ICE - Full Series

Episode One — 'Misery'
Presenter Marcus Lush introduces the show from sunny Christchurch, before a five-hour flight to Ross Island, Antarctica. Arriving at Scott Base, he can't catch a nap just yet — he has to complete the mandatory survival course, which means building a snow cave and sleeping in it. Then it's Christmas at the research station — a very white one, at that — and Lush gives us a quick history lesson on the first Antarctic expeditions. On an excursion to Lake Vanda, Lush is treated to a magnificent display of orcas playing around the ice shelf.

Episode Two — 'Monotony'
It's New Year's Eve and inside Scott Base, "it's like Space: 1999 meets Animal House." On a camping trip near Shackleton's Hut, Lush takes out the human waste (giving way to penguins at all times), and learns about the restoration of the hut. This includes preserving and mapping out artefacts from Ernest Shackleton's time, exploring 100-year old canned goods, and hearing about how past explorers spent their time in the hut.

Episode Three — 'Mammals (& Other Things)'
Seals, orcas and penguins run free on Antarctica, but what about our more common furry friends? Lush talks with dog handler Grant Gillespie, and although the dog days are now over, Gillispie explains the evolution of working dogs at Scott Base. Lush also tells the story of Mrs Chippy, the cat that snuck into Glaswegian explorer Harry McNeish's toolbox to join a difficult expedition to Antarctica. Lush finds a penguin colony and learns about the busy lives these birds lead.

Episode Four — 'Mortality'
In a stark contrast to the happy, friendly atmosphere of Scott Base that Lush has come to know, Antarctica has been the site of many tragedies. Lush tells these tales in this episode. In 1911, the race was on to the South Pole between British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian Roald Amundsen. After Amundsen beat them to the Pole, Scott and his men died on the return journey in 1912. Their bodies remain preserved in the ice to this day. On 28 November 1979, disaster struck again when Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew members. 

Episode Five — 'Miscellaneous'
Lush 'sees how the sausage is made' at Scott Base, discovering how waste (of all kinds) is managed — from boneless cuts of meat to seawater desalination and the inevitable handling of number ones and twos. It's not all waste chat in this episode — Lush finally gets his Ski-Doo license, runs through the 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' inside the base, and talks with two adventurers about their incredible, unsupported, 52-day expedition across the icy desert.