Pole to Pole with Michael Palin
Pole to Pole with Michael Palin is an eight-part television documentary travel series made for the BBC, and first broadcast on BBC1 in 1992. The presenter is Michael Palin, this being the second of Palin's major journeys for the BBC. The first was Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin, a 7-part series first broadcast on BBC One in 1989, and the third was Full Circle with Michael Palin, a 10-part series first broadcast on BBC One in 1997.
| Pole to Pole with Michael Palin | |
|---|---|
DVD cover | |
| Written by | Michael Palin |
| Directed by | Roger Mills Clem Vallence |
| Presented by | Michael Palin |
| Composer | Paddy Kingsland |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Clem Vallence |
| Editor | David Thomas |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production companies | Prominent Television Passepartout Productions BBC A&E |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 21 October – 9 December 1992 |
| Related | |
The trip from the North Pole to the South Pole went via Scandinavia, the Soviet Union, parts of Europe, and through the heart of Africa. The intention was to follow the 30-degree east line of longitude, which would cover the most land. A last-minute diversion to Chile included South America in the series. Using aircraft as little as possible, the whole trip lasted 5½ months.
The programme has been sold to many television stations around the world. It was also released on video tape and later on DVD. Following the trip, Palin wrote Pole to Pole describing the trip. The book contains many pictures from the trip, almost all taken by Basil Pao, the stills photographer on the team.