Circling the globe on a northern adventure

Simon Reeve, best-selling author and broadcaster, embarks on his most ambitious journey yet, circling the world following the line that marks the northern border of the Earth's tropical region. This epic trip completes Simon's trilogy of journeys exploring the tropics, after his acclaimed series Equator and Tropic Of Capricorn, and is his toughest, longest and greatest challenge - a journey around the extraordinary Tropic Of Cancer.

Simon starts his journey on the paradise beaches of Mexico's Pacific Coast, and then circumnavigates the planet, heading east across the Caribbean, the Sahara, crossing borders in North Africa closed to foreigners for decades, and then on through the deserts of Arabia and the remote jungles of Asia, to finish in Hawaii. He visits 18 countries, meeting amazing people, witnessing bizarre and beautiful sights, and encountering spectacular and endangered wildlife.

In Mexico Simon is put through his paces by a masked female wrestler, while in the Bahamas he uncovers the suffering of Haitian refugees. North Africa is full of surprises, from a long-forgotten civil war to a vast scheme to extract millions of gallons of water from underneath the desert. In the jungles of Burma he meets villagers struggling to survive under brutal oppression.

The 22,835 mile long Tropic of Cancer marks the northern border of the Tropics, the region of the planet with both the richest natural biodiversity, and the greatest concentration of human suffering.

This fascinating series has a strong current affairs theme, as Simon explores some of the huge challenges facing the Tropics, including poverty, the drugs trade, climate change, industrial pollution, and forgotten conflicts. But it's also a spectacular travelogue, taking Simon and viewers to some of the most remote and beautiful places on earth.