable, e.g. stinking, bugs-infested, spooky and/or dangerous, especially for team-members with phobias, such as deep caves, not to mention the elements. Sometimes animals just won't 'perform'.

The team needs to be well-matched, including camera and sound technicians as well as director and researcher, plus local guides, sometimes doubling tasks, e.g. handling extra cameras. The required recording equipment adds to the personal luggage, so transportation is quite demanding in desolate or near-impenetrable territory, which can be as dangerous and unpredictable as wild predators and parasites, all subject to the elements, which sometimes even get the better of equipment. For various menial practical reasons, recording a short sequence can take forever.