- 18 hours ago
First broadcast 20th April 1983.
David Schofield - Sir Ernest Shackleton
David Rodigan - Frank Wild
Neil Stacy - Captain R. F. Scott
Geoffrey Chater - Sir Clements Markham
Robert Lang - Major Darwin
Robert James - Sir John Scott-Keltie
Victoria Fairbrother - Emily Shackleton
Benjamin Whitrow - Roald Amundsen
Kevin Whately - Jameson Adams
Andrew Seear - Eric Marshall
Michael Hayward - 'Putty' Marston
Leslie Schofield - Ernie Joyce
Paul Hastings - Dr. Edward Wilson
John Drake - Professor David
Brian Orrell - Douglas Mawson
Sam Davies - Captain Evans
Raymond Adamson - RGS member
Maurice Quick - Mayor
Timothy Morand - Dr. Edward Atkinson
Howard Lee - Newsboy
Athene Fielding - Kathleen Scott
David Schofield - Sir Ernest Shackleton
David Rodigan - Frank Wild
Neil Stacy - Captain R. F. Scott
Geoffrey Chater - Sir Clements Markham
Robert Lang - Major Darwin
Robert James - Sir John Scott-Keltie
Victoria Fairbrother - Emily Shackleton
Benjamin Whitrow - Roald Amundsen
Kevin Whately - Jameson Adams
Andrew Seear - Eric Marshall
Michael Hayward - 'Putty' Marston
Leslie Schofield - Ernie Joyce
Paul Hastings - Dr. Edward Wilson
John Drake - Professor David
Brian Orrell - Douglas Mawson
Sam Davies - Captain Evans
Raymond Adamson - RGS member
Maurice Quick - Mayor
Timothy Morand - Dr. Edward Atkinson
Howard Lee - Newsboy
Athene Fielding - Kathleen Scott
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:18ORGAN PLAYS
00:54ORGAN PLAYS
01:02ORGAN PLAYS
01:04Come on now, Professor, show these ponds out again, shall we play?
01:08And another two.
01:10You playing today, boss?
01:12Well, he lost all the expedition funds to me.
01:14I own this entire outfit. Did you fellas know that?
01:17Not for long, Mawson. Not for long.
01:20I've cleaned out anyway.
01:22Can everybody hear me? Gather round, will you?
01:24This won't take long, but it's important.
01:29Out you get, putty.
01:30Any longer in there, will all that boiled lobster for supper?
01:35The summer programme.
01:36I know you've all been waiting to hear the details.
01:39So here they are.
01:41First, the Western Party,
01:43led by our distinguished professor from New South Wales.
01:49With him, he'll have Mawson and Mackay.
01:51Now, they'll be surveying the coast of Victoria land,
01:53examining the geology of the mountains,
01:55and if at all feasible,
01:57once they gain the polar plateau,
01:58they'll try for the south magnetic pole 400 miles due west.
02:02They'll probably try and take it back to Australia.
02:06Any questions on that?
02:07Sir?
02:08Yes, Mawson?
02:10If the professor should die of old age while we're up there,
02:12should we bring him back or bury him?
02:14If you've managed to keep up with our whinging,
02:15that's all I shall ask, Sonny.
02:18You can see why I decided to put our colonial cousins together.
02:24Shortly after that,
02:25my own party will set out with the geographical south pole
02:28as our main objective,
02:29about 1,600 miles there and back.
02:32Now, it's here that I've had to make some changes to my original plan.
02:36You all know that four of our ponies did not survive the winter.
02:40I blame myself for that.
02:42But I'd say we were pretty lucky to save the rest of them.
02:45Wouldn't you, Frank?
02:47Their loss has left me with the most painful decision
02:50I've had to make since we established this base.
02:53The car is going well enough, but we can't rely on it.
02:57And with only four ponies left,
02:59it is no longer possible for a party of six men
03:02to reach the pole and return with any degree of safety.
03:07So, Ernest Joyce
03:09and Putty Marston will not be coming.
03:11I've already had a word with each of them privately.
03:14And let me say,
03:15they both took the news in the splendid way I knew they would.
03:18Hear, hear.
03:19Hear, hear.
03:20While we're gone,
03:21Joyce will be in charge of building an extra depot
03:23at Bluff Point for our return journey,
03:25consisting largely of turkey and plum puddings.
03:29And Putty tells me that he'll be very pleased
03:31at the extra time for his painting
03:33and taking hot baths.
03:36I'll have you know,
03:37Queen Elizabeth used to take one every six months,
03:39whether she needed it or not.
03:42Some of you fellows would do well to follow her example.
03:47The Southern Party, then,
03:48will consist of Adams,
03:50Marshall,
03:51Wilde,
03:52and myself.
03:55Now, lastly,
03:56although I'm highly optimistic about our prospects,
03:59it is as well that you should all know what my instructions are
04:01should we fail to return.
04:03Murray will be in charge here at Cape Royds,
04:05and if the Southern Party are not back by February 25th of next year,
04:10he will ask for three volunteers to stay behind for another winter.
04:14If there are no volunteers...
04:16LAUGHTER
04:17..in that improbable event,
04:19he will select three men and order them to stay.
04:21They will then carry out searches in the autumn
04:23and again in the spring.
04:26Well,
04:29that's it, then.
04:33Good luck to you all.
04:34Good luck to you all.
04:36Good luck to you, boss.
04:36Thank you, sir.
04:46Well!
04:49Quite a speech!
04:51I expect he'll have to lie down for an hour or two.
04:54Is that a medical opinion, old chap?
04:56Plain observation.
04:57When it comes to exerting himself,
04:59five minutes is about our leader's time limit.
05:03Why not leave it, Eric?
05:04I mean, he's picked you for the Southern Journey, hasn't he?
05:07The trouble is, he's picked himself.
05:10You know what happened with Scott?
05:15Watch your tongue, Marshall,
05:17if you don't want to get it trapped between your teeth.
05:19You know,
05:20I thought this expedition was going to be led by a man.
05:23Not a...
05:24What, then?
05:27A moody,
05:30vacillating,
05:31boaster.
05:34You listen to me, Marshall.
05:36When we get out on that barrier,
05:38we'll soon see who pulls his weight.
05:40And if you want my opinion,
05:42the boss will be doing his own share,
05:43and yours,
05:44long after we fed you to the ponies.
06:05You think I've made the wrong choice, don't you?
06:10I wish we had any choice.
06:14I'd trust him with my life.
06:16I think Adams is stronger.
06:19Well, he dribbles on,
06:20it's enough to make a saint curse.
06:21You don't have to put up with it.
06:23Besides, he'll make a better companion for Marshall.
06:25As for the Dock?
06:27Yes, Frank.
06:31What about the Dock?
06:33He doesn't respect you, boss.
06:36That's what.
06:39Thinks he's one of God's chosen few.
06:43The muscular Christian type, eh?
06:49At least Marston would have given us a laugh or two.
06:51Couldn't take out your appendix, though, could he, Frank?
06:55It's out already.
07:03As we sat at dinner on the eve of our departure,
07:06the evening sun entered through a ventilator
07:09and shone on the portraits of the king and queen.
07:13Only on that day,
07:14at that precise time,
07:16would it have happened.
07:17I could hardly fail to take it as an omen of good luck.
07:21Gentlemen.
07:29The Majesties.
07:31The Majesties.
07:35And now,
07:36sweethearts and wives.
07:38After our day they never meet!
07:45During the few hours that remain,
07:48I try to anticipate every hazard.
07:50Once out on the barrier,
07:51there will be no chance for second thoughts.
07:55Years of planning now depended on our efforts
07:58being equal to the task ahead.
08:02We don't just want to find any old depot, Mr. Joyce.
08:05We want Fortnum and Bloody Masons.
08:07Your every heart's desire, Mr. Wilde.
08:10Gingerbread, fruitcake, cherry brandy.
08:19Remember to turn round when you get to the pole.
08:23We will, Putty.
08:25I don't hope you're going to have a hot bath waiting for us.
08:28Just telegraph and let us know which day you're coming.
08:30Strange, isn't it?
08:32We shall never be all together in this hut again.
08:34Hmm. It's the mortgage, you see.
08:36Something wicked it is.
08:39You know, Putty,
08:41I think I'm going to miss you.
08:53Dave,
08:54give us about an hour's start.
08:55Remember, no further than Glacier Tongue.
09:03October the 29th, 1908.
09:06That was a fair wind from the north as we set out,
09:09which we took to be a good omen.
09:13Ahead of us lay a journey of 1,600 miles,
09:16enough to daunt the stoutest heart.
09:20But each of us felt a sense of anticipation.
09:24We were about to bend our puny strength
09:27to the task of wresting from nature,
09:29secrets preserved inviolate through the ages.
09:39I had decided the car would accompany us
09:42for the first two days and then return.
09:50What did I say about this car?
09:54You know,
09:55a profit is never received in his own country.
09:58Say that once more,
09:59and he'll catch it around the ear with a shovel.
10:08November the 7th.
10:10Land and sky seem to have merged
10:12into a great, white war.
10:15We have nothing,
10:16even in the shape of a cloud,
10:18to guide our steering.
10:24When did you take off your goggles?
10:26A couple of hours ago, I suppose.
10:29When no sun about,
10:30I thought I'd be all right.
10:31Now, this is going to sting a bit.
10:33What is it?
10:34Cocaine.
10:35Try not to blink too much.
10:38It'll take away the pain of the zinc sulfate.
10:42Which comes next?
10:43Oh,
10:45I think I'd rather stick with the snow blindness.
10:47He wouldn't, believe me.
10:48Are you seeing double?
10:50Yeah.
10:51At least it's the first stage.
10:56When the blood vessels begin to swell,
10:58you'll feel as if you've got sand under your eyelids.
11:01How long will it last?
11:03Two or three days, I'm afraid.
11:07Dinner is served, gentlemen.
11:10Gentlemen.
11:20Chinaman looks pretty sorry for himself.
11:21Yeah.
11:23He wasn't pulling very well today.
11:25He seems to have lost heart.
11:27Off his food.
11:28Poor chap.
11:29I'm afraid he'll be the first to go.
11:33For starters,
11:35there's a choice of melon
11:37or turtle soup
11:38followed by grilled trout
11:41in butter sauce.
11:42Shut up, Wilder.
11:43I'll brain you with your own panicking.
11:44Then there's roast chicken
11:46with plenty of livers
11:47and peach melba
11:49to finish up with.
11:50Well, you're blindfolded already, Adams.
11:53You may as well be it.
11:55No cheating now.
11:56Couldn't if I tried.
11:59Whose?
12:01Marshall's.
12:03Whose?
12:05The boss's.
12:07Whose?
12:09Mine.
12:24How do you do it, Marshal?
12:29You got the biggest one yesterday
12:30and you got the biggest one again.
12:35Hypnosis, my dear chap.
12:39I studied it at medical school.
12:50You just dropped a crumb.
12:53I got you right.
13:05November the 13th.
13:07Adam's eyes
13:08have almost recovered.
13:10We are making good progress
13:12and our spirits are high.
13:14The country we are travelling through
13:16seems unlike anything
13:17we have ever experienced.
13:20yet one has the feeling
13:21that we mortals
13:22are being watched
13:23with a jealous eye
13:24by the forces of nature.
13:26Come on, old son.
13:28The time has come
13:29for poor Chinaman,
13:30the weakest of our ponies,
13:32to be shot.
13:33He has been struggling
13:35painfully along
13:36for several days.
13:37It is a miserable task.
13:40Each of our ponies
13:41with its individual whims
13:43and foibles
13:43has become a friend.
13:47But we have the satisfaction
13:48of knowing
13:49that they are well treated
13:50up to the last
13:51and suffer no pain.
13:55In the days that followed,
13:57first Grizzly,
13:58then my beloved Kwan,
14:00my own special horse,
14:01were to go the way
14:02of Chinaman.
14:03Now only Socks remains.
14:05He misses his companions
14:07dreadfully.
14:10With one pony left,
14:11the time has come
14:12to put ourselves
14:13in harness
14:13and begin the task
14:15of man-hauling.
14:28November the 26th,
14:30we have passed
14:31the furthest south
14:32previously reached by man
14:33and done it in much less time
14:35than on the last
14:36long march with Scott.
14:38Generous rations
14:39of horse meat
14:39have greatly increased
14:40our strength
14:41and progress
14:42has been excellent.
14:48Our position today
14:50is latitude 83 degrees
14:5228 minutes south,
14:54longitude 171 degrees
14:5630 minutes east.
14:59One or two new peaks
15:00have come into sight
15:01and Marshall is making
15:03a careful survey
15:04of all the principal heights.
15:06One more day's march
15:08and we should reach
15:09and we should reach the land.
15:10If we can get
15:11on the mountain tomorrow,
15:12it will be the pioneer landing
15:14in the far south.
15:23December the 4th,
15:24and we set out
15:25to climb a red granite peak
15:27that overlooks our camp.
15:29We name it Mount Hope.
15:39It falls to the lot
15:40of few men
15:41to view land
15:42not previously seen
15:43by human eyes.
15:49There it is, gentlemen.
15:52The royal road
16:07runs almost due south.
16:09I can't believe it.
16:11Luck comes to those
16:12who deserve it.
16:15Here at last
16:16was a geographical discovery
16:18worthy of my chief patron,
16:19perhaps the greatest glacier
16:22the world had to show.
16:23I named it after
16:25William Beardmore.
16:29It is going to test
16:30our strength to the utmost,
16:32but our remaining pony
16:33will provide us
16:34with fresh meat,
16:35and with that reserve
16:36we should still attain our aim.
16:38With Marshall, Adams,
16:40and myself
16:40hauling the first sledge,
16:42wild with socks
16:43following behind,
16:44every step is a venture.
16:47The smooth snow cover
16:48of the glacier
16:49could easily conceal
16:50fearsome crevasses.
17:08I'm going!
17:12Frank?
17:14Frank!
17:15Feel that!
17:28Take my arm, Frank.
17:31Slowly, just take my arm.
17:46Now?
17:47No!
17:47No!
17:49No!
17:56Oh!
17:58No!
17:59No!
18:02No!
18:04No!
18:05No!
18:06Oh!
18:07No!
18:13No!
18:20Poor old Socks.
18:22What a way to end.
18:29Look, the swingletree snapped.
18:32If it hadn't, Socks would have dragged you down with him, Frankie boy.
18:41The last day of the old year.
18:43And we're at 10,400 feet.
19:16Get on with it, Marshal.
19:19You pull away to your own food, you big, hulking, lazy duck.
19:28And in the spiced Indian air by night, full often hath she gossiped by my side, and sat with me
19:36on Neptune's yellow sands, marking the embarked traders on the flood.
19:41Oh, has she now?
19:43You don't seem to be in the best of humors.
19:46Four miles today.
20:17That's all we did.
20:18Now that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
20:20It's the altitude.
20:23It feels as if all the nerves had been twisted around a corkscrew and then pulled out.
20:32It doesn't stop you pulling your weight, though, does it?
20:45January 7th, 70 degrees of frost.
20:50I fear we are reaching our limit and can only do his best, and the strongest forces of nature are
20:58arrayed against us.
20:59Oh, jeez.
21:03Oh, jeez.
21:04Oh, jeez.
21:14Oh, jeez.
21:36tomorrow i trust it will all be over directly the wind drops we march south as far as possible
21:42without the sledge plant the flag and turn homeward
21:52january the ninth we have shot our boat and the tain is latitude 88 degrees 23 south
22:00longitude 162 degrees east 97 miles from the pole we looked south through our glasses
22:09but could see nothing except the dead white plain
22:25return back
22:50january the 27th i cannot adequately describe the mental and physical strain of the last 48 hours
23:16what's that boss look as though you could do with it you do the same for me
23:38today at some indeterminate point our sledge meter became detached its loss is not crucial
23:44and in any case a search is out of the question
23:54a foot i'm afraid it's gone again
24:05let me have it
24:14how about some of that browning boss the one you used to recite in the winter
24:19i was ever a fighter so one more fight the best than the last is that how it began
24:29no
24:31i don't tell me you've forgotten
24:33you never forgot a line of poetry in your life
24:38fear death
24:40fear death
24:41the few
24:42the fog in my throat
24:45the mist in my face
24:47when the snows begin
24:50and the blasts denote
24:51i am nearing the place
24:55i would hate
24:57that death
24:58had bandaged my eyes
25:00and for all
25:01and bade me creep past
25:03no
25:05let me taste the whole of it
25:09fair like my peers the heroes of old
25:13bear the brunt
25:15in a minute
25:17hey glad
25:18life's arrears of pain
25:22darkness
25:24and cold
25:33february the 16th
25:36appallingly hungry
25:39the harness round our weakened stomachs gives us a great deal of pain
25:45it is neck or nothing for us now
25:48food lies ahead
25:51and death stalks us from behind
26:01they'd stand a better chance if we went in to meet them
26:04well i'm game
26:06but i suspect captain evans will need some convincing
26:14have you reached any conclusions
26:16i'm for going back to the depot
26:18how long would that take
26:20a week
26:20two weeks who knows
26:22i'll give you one more week
26:24we've been up and down this coast as if we were on a cruise
26:28now there are four men out there on the barrier
26:30and we have to get them off
26:31no matter how long it takes
26:33one week mr joyce
26:35but no search party
26:41see anything
26:43perfect
26:46thought i saw something
26:48where
26:51to the left
26:59how is he
27:01still got stomach cramps
27:06boss
27:07it's the depot
27:09it must be
27:11where
27:12where
27:12there
27:13take a look
27:17good old arnie james
27:22welcome to the mate
27:23the nearly come last
27:27look out
27:30the
27:31crystalline
27:32brush
27:34to love
27:36honey
27:44try not to overeat
27:47or you'll think your stomach's going to burst
27:50mine feels like that already
27:59i think you've got a fever
28:01your face feels red hot but your hands are like ice
28:06do you think you can walk
28:07i don't know
28:10i'll try
28:11my stomach feels completely paralyzed
28:14you can ride on the sledge
28:16i enjoy pulling you don't we lads
28:19there isn't time
28:27all right
28:28i don't like splitting up but i'm afraid we must
28:34adams i want you to stay here with marshall
28:36and the bulk of the food
28:38wild and i will make the fastest time we can to the old discovery yard
28:42hut
28:43we'll try and signal the ship from there
28:45and if they've gone
28:45if they've gone
28:47we can all live on plum pudding and gingerbread for the rest of the winter
28:54we had 63 miles to cover on this forced march
28:58at last before us
29:00hut point arose out of the surrounding ice
29:03with the old discovery hut perched in welcome above us
29:07but one final question filled our thoughts
29:10had the ship sailed
29:13or were we still in time
29:15let me sign a light
29:21not much
29:28look
29:30there's a note
29:35the ship will wait at glass of your tongue until the 26th
29:40what is it today frank
29:47over the 28th
29:51does it say where she's gone
29:54no
29:55new zealand i suppose
29:57damn those bastards
30:02there's the primers on the bunk frank
30:03try and get it started will you
30:06at least we'll have a hot supper
30:09what
30:09what
30:39well signal
30:43there's still a chance
30:44glass
31:13They're back.
31:16What?
31:17They've reached the heart, I'm sure of it.
31:19I didn't know you were clairvoyant, Joycey.
31:23Where are we going?
31:24Up the mast.
31:25Finish your supper.
31:37Five more minutes and it'll be out.
31:42Look.
31:46Look.
31:47Go.
31:47Go.
31:49Go.
32:02Go.
32:05Go.
32:15Go.
32:17Go.
32:17Break.
32:18Scots record.
32:22He's going to be a national hero.
32:25Do you know what he had the gall to say in his telegram?
32:28Book the Albert Hall and get the king.
32:32A jest, you suppose?
32:34Very poor taste.
32:36He may be a mountebank but he's an engaging one.
32:39We must lie him there.
32:42Aggravates me, Kelty, is his failure to finish the job.
32:45Scott would have done it, I'm sure.
32:46Well, at least there is something left for Scott to achieve.
32:49It's a long way to go for 97 miles.
32:51If indeed that is the correct figure.
32:53Frankly, I doubt it.
32:57What do you propose to put in the journal?
32:59A brief digest of press reports and leave it at that.
33:03Until we've had time to verify the measurements.
33:06Quite right.
33:07In my view the society must tread very carefully.
33:11Do you realise what this means, Kelty?
33:14For 20 days at 9,000 feet they dragged a sledge, half rations or less,
33:20at the rate of 14 miles a day.
33:24Frankly, sir, I do not believe it.
33:27A remarkable claim, certainly.
33:30Will you be at Charing Cross?
33:32Of course.
33:33I think you'd better put me down as his proposer for the patron's medal.
33:37I was the one who started this Antarctic business.
33:39I think I made claim to be the proper person.
33:42I'll see to it, Sir Clements.
33:43Along the lines of the one we gave to Scott.
33:46I was thinking of something smaller.
33:56One thing I don't understand, knowing you.
33:59What's that, dear heart?
34:01How you made yourself turn back when you were so close.
34:07I thought that you would prefer a live donkey to a dead lion.
34:16No more long separations now, my sweet.
34:20It's all behind me now.
34:27I thought that you were so close.
34:28I thought that you'd better to be the most close.
34:40What is that, dear heart?
34:41You are so close.
34:43I'm not exactly close.
34:46I'm not sure that you are so close.
34:48I think we are.
35:07our distinguished guest of honor Scott how good to see you have we time for a
35:13private word my undertaking I would like you to hear the full circumstances that's all
35:20behind us now I owe you an explanation we must build on each other's achievement that's all
35:26the matters come and meet the committee my my own claim to become an honorary savage rested on the
35:42fact that I had been 93 days without a bath but like all records that has now been most handsomely
35:52broken by our guest of honor here tonight who's been 128 days trust this is not the 129th but
36:11brother savages and gentlemen the true sportsman should not be jealous of his record or of those
36:19who may one day surpass it what matters now is that the South Pole should be attained by an Englishman
36:30I
36:36myself am prepared and have been for the past two years to go forth in search of that object
36:47all I have to do now is to thank Lieutenant Shackleton and his intrepid men for so nobly showing me
36:56the way
36:59and I now invite him on behalf of the savage club to add his name to the many distinguished signatures
37:07on the wall over there
37:18what did all that mean it means Scott's at his back in the ring mile son that's what it means
37:31but where would be the motive gentlemen 97 miles sound a great deal more impressive than 150
37:38it would imply a conspiracy on the part of all four of them seems scarcely credible in Sir
37:44Clements judgment neither is Shackleton's claims he feels that something must be done why the expedition
37:50was not sponsored by the society was a private venture and Sir Clements is no longer our president
37:54a fact which frequently seems to slip his mind as soon as we publish Shackleton's claims in full it
38:01it will be assumed by the geographical world that we have accepted them my point precisely is that the
38:09view of you all your job I think Keltie who may I ask is calling me a liar good heavens
38:23nothing like
38:23that my dear fellow it's just that it rests with the society to throw doubt on my calculations
38:30the very opposite I assure you our scrutiny and subsequent endorsement will ensure their acceptance
38:38after all in such conditions it must have been fearfully trying at times to operate your instruments
38:45it was but we did you have my log I have indeed I will return it of course at the
38:53earliest opportunity I believe
38:57it was dr. Marshall who took most of the readings he acted as cartographer we all took readings at various
39:04times I believe you lost your sledge meter not until the return journey in any case our latitude observations were
39:16taken by means of a theodolite which was checked every day against our steering compasses indeed most
39:23impressive which were checked in their turn by placing our prismatic compasses on the true meridian at noon
39:29every day is there anything else you wish to know I'm quite sure the council will be more than satisfied
39:39my word should have been sufficient
39:43sufficient while Scott began to set his plans in motion for another attempt on the pole I found myself
39:52imprisoned in an endless round of lecturing about halfway up the beard more glass yeah that's here Frank Wilde after
40:02investigating these consider for a moment the enormous implications of this discovery it means that the
40:10whole of the vast Antarctic Plateau may once have supported vegetation precious metals and all just awaiting
40:21discovery by man for that reason if for no other I say to you tonight the Union Jack must be
40:32in the
40:33vanguard of that great search
40:50Child66
40:50before I thank Mr shackleton on your behalf for his excellent lecture I have a piece of news to announce
40:57which I am sure will delight you all in the birthday honours lest to be published tomorrow the king has
41:04been pleased to
41:05bestow a knighthood on our distinguished guest, Sir Ernest Chapel.
41:35good morning Lady Shackleton. good morning Sir Ernest. is everything to your satisfaction?
41:43not quite everything. you know I must be about the only knight of the realm who can't pay his debts.
41:51after all you've done for the country I think it's shameful.
41:55well at least the Prime Minister seems quite sympathetic. something may come of that.
42:00how much do you owe? about twenty thousand pounds. oh my dear.
42:06and that's just to redeem my pledges.
42:09I shall have to go on lecturing. tedious though it is.
42:15I wish it wasn't so unrelenting.
42:22we miss you. dreadfully.
42:29dearest. why don't you come on the continental tour with me?
42:33you'd enjoy it. I know you would.
42:35oh I'd love to.
42:38we'll find some time just for ourselves and no one else.
42:49I think it sounds so weird.
43:02my reception .
43:03heartwarming though my reception has been in my own country,
43:06I must say to you tonight that the way my wife and I have been greeted since we came to
43:12Norway,
43:13the land of Nansen, of Borskvovink, and of Amundsen,
43:18has been one of the great experiences of my life.
43:34Here's something I do not understand.
43:38If you had started from the Bay of Wales, on the edge of the barrier,
43:44the distance to the pole is less by perhaps 150 miles.
43:50The prize could have been yours.
43:53Just suppose a section of the barrier had broken off and floated north,
43:58carrying my base with it.
44:01The possibility is not so great, I think.
44:05But just imagine returning from the pole, exhausted, half-starved to find nothing.
44:14Consider the advantages.
44:16Plenty of seal meat to feed your dogs.
44:18No danger of your ships being trapped by the winter ice.
44:23Do these things not count for something?
44:26Scott will rely on ponies.
44:28And man-horning.
44:30Ach, the time-honored British way.
44:33With ponies, you must carry all their fodder,
44:36and there's much greater danger in the crevasses.
44:40Dogs are light and fast, my friend.
44:43And dog will eat dog.
44:46We have never had your success with dogs.
44:49In England, perhaps you are too sentimental about them.
44:52We are sentimental about ponies, too.
44:55You must excuse me.
44:57Who am I to speak who have never been there,
44:59whereas you, my friend, so nearly succeeded.
45:01Tell me, truthfully, would you not like to finish the job yourself?
45:07I've had my chance.
45:09Now it's Scott's turn.
45:11Suppose you combine forces.
45:13That wouldn't work.
45:15No, perhaps not.
45:16You are so very different.
45:18Besides, when a man competes, that is when he triumphs.
45:22I'll drink to that.
45:27I, too, will be starting another journey this summer.
45:32You will be the only one of us left at home.
45:35Perhaps you should come with me.
45:38If I went back and told Emily
45:40that I was planning to drift across the North Pole
45:42for the next five years,
45:44I think I know what she would say.
45:45She would be right.
45:47This one will not be for married men.
45:50Do you have a route?
45:52Where the ice takes us
45:54and where the spirit leads.
46:11It was with mixed feelings that I took Emily
46:13to see the cinematograph of Terra Nova's departure.
46:17It was a stirring occasion
46:19but hard to avoid the conclusion
46:21that the prize for which we had both striven for so long
46:26would at last belong to Scott.
46:34He really can't be long.
46:36He did know you were calling.
46:38Unless it slipped his mind.
46:40I'm afraid he's always rushing about.
46:44More tea, Mr. Wilde?
46:46Please.
46:52He wanted to tell me about a new business venture.
46:56Mining in Hungary, I think it was.
46:58Where you'll both make all your fortune.
47:00Something like that.
47:02But of course you must know him as well as I do.
47:04We certainly dreamed up a few dozen ways
47:06of getting rich over a winter's evening.
47:09Trouble we're going down south.
47:11Doesn't fit you for anything else.
47:14I can't seem to settle down.
47:20Biscuit?
47:26Would you have liked to have gone back with Scott?
47:28He asked me to, but...
47:33I don't suppose he ever told you.
47:35But your husband gave me a biscuit once.
47:38We were coming back down the Beardmore.
47:41I was pretty well finished.
47:44Two biscuits a day, the ration was.
47:48Sounds silly now.
47:50But it was the most precious thing I was ever given.
47:56So, you see, I'm a Shackleton man.
47:59First and last.
48:03My husband has no plans to return, Mr. Wilde.
48:08No.
48:13There he is now.
48:18Frank!
48:21I'm late, my dearest.
48:23I am sorry.
48:26Well, have you heard the news?
48:28Not Germany.
48:29No, not yet.
48:31It's Amundsen.
48:33He's going south.
48:35South?
48:35Mm-hmm.
48:36Changed his plan at the last minute and didn't tell a soul.
48:39Not even his own men.
48:41Not until they reach Madeira.
48:43I'd love to see Scott's face when he finds out.
48:46Do you think you'll go for the pole?
48:47Sure, too.
48:49I tell you this much, Frank.
48:51I'm glad we didn't have Amundsen breathing down our necks.
48:59The press will soon make this the race of the century.
49:02The public love of a contest.
49:04The man's a blackguard, Kelty.
49:05No one's going to convince me otherwise.
49:07He deceived Nansen.
49:08He deceived the Norwegian government.
49:10He even deceived his own men.
49:12Small D-Tor, he calls it.
49:14North Pole by way of the South Pole.
49:16Do you think he stands a chance?
49:18None at all.
49:19The fram has no more sailing qualities than a haystack.
49:22Scott must be weeks ahead.
49:30As we were later to learn, on January 16th, 1912, Scott and his party were within five miles
49:38of the stars of their prize, the South Pole.
49:42Three minutes rest!
49:45Three minutes rest!
49:59Three minutes rest!
50:00Three minutes rest!
50:13Three minutes rest!
50:15Four minutes rest!
50:15It's Amundsen's marker.
50:18It must be.
50:19Oh, my God.
50:57Oh, my God.
51:00Oh, my God.
51:16Oh, my God.
51:18Oh, my God.
51:20Oh, my God.
51:23If you want to reach this area after us, I will ask you kindly to forward this to King Hawken.
51:32He wants me to be his postman.
51:36December 14th.
51:38More than a month ago.
51:43Oh, my God.
51:45Oh, my God.
51:47Oh, my God.
52:03Oh, my God.
52:26Amundsen here in one month whatever for he's going to give a lecture at the
52:33Queen's Hall he must have a very thick skin yes the Royal Geographical Society
52:41won't even have him on their premises imagine the greatest living Explorer and
52:46he can't even cross their sacred threshold and you're going I've been
52:54asked to introduce him well somebody's got to and if the president of the
53:01Society won't even shake his hand everyone's saying he played a dirty
53:05trick if you appear with him I know what they'll say that I'm a traitor Scott's
53:11great rival rushes to congratulate Amundsen you're right I know it
53:21then why are you doing it because I think it's important because we're all in the
53:30same game and if we can't leave our squalid little rivalries and petty
53:35patriotism behind then we don't deserve to go to the Antarctic at all
53:44it'd be easier if there was some news of Scott yes whatever happens they'll not
53:53get out before the winter now I feel so sorry for his wife
54:06each had his own thought or perhaps we all had the same thought one of my companions shouted hot and
54:19we
54:19knew the distance was covered then each with his hand on the flagstaff we planted the
54:29colors of our country on the South Pole
54:47ladies and gentlemen I will be brief because I know it is getting late
54:52all I can say is that I congratulate Captain Amundsen most heartily on the way he has told his story
54:59and the way he has done his work
55:09he I know will understand if now our thoughts tonight are with Captain Scott and his men who may even
55:20now be writing a fresh chapter in the history of polar exploration
55:26we did not know it for many weeks but three days before Amundsen's lecture in London a search party under
55:42the command of Dr. Edward Atkinson surgeon on the Terra Nova was heading south across the great ice barrier over
55:50there it could be an abandoned depot but there's definitely something
55:54you
56:09you
56:44before collapsing the tent and burying Scott Bowers and Wilson beneath the snow
56:51where they lay Atkinson insisted that every man in the rescue party should view that tragic scene
56:57for himself had we lived I should have had a tale to tell of the endurance hardy hood and courage
57:17of my companions that would have stirred the heart of every Englishman these rough notes and our dead
57:25bodies must tell the tale
57:47for those in heaven on the sea
58:00o saviour who's al mighty word
58:07the winds and winds un visiting that
58:14O August, on the flowing deep, and calmer with his great deceit.
58:31O hear us when we cry to thee, Father, to them.
58:45O, O, O, O, O, O, O, O, O, O.
59:27O, O, O, O.
59:29O, O, O, O, O.
59:35O, O, O, O, O, O, O.
59:39O, O, O, O, O, O.
59:45O, O, O, O, O, O, O.
59:50O, O, O, O, O.
59:53O, O, O, O, O.
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