The Last Place on Earth

The Last Place on Earth is a 1985 Central Television seven-part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F. Scott (played by Martin Shaw) and his Norwegian rival in polar exploration, Roald Amundsen (played by Sverre Anker Ousdal) in their attempts to reach the South Pole.

The Last Place on Earth
GenreDrama
Serial
Written byTrevor Griffiths
Directed byFerdinand Fairfax
StarringMartin Shaw
Sverre Anker Ousdal
Stephen Moore
Ståle Bjørnhaug
Max von Sydow
Theme music composerTrevor Jones
Country of originUK
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
ProducerTim van Rellim
Running time1x90 minutes, 6x50 minutes
Release
Original networkCentral Independent Television
ITV
Original release18 February (1985-02-18) –
27 March 1985 (1985-03-27)

The series ran for seven episodes and starred a wide range of UK and Norwegian character actors as well as featuring some famous names, such as Max von Sydow, Alexander Knox, Richard Wilson, Sylvester McCoy, Brian Dennehy, and Pat Roach. It also featured performances early in their careers by Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant.

Subsequently, Huntford's book was republished under the same name.[1] The book put forth the point of view that Amundsen's success in reaching the South Pole was abetted by much superior planning, whereas errors by Scott (notably including the reliance on man-hauling instead of sled dogs) ultimately resulted in the death of him and his companions.

Episodes

Episode 1: "Poles Apart"

Episode 2: "Minor Diversion"

Episode 3: "Leading Men"

Episode 4: "Gentlemen and Players"

Episode 5: "Glories of the Race"

Episode 6: "Foregone Conclusion"

Episode 7: "Rejoice"

Production

A great number of the scenes showing both the Norwegian and British parties on the Antarctic Continent could not be replicated except in very few places. For the series, all production was located at Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island which in and of itself, due to the remoteness and frigid temperatures, subjected both cast and crew to conditions not too different from the actual expeditions in 1912.

Cast

References
  1. The Last Place on Earth, by Roland Huntford, 1999, Modern Library Exploration, ISBN 978-0-375-75474-6

The Last Place on Earth at IMDb


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