Michael Palin - Pole to Pole

After the success of Around the World in Eighty Days, Michael Palin embarked on a highly successful career as an adventure tourist. Each of his journeys has a hook: circumnavigating the Pacific Rim, going across the Sahara Desert, or in this case making the journey from the north pole to the south pole following as best as possible longitude 30 degrees.Along the way, from snow to savannah, from Norway to Nairobi, the charm of Palin's travels comes from the unassuming way he interacts with the people he meets on route. His personality carries the relatively unstructured travalog along on a sea of well-meaning interest and curiosity. He tells us when he's tired, anxious, and bored. We are touched by the genuine friendships he makes, however fleetingly, and the partings are often touching. In Pole to Pole the meat of the journey is Africa and we travel from relatively cosmopolitan Egypt to what in politically incorrect days was referred to as Darkest Africa. Even in 1991 witchdoctors outnumbered the western kind, and random violence was never far from view. Indeed, at one point Palin stays with a European estate owner in Zambia and his family and after the visit is concluded we learn from the voice-over that they were slaughtered six months later.I spent a few formative years in southern Africa and it was shocking to me to see how little had changed since last I saw it. If anything, most of the change was for the worse: the old trains and buses simply have grown older, the disorder greater. Only in South Africa did time seem to have moved on. For the casual viewer the sheer range of experience in Africa should be fascinating, even though we get the merest glimpse. How can one capture a continent in just a few minutes of video? Like many people, I suspect, my favorite moments were of Palin sitting on top of the slow train creaking its way through Sudan, talking with those who can't afford to travel any other way, and seeming perfectly at home. Somehow Palin makes us forget how unlikely it all is: a well-paid BBC personality squatting among the illiterate and impoverished, interacting with them as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Perhaps no other TV presenter could really pull it off convincingly.In the end the "hook" seems a little forced: Palin flies in to the north pole and he flies in to the south pole. It's not really much of an epic journey but it was more hazardous than it might seem: when he made the trip to the South Pole there was inadequate navigation and infrastructure and it would have been all too easy for him to have perished due to half-baked preparation and execution on the part of those tasked with ferrying him around. Fortunately all survived and went on to make several other telejourneys to various parts of the world; journeys which are now slowly being remastered onto DVD and released by the BBC. If you don't have the chance to travel much beyond the usual tourist haunts, by all means pick up a copy of Palin's travels and experience the sights, sounds, and people you will otherwise never know of.

Look, I like Michael Palin. He is the kind of guy I would love to hang around. Easy going company with a terrific sense of humor and abundant patience. All things I lack. And I love travelogues too. This is the first of a series - that even he might not have anticipated would have as long a run as they have over the years. This is also a very interesting time in history. I remember it well. I also have a couple of points of comparison too, so it makes me very nostalgic as I see him passing through the former Soviet Union, and through the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea - where I had passed through the year before in 1990. And it is incredible to watch as he makes his way through the Middle East and Africa - and then trying to imagine that same trip being made today. He'd probably be killed. Today's world is but 20 years removed, but it is world's away in terms of the new political realities. This also makes this interesting viewing - comparing and contrasting where we have come from and where we are now with some of these countries he passed through. Some of it was pretty touch and go at the time, but Palin handles it well - or if he didn't, then those moments ended up on the cutting room floor. What a great journey. And what a great guide.

The second in a series of travel documentaries hosted by Michael Palin pole to pole is just as enjoyable to watch as Around the World in 80 Days, full circle and other of his adventures it makes me anxious to buy more of these DVDs it's a 3-disc set disc 3 also contains a bonus feature a interview with Michael. Just like all of his travel documentaries the fascinating and entertaining to watch and he also mixes in some very humorous moments. But also some very thought-provoking moments as well as Michael and his BBC crew try to go from the North Pole to the South they find out the hard way that it's much easier said than done excellent documentary

Program is Excellent! BUT the DVD's have major manufacturer defect, however there is a solutionMy first NTSC region 1 copy of "Pole to Pole" would freeze on most of the discs leaving huge portions of the program unwatchable. Returned to Amazon and received 2nd copy which had even more freezesI tried playing on 3 different makes and models of DVD and Blu-ray players and 2 Computer DVD readers and freezing or lockups occurred in same spots. Returned 2nd copy and saw reviews here of many with same issues. It appears there was a bad manufacturing run of these DVD's :(Luckily :) for some there is a solution; the Region 2+4 PAL made for the UK. I ordered one of those and all was perfect! Still it requires you have a player/drive that can read Region 2 or 4 DVD's (or a region free player) and a TV or Monitor that supports PAL - many Digital TV and Monitors made in last 6-7 years support PAL by default.Info for the 2+4 PAL DVDs: UPC=5 014503 122027 , yellow triangle with PG above the DVD logo on the front cover and also appears on rear cover, DVD copyright shows 2004 on rear cover. Amazon UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Michael-Palin-Pole-DVD/dp/B000198ABGHope this helps some of you in Amazonland as this is a truly excellent program for Family's, Travel connoisseurs, Humans in general, not to mention Monty Python aficionados.

Yet another cracking travel adventure from Michael.This time he travels North to South from Pole to Pole, via 17 countries, and, through both hemispheres.I first saw this series when it was shown on BBCTV years ago.A great way to spend a few hours travelling to various countries from the comfort of an armchair, pure escapism!Michael does a great job as a travel presenter.

Michael Palin is up there the best of travel writers.While this may not be quite as good as Around TheWorld In Eighty Days,it is still excellent.His prose style is so enjoyable, light hearted and witty. His powers of description of what he encounters very lucid. This is a great journey as he traverses the earth from North to South Pole.What is most enlightening is that the same journey would today involve more countries as the USSR had disappeared and others have evolved with its demise.

Similar to my reaction to Michael Palin's other work, "Around the World in Eighty Days," I found Pole to Pole to be a truly entertaining book, and one I was itching to get back to reading every second it was out of my hands.There are moments of humor, frustration, bewilderment and also of history- within a few short weeks of having pass through the Soviet Union and stayed in Leningrad, Leningrad was St. Petersburg and the Soviet Union was experiencing the turbulence that would end it.A highly enjoyable read. I stated that after finishing "Around the World in Eighty Days" that Michael Palin had gotten a new fan in me- this book only cements that.

I chose this book to read when I needed a distraction from a very emotional time. I didn't want to read anything with love or hate or loss - just a darn good read about a real life adventure. And that's what I got! I'd listened to the audio book of Around the World in 80 Days and loved how Michael Palin inflects and describes what's happening on his travels with a shot of humour. And, as a fellow Sheffielder, the references to our great home City! It's broken up into the days and places visited so you can have a quick read at bedtime or travel across a full continent in one sitting. Loved it!

You do worry about Michael's safety at times... going on these adventures. Once again, really great viewing... entertaining, gripping and nail biting as he encounters 'deadline' emergencies along the way.