Cliff Notes – 7 of the most thrilling TV shows to watch for Shark Week
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Crikey! It’s Shark Week (2021): Robert Irwin continues his father’s legacy by exploring shark conservation and facing a great white shark for the first time.
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Of Shark and Man (2017): This acclaimed British documentary follows a man’s journey to swim with sharks in Fiji, highlighting the human-shark relationship.
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Sharkwrecked (2018): Two shark experts simulate a shipwreck scenario, spending 48 hours in the ocean surrounded by dangerous sharks.
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Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters (2025): A new ITV reality series featuring celebrities facing their fears while swimming with sharks in the Bahamas.
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Shark (2015): A BBC documentary series that examines the social and intelligent behaviours of sharks, alongside conservation efforts.
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Why Sharks Attack (2023): This documentary investigates the impact of human activity and climate change on shark behaviour following fatal attacks in Egypt.
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Shark Lockdown (2020): A documentary exploring how shark hunting patterns changed during the Covid-19 lockdowns, featuring a quest for a massive great white shark.
Here’s how you can observe Shark Week from the UK this July (Picture: Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty)
Shark Week is one of TV’s longest running traditions – here’s how you can mark the Discovery Channel’s celebration in your own way from the UK.
First observed in 1988, Shark Week sees the Discovery Channel – and other broadcasters in later years – dedicating a week of TV programming to sharks.
Aimed at deconstructing and debunking myths about sharks, Shark Week also aims to raise awareness of conservation efforts around the world and is running from July 20 to July 26 in 2025.
The initiative has drawn some criticism over the years for featuring less and less non-fiction material, but Shark Week still remains popular with Discovery Channel subscribers and shark fans.
For many fans who’ve watched Shark Week’s programming since they were children, the annual event remains ‘the favourite part of summer’ for them.
Not all Discovery Channel content is available in the UK, however – so here’s how you can observe Shark Week your own way from your living room this July.
Crikey! It’s Shark Week (2021)
Watch Steve Irwin’s son follow in his father’s legendary footsteps (Picture: Discovery Plus)
What better place is there to begin Shark Week 2025 by spending time with Robert Irwin, the son of the late conservationist and TV presenter Steve Irwin.
Steve tragically died at the age of 44 while filming a documentary about the Great Barrier Reef in 2006, back when son Robert was just three years old.
Now, Robert is continuing his father’s incredible legacy, focusing not just on wildlife protection and conservation, but on educational TV documentaries as well.
His documentary film Crikey! It’s Shark Week debuted in 2021 and is available to watch in the UK during Shark Week with a subscription to Discovery Plus.
Crikey! It’s Shark Week sees Robert – who was 18 at the time – follow in his father’s footsteps and come face to face with a great white shark for the very first time.
Of Shark and Man (2017)
A British man leaves his life behind to swim with sharks in Of Shark and Man (Picture: Apple TV)
The British 2017 documentary Of Shark and Man, directed by David Diley, is one of the most acclaimed and celebrated documentaries to focus on sharks.
Available on AppleTV and Amazon Video, Of Shark and Man sets up shop in the Shark Reef of Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean – it eventually won five international documentary awards.
The film follows David as he leaves his life in northern England to swim with sharks in the South Pacific, with one stunt finding David swimming among 60 bull sharks.
It became so popular among fans that it ended up as one many documentaries made by David that analysed the relationship between humans and sharks.
UK Film Review gave it five stars, adding: ‘Not only is it a remarkable film, showcasing a side to sharks we’ve never seen, it’s an entertaining, grounded and informative experience.’
Sharkwrecked (2018)
Imagine being alone at sea for 48 hours and surrounded by sharks… (Picture: HBO/ Discovery)
Available on Discovery Plus, 2018 documentary film Sharkwrecked follows two shark experts pushing themselves to dangerous limits and facing up against the ultimate challenge.
Staging what it would be like to be shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean with only 48 hours of supplies, Sharkwrecked sees two shark obsessives stranding themselves in dangerous conditions.
The synopsis on Discovery Plus explains what goes down: ‘Paul de Gelder and James Glancy take on a dangerous new challenge.
‘They spend two days marooned in the ocean with no food or water, [surrounded by] some of the most dangerous sharks in the world.’
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters (2025)
There’s a brand new ITV reality shark series for you to stream (Picture: ITV)
A brand new death-defying reality series started earlier this month, with Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters available to stream on ITVX.
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to watch big-name celebrities like Helen George, Lucy Punch and Rachel Riley share the sea with a bunch of sharks, then look no further.
The six-part series will see seven celebrities pushed to the limit as they face one of humanity’s biggest fears, all while trying to help dispel the stigma surrounding the prehistoric creatures.
The Bahamas might be a luxury holiday destination, but they’re also home to more than 40 different species of shark, earning it the title of ‘Shark Capital of the World’.
The famous faces jetting off to The Bahamas get some help from the show’s shark experts, but they still have to face parts of the challenge alone.
Shark (2015)
‘A look at how an international team of scientists is trying to change people’s perceptions of sharks’ (Picture: BBC)
Sadly not introduced by David Attenborough, Shark proved the BBC are still among the very best when it comes to producing and delivering the very best nature documentaries.
From 2015, Shark was a three-part series made in conjunction with the UK arm of the Discovery Channel – it’s narrated by Withnail & I actor Paul McGann.
While all three episodes aren’t available on BBC iPlayer, the final episode – titled Beneath the Surface/Facing Extinction – is available for shark fans to stream.
The BBC’s synopsis reveals the following: ‘A look at how an international team of scientists is trying to change people’s perceptions of sharks.
‘Their research is revealing that sharks can be sociable and intelligent, and they could even help solve some of the toughest medical challenges of the 21st century.’
It concludes: ‘However, the breakthroughs come at a time when many sharks face extinction. Science may now be the only way to save them.’
Why Sharks Attack (2023)
Why Sharks Attack was made after three shark-related deaths in Egypt (Picture: BBC)
Sticking with the BBC, Why Sharks Attack is a 2023 documentary film that arrived as part of the Why…? series that also focused on plane crashes and building collapses.
The documentary was made in response to three shark attacks that took place of the coast of Egypt across 2022 and 2023, during which three people were killed.
The BBC explain: ‘After three recent fatal shark attacks in Egypt, this film investigates whether pressure from human activity and climate change is altering the behaviour of sharks.’
Narrated by Priyanga Burford, the series takes a look at different types of sharks around the world and the behaviours they’ve developed in order to keep surviving.
Shark Lockdown (2020)
Shark Lockdown follows the hunt for 20ft female great whites (Picture: Discovery Plus)
Available on Apple TV, Shark Lockdown tracks how hunting patterns changed for sharks during Covid-19 lockdowns, with the presenting risking their safety in more ways than one.
A synopsis of the documentary provided by Amazon Video states: ‘Expert Kina Scollay climbs inside a mobile dive cage – the ‘Snackbox’ – on a quest to find monster shark 747 and solve an even bigger mystery.’
The most shocking images come when Kina descends into the ocean near New Zealand and is almost immediately confronted by one of the biggest sharks in the world.
Apple TV says: ‘In the waters off New Zealand, female great white sharks can be over 20ft long.’
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