Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 days will be the basis of a new TV series that will debut January 2.
Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty days inspired numerous attempts to navigate the globe, as well as various film, TV, and radio adaptations of varying success. The latest TV adaption by the British Broadcasting Corporation stars a perfectly cast David Tennant as the globe-trotting adventurer Phileas Fogg, and judging from the preview, it looks like a great way to start the new year.
The 1873 Jules Verne novel has some information to share.
The main character in the novel is a gentleman of modest fortune who gets into an argument with his friends at the Reform Club over a newspaper article about the opening of a new railway section in India. The article claims that it is possible to go around the world in 80 days. Fogg made a wager that he could accomplish the feat because his colleagues were skeptical. It's a significant wager, amounting to half of Fogg's fortune, with the other half required to finance his journey. He will be ruined if he doesn't succeed. Passepartout is with Fogg as he leaves London by train. Fix, a Scotland Yard detective, makes a mistake when he mistakes Fogg for a fugitive bank robber and tracks the pair throughout their travels.
David Tennant was cast as gentleman adventurer Phileas Fogg.
Their means of transportation include trains, steamers, paddle boats, ships, a wind-powered sledge, and an elephant at one point. They rescue a young Indian woman named Aouda in Bombay and overcome bison herds blocking a railroad track, as they make their way back to London.
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After Fix briefly arrested him, Fogg thought he had lost his wager and fortune, but he realized the actual bank robbery had taken place three days before. They lost a day during their travels, but Fogg made it back to his club in the nick of time. He married Aouda after sharing the winnings with Passepartout and Fix.
The First Transcontinental Railroad in the US and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 were some of the technological innovations that Verne was interested in. For gentlemen of means, global tourism was a reality. A newspaper article about Thomas Cook, the first to complete an around-the-world trip in 1872, may have influenced Verne. The author may have taken inspiration from the world trips of George Francis Train and "Three Sundays in a Week", both of which involve a lost day as a plot device.
Ibrahim Koma and Leonie Benesch are in the movie Passepartout.
Verne's story inspired the late 19th century journalist to make her own world tour, completing it in 72 days. She wrote a book about her adventures. In 1988, Monty Python's Michael Palin made a TV show called Around the World in 80 days with Michael Palin, which was a recreation of the journey of Fogg. There were two films, one starring Pierce Brosnan and the other starring Steve Coogan andJackie Chan. The latter was a box office failure and received a few nominations.
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The new adaptation stars Ibrahim Koma as Passepartout and Leonie Benesch as Abigail Fix, both of whom are inspired by Bly. Shivani Ghai plays Aouda, and Peter Sullivan is the primary antagonist. Following an outrageous bet, Fogg and his valet, Passepartout, take on the legendary journey of circumnavigating the globe in just 80 days, swiftly joined by an aspiring journalist, who seizes the chance to report on this extraordinary story.
Up, up, and away in their balloon.
The trailer opens with our intrepid trio taking a stagecoach ride across the Old West, which is the perfect way to introduce them. The stodgy men in his private club were amused when Fogg announced his goal of circumventing the globe in 80 days. "Some are born to adventure, and others are not, and that's what Fogg is," says Bellamy, implying that he is the latter. There's a lot of truth to that, for example, that Fogg is prone to seasickness, and when he gets a fly in his eye while walking through a field, he briefly panics.
We already know that Fogg will rise to every occasion as necessary, despite his comfortable life to date. There is a perfect balance of enthusiasm, curiosity, and fastidiousness to keep us entertained. There seems to be good chemistry among the three leads. We are looking at this one. Let the adventure begin!
Masterpiece PBS in the US will show Around the World in 80 days on January 2, 2022.
There is a listing image on PBS.
