''Pole to Pole with Michael Palin'' is an eight-part

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

travel series, first broadcast on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

from 21 October to 9 December 1992, and presented by comedian and actor

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

. The programme is the sequel to ''

Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin ''Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin'' is a 7-part BBC television travel series first broadcast on BBC1 from 11 October to 22 November 1989, and presented by comedian and actor Michael Palin. Inspired by Jules Verne's 1872 novel '' ...

'', and was the second of Palin's major journeys, the series focusing on a journey along the 30-degree east line of longitude from the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

, sticking to using mainly cars, buses, trains and ships to make the 5-month journey, while travelling through northern and eastern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

(including through the territory of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

before its collapse), and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

; a last-minute change of plans led to the journey diverting through

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, in order to reach

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. The series' broadcast rights were later sold on to various countries around the world, and later released onto VHS tapes and DVD. A book recounting the trip, ''

Pole to Pole ''Pole to Pole with Michael Palin'' is an eight-part television BBC documentary travel series, first broadcast on BBC 1 from 21 October to 9 December 1992, and presented by comedian and actor Michael Palin. The programme is the sequel to '' Aro ...

'', was later released by the BBC, containing many pictures captured on the trip, as well as Palin's insights on every aspect of the journey he experienced. The series was later followed by ''

Full Circle with Michael Palin ''Full Circle with Michael Palin'' is a 10-part 1997 documentary television series, first broadcast on BBC One from 31 August to 9 November 1997. Presented by Michael Palin, ''Full Circle'' was the third of a series of programmes in which Palin ...

'' in 1997.

Synopsis

In 1991, Michael Palin decided to conduct a new journey that would take him from the

to the

, with the decision being that the journey would stick as close as it could to the line of 30th degree meridian. The planned route involved passing through countries in northern and eastern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and then across

along the eastern half of the continent, in order to reach a supply ship that made a yearly trip to Antarctica . Much of the journey mainly used trains, buses and ferries to move between locations and countries, with hire cars, private travel companies and supply ships used for stretches where other arrangements could not be made; a plane ride was also needed to get between the North Pole and the Norwegian island of

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

. However, plans had to be changed once the journey reached Africa - a detour was required to avoid war-torn regions of southern

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

affected by the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...

at the time of filming, whilst Palin and his film crew had to travel from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

to use an aviation travel company to get to the South Pole, after their production office was unable to secure them berths on the supply ship ''Agulhas'' prior to its yearly voyage. As with Palin's previous travel series, each episode covers a particular leg of the journey, and the various sights and people he encountered on his journey, as well the complications and problems he faced on each stage in various parts.

Episode list

References

External links

Palin's Travels – the official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pole to Pole with Michael Palin 1992 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1990s British documentary television series 1990s British travel television series BBC television documentaries BBC travel television series British English-language television shows Documentary films about Antarctica Works by Michael Palin