''Around the World in 80 Days'' is a British

travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or tourist attractions without recommending particular package deals or tour operators. A travelogue film is an early type of travel ...

series made to support the annual BBC Children in Need charity appeal in 2009. It sees twelve celebrities attempt to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days without using air transport, recreating the journey of

Phileas Fogg Phileas Fogg () is the protagonist in the 1872 Jules Verne novel ''Around the World in Eighty Days''. Inspirations for the character were the American entrepreneur George Francis Train and American writer and adventurer William Perry Fogg. ...

and

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

. Like Fogg and Palin, the journey begins and ends at the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It was first shown on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

and

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

in October and November 2009.

Production

The challenge for the celebrities was to travel around the globe in eighty days, starting and ending at the

, re-enacting the challenge made to

in the 1873 Jules Verne novel, '' Around the World in Eighty Days'', and ''

Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin Around may refer to: * "Around" (song), by Julia van Bergen * ''Around'', 2006 album by Tom Verlaine Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New ...

''. In each episode, a pair of celebrities travels a single leg of the round-the-world journey, trying to meet the next pair at a handover point in sufficient time, in

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, oriente ...

fashion. The journey could be completed by any means except by flight. At the handover, they pass to the succeeding team a carpet bag containing, amongst other items, a journal and a phone. Each of the celebrity pairs contributed to the journal as their leg of the journey progressed, and ahead of the trip Palin wrote an entry containing advice for the travellers. Throughout the journey, the celebrities collected various items on their leg of the journey. These were then auctioned to raise money for Children in Need, as was the journal completed by the travellers at the end of the trip.

Episodes

Auction items

UK to Turkey * Ukulele played by Frank Skinner * Pudsey bear signed by Frank Skinner * Pudsey bear signed by Lee Mack Turkey to Kazakhstan * Pudsey bear signed by Nick Hewer * Pudsey bear signed by Saira Khan Kazakhstan to Mongolia * Pudsey bear signed by Julia Bradbury * Pudsey bear signed by Matt Baker Mongolia to USA * Selection of paintings by Louise Minchin * Pudsey bear signed by Bill Turnbull * Pudsey bear signed by Louise Minchin USA (California) to USA (Memphis) * Pink tutu * Pair of Around the World in 80 Days Boots * Pudsey bear signed by John Barrowman * Pudsey bear signed by Myleene Klass USA to UK * Shane Ritchie's Outfit from 'Cargo' * Josie Lawrence's Outfit from 'Cargo' * Pudsey bear signed by Shane Ritchie * Pudsey bear signed by Josie Lawrence * Silver Harmonica Other * Around the World in 80 Days Journal * Around the World in 80 Days Carpet Bag

References

External links

* * {{Around the World in 80 Days 2009 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings 2000s British documentary television series BBC television documentaries Children in Need British travel television series Television shows based on Around the World in Eighty Days 2000s British reality television series 2000s British travel television series