
Steve travels to the deadliest desert on the planet, the Baja peninsula in Mexico, where he goes searching for a gruesome savage killer in the form of a tarantula hawk wasp. This predator lays an egg in its tarantula prey, which hatches into a maggot, which then eats the spider from the inside - while it's still alive! It is the biggest wasp in the world and has a paralysing sting which makes even Steve nervous - that doesn't stop him handling it though.\n\nThe desert of Baja, Mexico, is serpent central and Steve has the time of his life catching snakes. These include a cape water snake, and a coachwhip snake that catches Steve unaware and lands a cheeky bite on his hand. He then embarks on a regular rattlesnake round-up, clocking up encounters with the venomous red diamond and Baja rattlesnakes before an encounter with a speckled rattlesnake tops off the best snake-hunting day Steve has ever had in his life. \n\nSteve also takes to water in the Sea of Cortez in search of a monster of the deep seas. Known locally as the Red Devil, legend talks of its ability to snatch fishermen from their boats before tearing them to shreds - it is the Humboldt squid. Snatching fishermen is probably a little far-fetched, but Steve takes no chances and wears chain mail to protect him from the squid's razor-sharp beak and its 16 thousand sucker cup teeth. \n\nIncidental finds which don't make it onto Steve's list are a mole lizard which looks like one of the oddest creatures on the planet and a torchlit walk in the local vicinity which reveals he and his crew are literally surround by scorpions.
Source: CBBC
Series 7: 5. Puffins And Dragonflies
Steve Backshall heads out to find one of the UK’s greatest predators: the dragonfly. He witnesses the aerial prowess of the hobby and dives underwater with the puffin.
05-07-2026
CBBC
Series 7: 5. Puffins And Dragonflies
Steve Backshall heads out to find one of the UK’s greatest predators: the dragonfly. He witnesses the aerial prowess of the hobby and dives underwater with the puffin.
05-07-2026
CBBC
Series 7: 3. Secretive Puma Special
Steve Backshall goes searching for Patagonia’s perfect predator: the puma. After waiting his whole life to see one, Steve sees a tiny cub and witnesses a female puma hunti ...
21-06-2026
CBBC
Series 7: 2. Blue Whales And Saltwater Crocodiles
Steve Backshall heads to Timor Leste in search of the biggest animal to have ever lived - the blue whale. He also hopes to find the saltwater crocodile, one of the giants of land.
14-06-2026
CBBC
Series 7: 1. Bears And Vipers In Slovenia
Steve Backshall goes in search of one of Europe’s most venomous snakes: the nose-horned viper. He also hopes to track down a bear and goes deep into a cave system to find ...
09-06-2026
CBBC
Series 6: 1. Cheetah Special
Steve Backshall tracks cheetahs across Zambia by motorbike, witnessing epic hunting and the challenges faced by this endangered predator.
02-06-2026
CBBC
Series 7: 6. Saving Coral Reefs
In this special episode of Deadly 60, Steve Backshall takes a deep dive into the fate of one of the most extraordinary, and endangered, ecosystems on our planet: coral reefs. Th ...
27-06-2026
CBBC
Series 5: 6. The Deep
Steve heads down in a deep-sea submersible to explore the ocean depths like never before. He then travels to the Natural History Museum to meet some of the weirdest animals from ...
05-05-2026
CBBC
Series 7: 4. Slow Loris And King Cobras
Steve Backshall goes in search of bat-hunting boas, meets a team working to save the deadly but cute slow loris, and he comes face to face with the king of snakes: the king cobra.
28-06-2026
CBBC
Series 2: 26. Endangered Special
Steve Backshall looks at animals that are both deadly and endangered.\n\nSteve explores why mighty animals like the chimpanzee, mountain gorilla and harpy eagle are threatened w ...
01-04-2026
CBBC
Series 4: 10. Gabon Coast
Steve and the crew travel 4,000 miles to the Loango National Park in Gabon. It’s a little-known corner of Africa that deserves a place in Deadly history.\n\nSteve heads ou ...
27-04-2026
CBBC