Documentary which looks at why the most inhospitable place on the planet has exerted such a powerful hold on the imagination of explorers, scientists, writers and photographers.
Timeshift reveals the history of the frozen continent, finding out why the most inhospitable place on the planet has exerted such a powerful hold on the imagination of explorers, scientists, writers and photographers.
Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest place on the globe. Only a handful of people have experienced its desolate beauty, with the first explorers setting foot here barely a hundred years ago.
From the logbooks of Captain Cook to the diaries of Scott and Shackleton, from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner to HP Lovecraft, it is a film about real and imaginary tales of adventure, romance and tragedy that have played out against a stark white backdrop.
We relive the race to the Pole and the 'Heroic Age' of Antarctic exploration, and find out what it takes to survive the cold and the perils of 'polar madness'. We see how Herbert Ponting's photographs of the Scott expedition helped define our image of the continent and find out why the continent witnessed a remarkable thaw in Russian and American relations at the height of the Cold War.
We also look at the intriguing story of who actually owns Antarctica and how science is helping us reimagine a frozen wasteland as something far more precious.
Interviewees include Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Francis Spufford, Huw Lewis-Jones, Sara Wheeler, Henry Worsley, Prof David Walton and Martin Hartley.
Last on
More episodes
Clips
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The right sort
Duration: 00:54
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The stamps of Antarctica
Duration: 01:00
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Antarctica and the imagination
Duration: 02:31
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The thing that was frozen in ice
Duration: 01:34
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:55
Explosions in the Sky
First Breath After Coma
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Narrator | Robert Gwilym |
Executive Producer | Michael Poole |
Series Producer | Ben Southwell |
Producer | Robert Murphy |
Director | Robert Murphy |
Broadcasts
- Thu 3 Nov 2011 20:00
- Fri 4 Nov 2011 00:25
- Sat 5 Nov 2011 20:00
- Sun 6 Nov 2011 01:50
- Sat 17 Dec 2011 20:00
- Sun 18 Dec 2011 03:10
- Wed 6 Jun 2012 23:20
- Sat 18 Aug 2012 23:00
- Thu 24 Jan 2013 23:00
- Sun 27 Jan 2013 19:00
- Sun 15 Jun 2014 22:45
- Thu 23 Apr 2015 00:20
- Thu 20 Aug 2015 01:00
- Wed 16 Sep 2015 21:00
- Thu 12 May 2016 01:30
- Sun 17 Jul 2016 23:25
- Tue 2 May 2017 23:00
- Tue 4 Jun 2019 01:00