See David Tennant Push Limits In Around The World In 80 Days Trailer
The trailer introduces us to the show's main characters, including David Tennant's Phileas Fogg, and some of the global adventures they'll embark on once the series begins airing in 2022.
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PBS has finally dropped the official trailer for their upcoming television show Around the World in 80 Days, an adaptation of Jules Verne’s 1873 novel of the same name, inspired by the numerous attempts to circumnavigate the globe. The trailer introduces us to the show’s main characters and some of the global adventures they’ll embark on once the series begins airing in 2022. David Tennant is joined by a trio of adventurers, ready to push the limits of what’s possible.
You can see David Tennant in the trailer below:
The newly released video begins with the introduction of Phileas Fogg, portrayed by David Tennant. Previously, Tennant has been the star of Doctor Who, and the “purple man” antagonist in the Netflix series Jessica Jones. Here, he is referred to as an adventurer. Next, Phileas introduces his companion Abigail Fox, portrayed by Leonie Benesch, a journalist covering his progress throughout his journey. We then see numerous locations around the world our protagonists will be passing by, several issues they may encounter along the way, and a funny scene in which a bug flies into David Tennant’s character’s eye. Finally, the trailer concludes with Jean Passepartout, portrayed by Ibrahim Koma, asking Phileas why they couldn’t just take a train instead of a hot air balloon.
According to Collider, Around the World in 80 Days is an upcoming television show that adapts the same-name novel written by Jules Verne, whose story centers around Phileas Fogg, as he places £20,000 wager against his co-members of the Reform Club, betting that he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days. He’s accompanied by his new valet Jean Passepartout (after he fired the previous one in the novel for bringing him slightly colder shaving water) and journalist Abigail Fox. Simon Crawford Collins will exec produce the show, alongside Pascal Breton, Winnie Serite, and Lionel Uzan, with David Tennant as Fogg.
Jules wrote Around the World in 80 Days during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871. It’s worth mentioning that the novel was first being published serially for the first time in 1872, leading a large portion of its readership to believe that the journey was actually taking place. Some readers even placed bets on the outcome, and some railway and ship liner companies even lobbied Verne to appear in the book. Its’s unknown whether Verne submitted to their requests, but some descriptions of rails and shipping lines suggest that he was influenced. In the end, it was no secret that he had financial difficulties at the time since his previous works were not paid royalties.
It’s also noteworthy that Abigail Fox, who’s set to appear in the upcoming series, didn’t appear in the original novel. David Tennant’s character’s female companion in the novel is an Indian princess Aouda, who Fogg and Passepartout rescued during their journey. Her appearance was pivotal to the novel’s narrative, as she ends up “saving the day” and becomes Fogg’s love interest at the end of the book. It will be interesting to see what other discrepancies the upcoming series introduces to one of Jules Verne’s best-known works, which already has several adaptations under its banner, including the cinematic adaptation featuring Jackie Chan.
