Will Smith goes ‘Pole to Pole’ in National Geographic’s bold new series

MUMBAI: National Geographic will premiere Pole to Pole with Will Smith in India on 16 January, marking one of the network’s most ambitious global productions to date.

The seven-part series follows Will Smith across all seven continents, from Antarctica’s icefields to the Amazon rainforest, the Himalayas, Africa’s deserts, the Pacific islands and the Arctic. Airing Fridays at 9.30 pm, the show charts a 100-day journey that tests Smith’s physical and mental endurance at the planet’s extremes.

Smith skis towards the South Pole, dives beneath Arctic ice, scales mountains and ventures deep into the Amazon in search of venomous spiders and the giant green anaconda. Along the way, he is joined by scientists, explorers and indigenous communities, blending exploration with environmental science and cultural insight.

Five years in the making, the series pairs cinematic storytelling with scientific discovery, from ice-core research in Antarctica to venom extraction that could aid medical breakthroughs. Encounters with communities such as the Waorani of the Amazon and the San people of the Kalahari underline the human knowledge needed to face a fragile future.

Smith said the expedition pushed him beyond anything he had attempted before, describing it as a journey not just across the world’s edges but into the lives of extraordinary people. National Geographic EVP of content Tom McDonald said the series reflects the network’s mission to combine spectacle with meaning and a deeper understanding of the planet.

In India, the series will be broadcast on National Geographic Channel, distributed by JioStar, the joint venture between Reliance and The Walt Disney Company.