Blizzard – Race To The Pole

05 August, 2006 by The_Boss

BBC 2 Sunday the 6th August 2006 9:00pm - 10:00pm

In 1911, Robert Falcon Scott led a British team of explorers on an incredible adventure, taking on the greatest terrestrial journey left to man – the journey to the South Pole.

Blizzard – Race To The Pole is a re-enactment of this amazing and ultimately tragic expedition.

Scott's British team wasn't alone in their quest. Roald Amundsen decided to lead his group to the South Pole around the same time and the race was on – the British versus the Norwegians.

Bruce Parry (recently seen in BBC Two's Tribe) leads today's British team and Rune Gjeldnes leads the contemporary Norwegian team. Bringing history to life, the teams have been set the challenge of using the same equipment, clothing and food that were available to the original teams.

In the first episode, the teams have two weeks to acclimatise to the weather, equipment and their new sled-dogs. Because the dogs are now prohibited in Antarctica, this race takes place over the same distance and similar grounds to the original, but in Greenland.

Nick, the British dog expert, is living his dream, driving Greenland sled-dogs. However it remains to be seen whether he'll manage to control his 24 dogs when he refuses to carry the whip they are used to. Meanwhile, the Norwegians, suffering from a little over-confidence on their first day out with the dogs, narrowly avoid serious injury.

The modern-day teams' stories are interwoven with the story of the conquest of the South Pole, using archive material and interviews with historians, explorers and medical experts. The series sheds light on the accusations that surround the two men's strategy, planning and leadership, all factors in the final result in 1912 – Scott dead and Amundsen the victor.