Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days
Titlescreen of the series, featuring passport-style markings.
Based on	Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Written by	Michael Palin
Directed by	Roger Mills
Presented by	Michael Palin
Composer(s)	Paddy Kingsland
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Producer(s)	Clem Vallance
Editor(s)	David Thomas
Running time	52 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	11 October (1989-10-11) – 22 November 1989 (1989-11-22)
Chronology
Followed by	Pole to Pole

Around the World in 80 Days is a 7-part BBC television travel series first broadcast on BBC1 in 1989. It was presented by comedian and actor Michael Palin. The show was inspired by Jules Verne's classic novel Around the World in Eighty Days, in which a character named Phileas Fogg accepts a wager to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days or less. Palin was given the same deadline, and not allowed to use aircraft, which did not exist in Jules Verne's time and would make completing the journey far too easy. He followed Phileas Fogg's route as closely as possible. Along the way he commented on the sights and cultures he encountered. Palin encountered several setbacks during his voyage, partly because he travelled with a five-person film crew, who are collectively named after Passepartout, Phileas Fogg's manservant.

The programme was a critical and commercial success, winning strong ratings in the UK and selling well abroad. It was also released on video tape and later on DVD. Following the trip Michael Palin wrote a book about the experience. This book contains much more detail than could be presented in the TV programme, and Palin's personal views are also more clearly evident. The book contains many pictures from the trip.

Around the World in 80 Days was the first of a trilogy of globe-crossing series featuring Michael Palin as he visited many countries. The second series was Pole to Pole (travelling from the North Pole to the South Pole), an 8-part series first broadcast on BBC One in 1992, and the third was Full Circle with Michael Palin (the circumnavigation of the Pacific Rim), a 10-part series first broadcast on BBC One in 1997. The series were followed by several similar conceptual travel series featuring Palin as he concentrated on smaller areas of the world. Hemingway Adventure (following in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway), first broadcast in 1999; Sahara (travelling around and through the Sahara Desert), first broadcast in 2002; Himalaya (travelling around the Himalayas), first broadcast in 2004; New Europe (travelling around Eastern Europe), first broadcast in 2007; and Brazil (travelling through Brazil), first broadcast in 2012.