Synopsis
James Cracknel and Ben Fogle trek deep into the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert in the footsteps of explorer Wilfred Thesiger. They train with Bedouin tribesman and, with only four grumpy camels for company, push themselves and their friendship to the limit.
- Programme: Ben and James versus the Arabian Desert
- Episode: 1
- Channel: BBC Two
- Broadcast year: 2013
- Geography
Licence: ERA Licence required
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More resources about Hot deserts
2: Deserts - Life in the Furnace | Human Planet
2: Deserts - Life in the Furnace | Human Planet
A look at how the eternal quest for water brings huge challenges - and ingenious solutions - for millions of people in the dr...
Life in Death Valley | Planet Earth
Life in Death Valley | Planet Earth
A single shower can transform Death Valley.
Flash flood | Planet Earth
Flash flood | Planet Earth
A flash flood is a rare chance for wildlife to build up food and water reserves.
Episode 2 | Ben and James versus the Arabian Desert
Episode 2 | Ben and James versus the Arabian Desert
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle travel across the world's largest sand desert. As they try to pick up the pace disaster str...
Moisture in the Atacama | Planet Earth
Moisture in the Atacama | Planet Earth
Life exists in a strip of the Atacama Desert due to fog that blows in from the sea.
S1E2: Lion People of the Kalahari | Tribes, Predators & Me
S1E2: Lion People of the Kalahari | Tribes, Predators & Me
Gordon Buchanan joins a group of Bushmen in Botswana's Kalahari Desert to learn how to survive on foot among wild ...
Sandstorm | Planet Earth
Sandstorm | Planet Earth
How the desert is shaped by sandstorms.
Hottest Place on Earth
Hottest Place on Earth
A team of experts venture into the Danakil desert in Ethiopia. Kate Humble looks at how tough life is for an Afar woman, and Steve Leonard learns abou...
S2E1: Deserts | Fierce Earth
S2E1: Deserts | Fierce Earth
In the first of a new series, the Fierce Earth team travel to Morocco, North Africa and to the Sahara Desert - the biggest hot desert in the wor...
4: Kalahari | Wilderness with Simon Reeve
4: Kalahari | Wilderness with Simon Reeve
Simon Reeve crosses the parched desert of southern Africa, tracking wildebeest with the famous hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari, be...
Death Valley | Fierce Earth
Death Valley | Fierce Earth
Leo and Clare head to Death Valley in California which is 80 metres below sea level and the hottest place on earth.
S4E5: Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort | Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
S4E5: Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort | Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
Giles Coren and Monica Galetti visit an extraordinary hotel built where people usually struggle to ...
03: Mongolia | Kate Humble: Living with Nomads
03: Mongolia | Kate Humble: Living with Nomads
In her final journey of the series, Kate Humble travels deep into the Gobi Desert to live with an extended family of cashmere ...
12: Australia's Red Centre | Nature's Microworlds
12: Australia's Red Centre | Nature's Microworlds
Steve Backshall reveals huge kangaroos, the world's most venomous snake and a burrowing toad living among the throng of ani...
2: The Mucubal | Tribe with Bruce Parry
2: The Mucubal | Tribe with Bruce Parry
Bruce Parry visits the Mucubal, a community surviving in Angola's harsh Namib Desert, and experiences an extraordinary way of life pr...
3D model of Erte Ale | Hottest Place on Earth
3D model of Erte Ale | Hottest Place on Earth
The team manage to make a 3D model of Erte Ale, from scans taken inside the volcano's crater.
4: Beyond the Great Wall | Wild China
4: Beyond the Great Wall | Wild China
From tribes hunting with eagles to the baking deserts of central Asia, the extreme landscapes in northern China mean life is always on ...
4: Desert Worlds | The Green Planet
4: Desert Worlds | The Green Planet
Desert plants spend decades in suspended animation waiting for rain, or they travel to find it. They survive using weapons, camouflage an...
9: Namib Desert | Nature's Microworlds
9: Namib Desert | Nature's Microworlds
Steve Backshall visits the Namib in Africa, where animals use clever tactics to combat the heat. He reveals the unique secret that all...
Climbing Erta Ale | Hottest Place on Earth
Climbing Erta Ale | Hottest Place on Earth
The team climb up and into the crater of Erta Ale volcano.
More from Ben Fogle
S1E2: Southern Outer Hebrides | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
S1E2: Southern Outer Hebrides | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
Ben Fogle explores Catholic island life and whether the physical aspect of the landscape makes it ea...
Episode 2 | Ben and James versus the Arabian Desert
Episode 2 | Ben and James versus the Arabian Desert
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle travel across the world's largest sand desert. As they try to pick up the pace disaster str...
S1E3: Northern Outer Hebrides | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
S1E3: Northern Outer Hebrides | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
Ben Fogle returns to Taransay, the island where, over 20 years ago, he took part in the TV show Cast...
S1E1: Inner Hebrides | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
S1E1: Inner Hebrides | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
Ben Fogle explores the ancient sea roads of the Inner Hebrides. He visits Iona, the cradle of Christianity, a...
S1E4: Shetland | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
S1E4: Shetland | Scotland's Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
Travelling across Shetland, Ben Fogle meets people whose lives are rooted to these islands' history and visits a ti...