|_/-\ST P|_/-\CE 0N E/-\RT|-| EPISODE1 POLES APART 5

Episode 1: "Poles Apart"
Amundsen asks for the help of famed, retired Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen in lobbying Norway's government to fund an
expedition to the North Pole, while Scott contends with inquiries concerning the collision of his battleship, the
Albemarle, with another British battleship in the Far East. Scott's ally, Sir Clements Markham, alerts Scott to an
expedition led by Scott's former colleague, Ernest Shackleton, in 1907-8 to the South Pole using Scott's 1901-4 McMurdo
Sound base on the Ross Sea coast. Scott tries to halt Shackleton's plans, which threaten his own aims to be first to the
Pole, by denying Shackleton permission to use McMurdo, but Shackleton defies Scott's wishes. To Scott's relief, Shackleton
does not reach the Pole, but comes to within 97 miles of it. Scott cites Shackleton's achievement as proof that the Pole
is attainable and successfully lobbies for his own expedition to the Pole. Scott marries the free-spirited and strong-
willed Kathleen Bruce and fathers a boy. Amundsen is granted permission by Nansen to use Nansen's ship, the Fram, in his
voyage north, but his hopes to be first to the North Pole are scuttled when he is informed that his old friend, American
Frederick Cook, has claimed to have reached 90 degrees north. Nevertheless, he pushes ahead with his expeditionary plans,
to the dismay of his brother, Leon. Amundsen arranges to meet his brother in a cemetery, where he confides his new, secret
plans to journey to the as-yet-unconquered South Pole using the funds allocated for his northern campaign.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• DRAMA