Ray Mears' Northern Wilderness Movie (2009)

I have watched a few of Ray Mears' tv programs, but when I saw that this one was based in Canada, I HAD to watch it! (I've always wanted to explore Canada!)

You get far more than just a travelogue or survival guide in these hour-long programmes. Instead Ray Mears demonstrates how individual explorers discovered the wild lands of Canada; how the fur trade and later commercial development led to the birth of a nation. Mears explains the background of the history of the country itself and how the Europeans and native peoples worked alongside each other - often, sadly, to the detriment of the First Nation and the wild animals.

Mears uses a variety of forms of transport to re-trace important journeys into the wilderness, going by canoe to tell the story of the Hudson's Bay Company whose early traders laid the foundations of the modern Canadian state. Another episode follows the route of explorer Samuel Hearne who learned native skills in order to complete his epic 1000 mile journey beyond the tree line and into the tundra. Another of the six programmes looks at the Arctic explorer John Rae (born in Orkney) who found the Northwest Passage, and Mears examines his how his good reputation was destroyed, and attempts to set the record straight.

All of this information is set against an awe-inspiring backdrop of enormous skies, snow-strew ice sheets, tumbling, churning rivers and the ancient, massive forest which still dominates the Canadian landscape. The camera adores the landscape, panning and swooping to capture its fragile beauty at dawn or dusk. Every now or then a wild animal wanders through - like a polar bear - demonstrating that the crew really are out in the wilderness. And you don't get the feeling that these animals have been staged for our benefit, unlike on some other survival programmes...

Mears talks to the locals, gets them to explain their family and tribal heritage and how it's been affected by the development of the country. He builds fires and cooks food in the traditional manner of the area, often sharing little bits of bushcraft or wood-working skill as an aside.

Watching this series taught me a huge amount about the history of Canadian exploration, and the people who opened up its wilderness to the rest of the world. It's hugely enjoyable and a visual treat.

...But if you want to see the presenter in a role more like action man; eating bugs, wrestling snakes, surviving on no water for days on end etc, then this is the wrong series to watch! Northern Wilderness is altogether a more thoughtful and more gentle program, and it is a delight to watch a man who is truely in awe of Canada and all that it has to offer. Wonderful stuff!