From Russia to Iran: Crossing the Wild Frontier

Levison Wood's epic 2600-mile journey - across the mighty Caucasus mountain range on the tense frontier between Europe and Asia - continues. The explorer and his guide journey by any means available deeper into the badlands of Dagestan, a Russian Republic that the British Foreign Office warns against visiting under any circumstances. Unperturbed, the intrepid explorers embrace the open hospitality of the region's warrior clans, discover the stunning beauty of a land that few westerners have seen, and take a perilous horse trek to the ancient city of Derbent, accompanied by an armed guide to protect them from wolves and bears. Entering Azerbaijan, Levison is joined by a new guide, Namin, to accompany him through this country of extraordinary contrasts: of extreme wealth and subsistence poverty; and of steel-and-glass modernity and almost biblical ancient settlements.

The third episode of Levison Wood's epic 2600 mile journey sees the explorer and his guide journey by any means available through Azerbaijan - a rugged country known as The Lands of Fire - and the lush mountains of Georgia. With his Azeri guide Namin, Levison treks across the Gobustan desert, encountering terrifying dogs and nomadic shepherds, negotiates dangerous landslide-hit roads and climbs up to a castle built halfway up a cliff. Entering Georgia, Levison meets his new guide and old friend Lasha, who he first met when backpacking through the region 13 years ago. Together they travel through a land that the ancient Greeks described as paradise on earth, before meeting a tipsy shepherd and walking through a notorious village known as a breeding ground for IS fighters.

The fourth episode of Levison Wood's epic 2600-mile journey sees the explorer travel the final 1000 miles by any means possible through Armenia and the captivating Republic of Iran, aiming for the Caspian Sea and his journey's end. Entering Armenia, Lev teams up with a seasoned photojournalist Anush Babajanyan who helps get him access to Europe's forgotten war zone, in the contested state of Nagorno-Karabakh. This contested region is claimed by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Over the last 30 years, up to 30,000 people have been killed in a war the rest of Europe has forgotten. They meet war veteran, Eduard, and his family who live perilously close to the frontline, under daily threat of Azeri rockets, before venturing to the frontline trenches where soldiers engage in daily conflict. Heading south, Lev enters Iran, a country that has had a rocky relationship with the West since the 1979 Islamic revolution drove out the American-backed monarchy.