The first trailer has landed for ‘Around The World In 80 Days‘, new tv adaptation of the Jules Verne classic starring David Tennant, Ibrahim Koma & Leonie Benesch, due to premiere later this year on BBC One in the UK and PBS Masterpiece in the USA.
Following an outrageous bet, Phileas Fogg (Tennant) and his valet, Passepartout (Koma), take on the legendary journey of circumnavigating the globe in just 80 days, swiftly joined by aspiring journalist Abigail Fix (Benesch), who seizes the chance to report on this extraordinary story.
Tennant takes the lead as Phileas Fogg, with rising French star, Ibrahim Koma (‘Je Suis Daddy’, ‘Mother is Wrong’), taking on the role of the mercurial Passepartout; an irrepressible chancer who falls into the role of Fogg’s ‘valet’, little knowing it will change his life forever; and Leonie Benesch (‘The Crown’, ‘White Ribbon’) playing Abigail Fix, the young journalist determined to make her mark in a man’s world and emerge from the long shadow of her British establishment father.
The series is written by Ashley Pharoah (‘Life on Mars’, ‘Ashes to Ashes’, ‘The Living and the Dead’) and Caleb Ranson (‘Child of Mine’, ‘Heartless’). Film, television and music video director Steve Barron (‘The Durrells’, ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Dreamkeeper’) is lead director with Charles Beeson (‘The Mentalist’, ‘Supernatural’) also directing a number of episodes. Executive producers are Simon Crawford Collins for Slim Film + Television and Lionel Uzan and Pascal Breton for Federation.
The eight-episode series was shot in English with filming taking place in South Africa and Budapest. Due to the pandemic, shooting was halted for several months but restarted in October 2020 and was completed in early February 2021. The drama is now expected to premiere in late 2021.
‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ is a Slim Film + Television and Federation co-production with additional co-production partners, Palladium Pictures in South Africa, and Daro Film, associate producer. The series will be broadcast on France Télévisions, Germany’s ZDF and Italy’s RAI, with Seven West Media broadcasting the drama in Australia, PBS Masterpiece in the USA, and the BBC in the UK.
‘Around the World in 80 Days‘ is an 8-episode series, and will premiere later in 2021 on BBC One/iPlayer in the UK and PBS Masterpiece in the USA.
