Pole to Pole

E1 · 50m

Cold Start

The first leg takes Michael Palin from the North Pole to the gates of Russia.

E2 · 50m

Russian Steps

Second leg of the journey: Palin has 12 days to cross Russia and reach the port of Odessa.

E3 · 50m

Mediterranean Maze

Palin travels from Istanbul to Aswan on the Nile.

E4 · 50m

Shifting Sands

In this part of the journey Michael Palin crosses the Sudan. He crosses the Nubian desert in the north of the country and traverses a region ravaged by drought, poverty, famine and civil war. Unable to follow the line of 30 degrees east, he is forced to take a route along the border with Northern Ethiopia.

E5 · 50m

Crossing the Line

Having struggled through the Sudan, Michael Palin is now faced with the difficulty of getting across Ethiopia, where the armed remnants of the fallen dictator Mengistu's defeated army roam. He makes a dash to Addis Ababa with a military escort. He continues his journey to reach the Kenyan border and travels on to Lerata. He passes Mount Kenya, the significance of which is that now he has completed half of his journey.

E6 · 50m

Plains and Boats and Trains

Michael Palin begins this week with a tented safari in a Kenyan game park. He travels via the Ngoronoro Crater and arrives at Lake Tanganyika.

E7 · 50m

Evil Shadow

In this week's episode, Michael crosses Zambia and Zimbabwe towards Johannesburg.

E8 · 50m

Bitter End

Michael Palin fails in his attempt to get a berth on board the SA "Agulhas" on its once yearly sail to the South Pole. The search is on to find some other way of reaching the South Pole, abandoning all self-imposed restraints such as following 30 degrees east or using only surface transport.