Around The World In 80 Days

Around The World In 80 Days starring David Tennant as Phileas Fogg, Ibrahim Koma as Passepartout and Leonie Benesch as Abigail Fortescue / Fix, is genuinely international as the title card of several broadcasters shows despite the deeply BBC feeling of Tennant fronting something about slightly uncomfortable Victorians with a ticking clock title sequence.

Tennant describes it as a romp and it mostly is, a lighthearted adventure with a problem of the week in each of its eight episodes, but it does have some weirdly serious elements and sequences that don’t quite fit.

I kept looking for a Michael Palin cameo in the Reform Club scenes.

The story would work as a game hook - the Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan film adds more fight scenes and stunts, and of course the cartoon version where Fogg is an anthropomorphic lion has the biggest use of the running villain trying to sabotage the attempt.

Nellie Bly went on to do it for real, in 72 days.