‘Around the World in 80 Days’ trailer: David Tennant stars in new BBC series

PBS has released the first trailer for the BBC’s new adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days.

Doctor Who star David Tennant leads the cast of the upcoming BBC adventure drama.

Based on Jules Verne’s classic 1873 novel, the eight one-hour episodes began filming way back in February 2020.

Filming was swiftly halted by the coronavirus pandemic, but the series is now expected to premiere in the UK on BBC One this Christmas season!

Around the World in 80 Days will then air in the US on PBS.

The official synopsis reads: “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.”

Watch the trailer:

David Tennant (Broadchurch, Des) is playing intrepid explorer Phileas Fogg.

The 50-year-old Scottish actor recently won best Drama Performance at the National Television Awards for his role as a real-life serial killer in ITV’s true crime drama Des.

He’ll be joined by rising French star Ibrahim Koma (Je Suis Daddy) as Passepartout, “an irrepressible chancer who falls into the role of Fogg’s ‘valet’.”

Leonie Benesch (The Crown) plays Abigail Fix, “the young journalist determined to make her mark in a man’s world and emerge from the long shadow of her British establishment father.”

Around the World in 80 Days has been adapted by Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes), with Caleb Ranson (Child of Mine, Heartless).

Pharoah commented: “We wanted Fogg to be a preposterously upper middle class over-educated Englishman, but I wanted to give him a sort of childlike sense of wonder because he’s never traveled, he’s never left London or his club.

“As soon as I hit on that, I thought it’s a love letter to the world, if that isn’t a bit pretentious. He goes to Paris and India and Hong Kong and Yemen and he’s so excited to see a camel, the different colors and cultures. It felt like resetting our relationship with traveling and seeing the world like that.”

Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days novel is available on Amazon.