Posted in: BBC, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: Around the World in 80 Days, bbc, jules verne, pbs, season 2
Around the World in 80 Days S02 Looking to Create Jules Verne-iverse?
Around the World in 80 Days has been airing on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer in the UK and on PBS in the US. They have also announced a second season, which has naturally confused some. Spoilers for those who have not yet watched the conclusion ahead.
A sequel might seem tricky as the series is based on the Jules Verne book and the TV series concludes in a similar fashion to the book, albeit with some notable and satisfactory changes.
Starring David Tennant, Ibrahim Koma, and Leonie Benesch, the producers Slim Film + Television and Federation Entertainment have already confirmed the news of a second season that will see Fogg, Passepartout and Abigail take another perilous challenge to traverse the globe.
But while relaxing in the Reform Club, checking the newspapers, they find word of a number of ships being sunk, with reports of a massive squid or a deep-sea submarine the likes of which no government has developed.
And, as they threesome depart, the suggestion is that they are about to go and check it out.
If so, that would take the cast of Around The World In Eighty Days, based on the book by Jules Verne, and drop them into the plot of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, also by Jules Verne, and face to face with Captain Nemo and the Nautilus.
This is not the first time this has been done. The Spanish anthropomorphic cartoon Around The World With Willy Fog also added a second season ten years later, by dropping their established cast into the plots of both 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth for Willy Fog 2.
It is also notable that Slim Film + Television and Federation Entertainment have also confirmed that they will team up for another adaptation of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with Ashley Pharoah showrunning both shows. Might they be doing Journey to the Centre of the Earth as well as 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea? Could they all be sequels to Around The World In Eighty Days? Or is this just the production team having some fun, with a very different idea for season two ahead?