David Tennant's Around the World in 80 Days series resumes filming
Phileas Fogg's epic journey to the small screen continues.
David Tennant's upcoming television adaptation of classic adventure novel Around The World in 80 Days has resumed filming, after a temporary pause caused by the pandemic.
The eight-part series will adapt the classic novel by Jules Verne, which sees intrepid explorer Phileas Fogg team up with valet Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) and journalist Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch) for an epic globe-trotting voyage.
The show is currently filming in Romania but the production will also travel to South Africa across an ambitious five-month shoot, made particularly challenging by the continuing spread of coronavirus.
Simon Crawford-Collins, Managing Director of production company Slim Film + Television, said: "We are over the moon to be recommencing filming on Around The World in 80 Days, having gathered such an exciting and truly international cast, led by David, Ibrahim and Leonie.
"This project is such a challenging and ambitious series to put together so it has required a huge amount of support on all fronts to pull it off. We couldn’t have achieved it without our wonderful production team, our stellar cast, our super supportive broadcasters and financiers, the inventiveness of our directors and the ingenuity of our wonderful writing team led by Ashley Pharoah."
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The series will also star Jason Watkins, who worked with Tennant earlier this year on dark factual drama Des, as Bernard Fortescue, Fix's father and a prolific newspaper owner.
Meanwhile, Poldark's Peter Sullivan will also appear as Fogg's childhood friend Nyle Bellamy, with whom he strikes up the outrageous bet that sets the wild story in motion.
Around The World in 80 Days will be following the latest health and safety guidelines to keep its cast and crew safe from COVID-19, while also co-operating with local governments in both Romania and South Africa.
The new series has no confirmed premiere date just yet but is expected to arrive on BBC One sometime next year, while American viewers will catch it on PBS Masterpiece.
Earlier this year, we got our first look at Tennant in character as Phileas Fogg, donning a rather dashing moustache alongside his two travel companions.
Around The World in 80 Days will premiere on BBC One next year. While you’re waiting, visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight, or check out our guide to new TV shows 2020 to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
