ITV and Fresh Start Media have announced a brand new documentary following adventurer Steve Backshall as he retraces The King’s steps from his 1975 trip to the Canadian Arctic, looking at the impact of climate change fifty years on.
The feature-length 90 minute documentary, Steve Backshall’s Royal Arctic Challenge, will be shown as part of ITV’s Christmas schedule and will see environmentalist and adventurer Steve Backshall retrace The King’s steps from his 1975 trip to the Canadian Arctic exactly fifty years on, rediscovering the young Prince Charles’ extreme sense of adventure, enjoying the warmth and spirit of local people, and finding out how much has changed fifty years on.
Steve looks at the accelerating impact of climate change on the Arctic, which is warming three times faster than the rest of the world, and the work being done now to ensure this stunning land – and ultimately the planet itself – has a healthy future.
The future King’s 1975 formative trip to the Canadian Arctic was a true adventure in freezing temperatures, taking in dog sledding and even a dive beneath the ice, while learning about the local Inuit people’s culture and dependence on the environment around them.
The trip helped shape His Majesty’s lifelong passion for the environment – and his belief in the importance of living in harmony with nature.
Backshall’s journey, paralleling that of Charles, does more than chronicle environmental decline; it reaffirms the power of perspective. By looking back at the King’s formative experience, he invites modern audiences to see how personal stories can shape global movements. It’s a reminder that transformation often begins with a single, authentic encounter — a moment when one truly sees the world’s fragility and decides to protect it. In that sense, the 1975 Arctic expedition was as much a story of personal evolution as it was of exploration. It marked the birth of a philosophy that would later drive global initiatives like The Prince’s Trust, the Terra Carta, and now, the Royal Family’s ongoing environmental legacy through projects like the Earthshot Prize championed by Prince William.
For content creators, storytellers, and marketers, there is a deeper lesson in this narrative. The most compelling stories are not those that preach or predict, but those that connect — emotionally, visually, and humanly. They draw their power from authenticity and from the courage to reveal transformation, not perfection. The Arctic’s story — from Charles’s early encounter to today’s race against time — is a testament to that. It’s not just a tale of melting ice and shifting climates; it’s a story about conviction, continuity, and the human capacity to care before it’s too late.
As audiences grow more conscious and more skeptical, the need for sincerity in storytelling has never been greater. Just as the Arctic holds lessons about balance and survival, this journey offers one about communication: that meaningful impact comes not from the loudest message, but from the truest one. In revisiting a young prince’s encounter with the ice, we are reminded that every great message begins with a moment of wonder — and that the role of the storyteller is not only to inform, but to awaken.
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