Tribe With Bruce Parry on BBC Two sees the explorer visit three tribal communities who have never had outsiders to stay before – and the results are fascinating

Intrepid explorer Bruce Parry took yage – a plant known to have psychedelic impacts – in his new series Tribe on Sunday night.

One critic said the moment all viewers were waiting for is for the presenter to “loses his mind on drugs” and, after Parry, 56, takes some yage – also known as ayahuasca – he “looks a bit peaky and leans his forehead on a stick for support”. However, this is the full extent of any impact as he regained himself to tell the audience about his experience visiting another tribal communities in the Amazon – the 600-strong Waimaha people.

Writing for The Guardian, Jack Seale says: “What we are really here for, however, is Parry losing his mind on drugs. At the community gathering, the Waimaha dance endlessly in circles, pounding the ground to send everyone into a trance-like state. The effect of this when combined with large quantities of yage, taken on an empty stomach, is something we don’t see much of, beyond Parry looking a bit peaky and leaning his forehead on a stick for support.

“But as he always does, he speaks lucidly about the new understanding the experience has given him of the forest way of life, and how precious is the place in which these people live. It is the same old same old, but it feels good to reconnect.”

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Parry, whose original series of Tribe ended in 2007, says in the programme: “I lost my awareness and was unsteady. But despite that, it was a privilege to be part of it. I suddenly felt like I belonged.”

For weeks at a time, Parry adapts to the customs of each tribe, takes part in their rituals, and even sleeps in cow dung in the series. The producer, from Hampshire, says: “I don’t want to be a guest. I want to be like a family member.”

The opening episode has been widely praised tonight. The Guardian’s piece adds: “As always, Tribe asks difficult questions about what western concepts such as progress and enlightenment really mean. Are the Waimaha who choose to leave their old life behind really better off for having greater access to tarmac, plastic, burgers, money and elections? An initiative to give Indigenous people educational autonomy within a wider system of governance looks like a decent compromise.

“He gained valuable insights into tribal life and the threats to it posed by modernity. Tribe itself was simply cracking entertainment, as involving as it was educational.”

In the Colombian Amazon, the Waimaha people believe the drug helps them reconnect to the Amazon forest and they use it to seek guidance from spirits. The Waimaha culture was almost completely wiped out by rubber tappers and missionaries in the 20th century – so the tribe is initially wary of Bruce. But as he gains their trust, he joins an Ayahuasca ritual.