Bruce Parry returns to screens with a reboot of his show Tribe, where he spends weeks with three indigenous communities. But he’s had to undertake gruelling challenges to fit in.

Returning to screens after almost a decade of absence in the reboot of Tribe, Bruce Parry has had to smother a goat to death for his new show.

The BBC2 show ran from 2005 to 2007 before Bruce Parry moved to pastures new. The adventurer, 55, continued his documentary filmmaking by fronting Arctic with Bruce Parry in 2011 and releasing the independent film Tawai: A Voice from the Forest in 2017.

Now the former Royal Marine returns with Tribe for the BBC. In the show’s revival, Bruce embarks on three journeys to the most remote corners of the world as he pays a visit to three indigenous communities in Colombia, Angola and Indonesia.

For weeks at a time, Bruce adapts to their customs, takes part in their rituals, and even sleeps in cow dung. “I don’t want to be a guest,” he says, “I want to be like a family member.”

During his stay in the Namib Desert of Angola, Bruce lives with the Mucubal, a semi-nomadic people recovering from years of civil war, and his initiation into their world is anything but easy.

To prove himself, Bruce has to take part in an age-old ritual – killing a goat with his bare hands as the use of a weapon was deemed disrespectful. “I really didn’t want to do this,” he says, “As program makers, we’re not out looking for this. But it was culturally expected.”

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Behind the scenes, Bruce panics when his grip loosens mid-act. “I realised I was prolonging the process because I wasn’t concentrating,” he remembers, “I had to make it respectful for the people, the animal and the audience.”

One of the most brutal scenes sees a young girl’s teeth sharpened with a rock. “We do plenty in the name of beauty,” Bruce says, “It’s just done in a different way.” The hardest moment? Witnessing the circumcision of young boys. “They had no choice,” he says, “It was painful to watch.”

After years of exploring remote cultures, Bruce Parry has no fear of Ayahuasca. But BBC bosses insisted on a strict safety protocol. “I’ve drunk Ayahuasca many times without a doctor,” Bruce says. “But because it’s the BBC, there was a health and safety person.”

In the Colombian Amazon, the Waimaha people are initially wary of Bruce. But as he gains their trust, he joins an Ayahuasca ritual. Despite his experience, he’s always apprehensive of the substance. “It’s nerve-wracking and terrifying,” he says. “You never know what it’s going to reveal.” The powerful hallucinogen leads to a particularly tough moment – viewers will see Bruce vomiting into the river. “I lost my awareness and was unsteady,” he recalls. “But despite that, it was a privilege to be part of it. I suddenly felt like I belonged.”

On the Indonesian island of Sumba, Bruce experiences Marapu, an ancient religion centered on ancestor worship and blood sacrifices. The community left him in tears as he says: “It was beautiful because they don’t have the drive to be remembered. They know they’re part of something eternal.”

Returning home to Somerset, where he moved after living in Wales for six years, Bruce sometimes struggles with reintegration. “Heathrow feels overwhelming,” he says, “But I now see both worlds as part of a bigger picture.

For Bruce, Tribe isn’t just an adventure – it’s a call to action. “These people live in harmony with the world,” he says, “Meanwhile, we’ve only just realised we might have trashed the whole planet.”

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