David Farnor | On 03, Dec 2021

Two follow-up series to Around the World in 80 Days are already in the works, before the programme’s first season has even aired.

Based on the Jules Verne novel, the series sees David Tennant play the intrepid explorer, joined by Ibrahim Koma as the mercurial Passepartout and Leonie Benesch as young journalist Abigail “Fix” Fortescue. Following an outrageous bet, Fogg and his valet, Passepartout, take on the legendary journey of circumnavigating the globe in just 80 days, swiftly joined by aspiring journalist Abigail Fix, who seizes the chance to report on this extraordinary story.

The series has been adapted by a team of writers led by Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, The Living and the Dead) and Caleb Ranson (Child of Mine, Heartless), and the production has trotted the globe everywhere from Cape Town, South Africa to Romania.

Season 1 will air on Boxing Day on BBC One, and a second season is already in “advanced development” between producers Slim Film + Television and Federation Entertainment. Season 2 will see the next chapter in Verne’s timeless classic as Phileas Fogg and his team take another perilous challenge to traverse the globe, which means you can expect the key cast – including Tennant – to return.

Also on the way from the same creative team is an adaptation of another Jules Verne classic: Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Both series will, once again, be produced by Simon Crawford Collins for Slim Film + Television and Lionel Uzan for Federation, with Ashley Pharoah (Around the World in 80 Days, Life on Mars, The Living and the Dead) showrunning the adaptations.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth follows Professor Lidenbrock, an adventurous geology professor who chances upon a manuscript in which a 16th-century explorer claims to have found a route to the earth’s core. The Professor leads a life-threatening expedition that will unearth secrets about the origins of humanity and its future.

Collins said: “We have loved working on the sequel to Around the World in 80 Days and now we are excited to also bring Ashley’s trademark blend of humour and emotion to Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Ashley has developed an ensemble of exciting new and updated characters to bring a fresh and modern take to another of Jules Verne’s beloved novels.”

Uzan added: “We couldn’t be more excited to embark on this thrilling new adventure with Slim and keep exploring Jules Verne’s deeply compelling and trailblazing legacy together. Working hand-in-hand on Around the World in 80 Days has been an inspiring experience for us all, and fresh-off this first globe-trotting odyssey together, it only seemed natural that our next journey would bring us to the innermost depths of our planet and its many secrets through this ever-more relevant story.”

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