Ben Fogle is to re-live the Edwardian Antarctic expeditions of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen in a new three-part series coming to Channel 5.
In 2008 Fogle skied over 750km to the South Pole and, while he was pipped to the post by a Norwegian team, the experience left him with one big question: how did the first, legendary polar explorers conquer that savage landscape?
In Endurance: Race to the Pole he’ll return to Antarctica in search of answers and experience first-hand some of the extremes that his polar heroes endured in their quest to conquer the unknown.
Whilst telling the extraordinary story of the race to the South Pole, Fogle will re-live key moments of Scott’s, Shackleton’s and Amundsen’s contrasting expeditions in the early 1900s, using only their Edwardian equipment, food supplies and shelter.
Fogle said: “This is a dream project for me. I have held a lifelong fascination with this period of heroic polar exploration and now I get the chance to experience immersive, living history myself by wearing the same clothes, eating the same type of food, pulling the same style sled and sleeping in the same canvas tent.
“This will give me a better understanding about the heroics and the sacrifices made by these brave men more than a hundred years ago in one of the harshest most unforgiving places on earth. Having raced to the pole myself in 2008 wearing modern equipment, now I get to experience the harsh Antarctic wilderness as they did.”
Channel 5’s Denise Seneviratne added: “This ambitious adventure will really push him to his limits and open up our understanding of the real heroics behind polar exploration, past and present. This series is immersive, experiential history which I think will really capture the imagination of our viewers.”