Tiger - Spy in the Jungle - Season 1

In the first programme, the elephants come upon the four 10-day-old tiger cubs. This is their mother's first litter and she has her paws full as they tumble from the den, only to be carried back to safety in her massive jaws.

As they grow they move from her milk onto meat. Fortunately the tigress is a skilled hunter. Charger, their imposing father, keeps his distance but helps to protect his vulnerable offspring from rogue male tigers and leopards. As they grow, they face encounters with sloth bears, pythons and pangolins. Their mother keeps them safe, until one day the cubs are left home alone and their arch rival, an Indian leopard, is about.

The half-grown cubs are learning the hunting and fighting skills they will need as adults. Play-fighting erupts between them - it looks nasty, but their claws are never drawn. These bouts of boxing, caught on ele-cams, create an extraordinary spectacle.

Other jungle characters are filmed with logcams. Leopards are a real threat to the growing cubs while the deer make good hunting practice. The young tigers have huge appetites and their mother must hunt every day if she is to keep them fit.

When they are not eating, playing or fighting, the cubs sleep - and tigers love water, so a water hole is the perfect spot to cool off on a steaming day. The spy-cams also show that the jungle pools are a magnet for a whole array of forest animals, including wild boars and sloth bears.

The cubs are starting to behave as individuals and take personal hunting tuition from their mother. Then disaster strikes when both their parents are injured and a rogue male tiger puts in an appearance. They still have a lot to learn.

The cubs are now a year and a half old and learning to be kings and queens of the jungle. Play is becoming increasingly aggressive as they edge towards independence. But the biggest challenge is learning to hunt for themselves - and their mother soon loses patience with her overgrown family and their hapless attempts at hunting.

One cub turns underwater cameraman when he discovers log-cam on the edge of a lake. Another tries tightrope walking across a flimsy branch. They're even starting to consider the elephants as possible playmates - especially as an elephant's tail to a tiger is like a piece of string to a kitten. There's a new arrival among the camera elephants and many new animal stars make their appearance - including an irresistible jackal family that has to cope when the tiger family invades their backyard, and a flock of peacocks that tease the tigers by playing a game of dare.

As the family of four mature into independent hunters their hidden power is revealed. Discovered by the elephant crew when they were just 10 days old, these cubs are now reaching the end of an incredible journey.

As David Attenborough says, this is "the most extraordinary portrait of tigers yet seen".