Radio Times: Review by:; David Butcher

Ben Fogle presents a thrilling look at the underwater world of the Nile crocodile. He’s in Botswana, where researchers are for the first time studying crocs not on the banks, but in their river lairs. So how do you avoid being attacked by them? Don’t drift over them:
stick to the bottom and they’ll ignore you, to a remarkable extent, Fogle discovers.

Although as one cameraman discovers, that’s not failsafe. “The scariest thing I’ve ever had to do, without question” is Fogle’s verdict, but the footage and the discoveries are fantastic. Like all of us, it turns out, a crocodile loves a toy.

About this programme

1/2. Part one of two. Ben Fogle travels to Botswana to join a pilot research study of Nile crocodiles, which are responsible for hundreds of human deaths every year. By swimming with the reptiles, the team hopes to expand on what is known about their subaquatic behaviour. Wildlife experts Brad Bestelink and Andy Crawford have devised a method of diving with the creatures that they believe to be safe, and leading crocodile authority Adam Britton is on hand to test their theories.