Pole To Pole

After traipsing the waist of the world, so to speak, in the outstanding Around the World in 80 Days, former Monty Python-er Michael Palin traverses the globe from head to toe in this six-hour plus extravaganza that originally aired on the A & E channel. Beginning at the North Pole, Palin's 23,000 mile journey begins with a quick visit to Santa's workshop, and a chat with the head man himself. Then it's on to Finland for a bout of skinny-dipping with a member of Parliament, an attempt to get rich quick by panning for gold with Laplanders, a walk around Leningrad with a professional Lenin impersonator, a bit part in a documentary about crayfish and a long night of vodka toasts. And that's all in the first volume. In successive episodes, Palin must endure a Turkish massage that would fell many of us, is a guest at a Greek wedding, travels across the Nubian desert by train--where many of the passengers ride on the roof (literally called "roof class"), makes a huge detour in the Sudan to avoid being caught in the middle of a civil war, gets a bad fortune reading from a witch doctor (and later breaks a pair of ribs), and finally discovers that the only boat leaving the tip of Africa for Antarctica has no available seats. (We won't reveal how Palin manages to complete his journey.) What sets the Pole to Pole series apart (or the Around the World in 80 Days series, or the Rick Ray videotapes) is the winning combination of extraordinary sights and sounds from distant lands and the superb sense of humor and innate storytelling gifts of the host. Palin has raised the concept of "roughing it" to a minor art form, and when he does encounter civilization in the wild after days of survival living, he is often momentarily disoriented. After traveling the length of the African continent, Palin takes a meal on a train leaving Johannesburg, and wonders of this unaccustomed luxury: "What on earth does one do with nine pieces of cutlery?" An excellent entertainment, Pole to Pole is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (Available from most distributors.)