- 6 hours ago
First broadcast 4th May 19863.
David Schofield - Sir Ernest Shackleton
David Rodigan - Frank Wild
John Watts - Frank Worsley
Peter Dahlsen - Frank Hurley
Leonard Maguire - Harry McNeish
John Flanagan - Thomas Crean
John Wheatley - Percy Blackborrow
Michael Hayward - 'Putty' Marston
Martin Howells - Alexander Macklin
Stephen Tate - Leonard Hussey
Howard Bell - Sorlle
Steve Plytas - Whaling Skipper
David Schofield - Sir Ernest Shackleton
David Rodigan - Frank Wild
John Watts - Frank Worsley
Peter Dahlsen - Frank Hurley
Leonard Maguire - Harry McNeish
John Flanagan - Thomas Crean
John Wheatley - Percy Blackborrow
Michael Hayward - 'Putty' Marston
Martin Howells - Alexander Macklin
Stephen Tate - Leonard Hussey
Howard Bell - Sorlle
Steve Plytas - Whaling Skipper
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:19www.feyyaz.tv
00:53ORGAN PLAYS
01:05Brightly shone the moon at night
01:07Though the frost was cruel
01:10When a foreman came in sight
01:14Gathering winter fuel
01:20December the 22nd
01:22More for the sake of morale than out of any great conviction
01:26I decided it was time to be on the move again
01:29The loss of the ship had been the cause of some depression
01:32And tempers were beginning to get a little ragged
01:36So we decided to celebrate Christmas three days early
01:39And strike camp the following morning
01:41By St. Agnes Party
02:09Two six
02:11Hey!
02:19We hauled the boats in relays
02:21About 60 yards at a time
02:29It was grueling work for the men
02:31Made all the harder by the knowledge
02:33That the nearest land lay 350 miles to the northwest
02:40Two six
02:41Heee!
02:44Ga, ga!
02:45Touch me!
02:48Two six
02:49That's proteggers!
02:53Two six
02:54Heee!
02:55Ga, ga!
02:57Gah!
02:58Ah!
02:59Two-six.
03:02Halt! Halt, everyone!
03:14What's up with you, Chippy?
03:15When it's time for a break, we'll all take it together.
03:17Get back into line.
03:18I've not taken orders from you.
03:21Magneesh, I'm your captain,
03:23and I'm ordering you to get back into line.
03:25But I'm not under your jurisdiction.
03:28Not since the ship went down, I'll do as I like.
03:32Come on, Chips. Don't be a bloody idiot.
03:35We've all got to pull together.
03:36Me, an idiot. It's you.
03:40You're all damned lunatics.
03:43Chips!
03:43Leave him, Frank.
03:46We'll settle this later.
03:50All right, slaves.
03:56Two-six.
03:57Two-six.
03:58Hey!
04:00Come on, Magneesh. I want an answer.
04:04Leave if you want to.
04:06Get back by yourself if you think you can do better.
04:10But leave your sleeping bag here.
04:11That happens to be my property.
04:15What I said was,
04:17he's got no right
04:18to give me orders.
04:20Not since the ship went down.
04:25This is the agreement that you signed.
04:28I wrote it myself.
04:32All members of the crew,
04:34without exception,
04:37will have interchangeable duties
04:39and perform any duty
04:41on board, in the boat,
04:43so onshore,
04:44as directed by the master and owner,
04:46all those he may place in command.
04:50Is that clear?
04:52But we're not on board, are we?
04:55And we're not on shore, either.
05:00Magneesh,
05:03I advise you to go away
05:05and have a long, hard think.
05:22Magneesh,
05:22two-six.
05:26Magneesh,
05:27Magneesh returned to his place
05:28and we struggled on.
05:30Two-six.
05:31Magneesh.
05:32Magneesh.
05:33Magneesh.
05:35Magneesh,
05:35Magneesh.
05:36It had become a desperate and disheartening task.
05:43Two-six...P!
05:48Two-six...P!
05:53Seven and a half miles in five days.
05:57At this rate, it'll take us all 300 days to reach the nearest land.
06:05You're both for stopping.
06:08One gale from the north, right back where we started.
06:18Boss, I've been looking at the boats.
06:21The dock is all right, but the seams on the cairn are beginning to spring.
06:24Oh, but Nisha's muttering away like an undertaker.
06:29Two-six...P!
06:33I ordered one more day's march.
06:35But for all the efforts of the men in harness,
06:38the soft surface and hummocky flows were enough to convince me
06:41that neither men nor boats could stand much more.
06:44Well done! P!
06:48We resigned ourselves to the task of once more pitching tents and unloading stores.
06:54This place was to be our home for nearly three and a half months.
07:01We called it Patience Camp.
07:30Goddamn it, it's obvious, isn't it?
07:32mean boats don't float on ice do they? so if the water won't come to the boats the
07:37boats must be taken to the water. we'll repair them when we get there. you can't
07:42understand anything can you Putty? the wind and currents are doing the job for
07:47us. we're probably moving north at about 20 miles a day. or south or east.
07:57then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere. the sequel of today and so does all the
08:05goodliest fellowship of famous knights where of this world holds record. such
08:12as sleep they sleep the man I loved. I think that we shall never more at any
08:20future time delight in our souls with talk of knightly deeds. walking about the
08:26gardens and the halls of Camelot as in the days that were.
08:38holding the sword and how I rode across and took it and have worn it like a king
08:44and wheresoever I am sung or told in after-time this also shall be known.
08:54the wind it's dropped
09:05at noon the next day Frank Worsley set out to plot our position
09:18coming up
09:21coming up
09:22coming up
09:24up
09:2939
09:30we tried to disguise our anxiety
09:33we knew that we and our floating home were drifting at the mercy of wind
09:37wind and tide. but in which direction? land lay northwards.
09:56well skipper tell us the worst.
09:58latitude 165 degrees 43 south. which means?
10:0573 miles northward drift in five days.
10:09hooray!
10:10hooray!
10:11it was cheering news and most heartening of all we had now crossed the Antarctic circle.
10:21in the weeks that followed I knew that we had to plan for the open water that lay ahead.
10:27off they go to their executions wagging their trusting tails
10:41another month passed.
10:46well it's beginning to look like Elephant Island or nothing. beyond that our choices are Cape Horn and South Georgia.
10:59800 miles.
11:01any whaling stations on Elephant Island?
11:05nothing as far as I know. nobody ever goes there.
11:14in April the solid ice beneath us began to break up.
11:22the choice of the exact moment for launching the boats was of course mine.
11:27more tea sir?
11:29thank you Blackie.
11:35one good lead to the north. that's all we need. just one.
11:45Mr. Wesley. Mr. Wilde.
11:50stand by to clear the boats.
11:53two stations lads.
12:12one of the beasts.
12:15and the ships.
12:18one of the beasts.
12:24and the ships.
12:29Two, three, three.
12:32Two, three, three.
12:44Keep it steady now.
12:49Bring her around, that's it.
13:40As we pulled away, I felt a sense of loss and incompleteness hard to describe.
13:47But during all those months on the flow, we had ceased to realize
13:51that our home was but a sheet of ice floating on unfathomed seas.
13:56Now it had crumbled before our eyes.
14:04Ahead of us, they had an uncertain journey.
14:062, three, three.
15:08All together now, lads.
15:13We'll camp there for the night.
15:15It's as good as we'll find.
15:25Why on earth are you wearing those boots, Blackie?
15:28I thought I ought to bring my best ones.
15:32There's precious little warmth to be had from those.
15:44That night, our little Flo felt like the loneliest place in the world.
16:04I knew tomorrow we would have to leave the shelter of the pack
16:09and be at the mercy of the open sea.
16:11I knew tomorrow we would have to leave the shelter of the pack.
16:58Once out of the pack, our worst fears about the weather were realized.
17:09The condition of most men was pitiable.
17:12All of us had swollen mouths and could hardly touch our food.
17:17We were all dreadfully thirsty, and although we got momentary relief
17:21by chewing pieces of raw seal meat,
17:24our thirst was soon redoubled owing to the saltiness of the flesh.
17:29To keep moving towards Elephant Island, that was the best food for our bodies and souls.
17:40With night came calmer weather.
17:44Macklin examined Blackberry's feet.
17:48Frostbite had taken away all feeling.
17:53There was worse to come.
17:55As the light returned, we encountered some loose pack
17:58and we'd lost sight of Worsley and the Dudley Docker.
18:09It was now the sixth day of our agony.
18:13Gradually a wind sprang up from the south,
18:16gently at first,
18:18then more strongly.
18:37Out of the mist appeared the towering cliffs of Elephant Island
18:40where no man in recorded history had ever set foot before.
18:57Then at 9am, we saw a narrow beach at the foot of some cliffs.
19:04Good.
19:06Come alongside.
19:08We were making landfall
19:10and thanked Providence with all our hearts.
19:15But only two-thirds of our number was safe.
19:18We were unlikely ever to see our companions in the Dudley Docker again.
19:33Come here.
19:34Come here.
19:41Come here.
19:54Come here.
19:56Come here.
19:56It's okay.
19:57Come here, baby.
20:05Come on.
20:06Come on.
20:08No.
20:08Buzz!
20:11It's the docker!
20:13He's found us!
20:26Not a man lost, Frank.
20:29Not one.
21:11How are you, Ned?
21:13I thought I was still on the boat.
21:17I'll get you some soup.
21:36A few rolls of film left.
21:38It'll last me a while.
21:42How about a lifetime?
21:45Will they last a lifetime?
21:49Oh, cheer up, buddy.
21:52At least you're not freezing to death in an open boat.
21:57Maybe not.
21:59But what have we got?
22:01Instead of snow and ice, we've got rock, snow and ice.
22:05No one in the entire world knows where we are.
22:08They must be looking for us by now.
22:11And this is the last place they'll think of looking.
22:16Frank.
22:19This is where we're going to live.
22:22And die.
22:31All we've got to do is find some women.
22:36We can start a colony.
22:46Tierra del Fuego is nearer.
22:49But you'll have wind and current against you.
22:52Sometimes ships take three weeks trying to get round the horn.
23:00It has to be South Georgia.
23:03The current alone should give us 60 miles a day.
23:06The Caird might be up to it.
23:08The others wouldn't stand a chance.
23:10How many men will you take?
23:11I'll need a crew of six, including myself.
23:14You'll come, won't you, as navigator?
23:16And second in command.
23:17Of course.
23:18I want you in command here, Frank.
23:21And we'll take McNeish.
23:23McNeish?
23:24McNeish is practically 60 and getting more cantankerous every day.
23:27I must have a carpenter in case we suffer ice damage.
23:30Besides, he's stronger than some of the younger men
23:32and he'll just make trouble if he's left here with nothing to do.
23:47But never fear.
23:49We shall be back.
23:52Now, I need three more volunteers.
23:57Crean.
23:59Vincent.
24:02McCarthy.
24:08Hey.
24:11Hey.
24:13Uh.
24:14Right.
24:14Ah.
24:15This is the first time that we've ever had to split our resources.
24:19So let me say now.
24:22No polder expedition has ever had to come through what you have.
24:27You have all been magnificent.
24:32And no one ever led a finer body of men.
25:01You're a betting man, Frank.
25:03What odds would you give them?
25:05I'm a bookie's delight, Doc.
25:07Always have been.
25:08When the Christians were thrown to the lions,
25:10I'd have had me money on the Christians.
25:16I like the dear sir.
25:19You see, I've left the English lecture rights to you, the American to Hurley.
25:24Well, I hope and pray it never comes to that.
25:29You know something, Frank?
25:31There are times when I feel closer to you than any other human being.
25:36Do you think we'll get through?
25:41I know it.
25:44We've been through some times together, you and I.
25:47And we're not done yet.
25:54April the 24th, 1916.
25:59We began that fateful 800-mile boat journey to South Georgia,
26:04on which all our lives were to depend.
26:28As soon as we were clear of the ice,
26:31the sub-Antarctic Ocean began to live up to its evil reputation.
26:36Day after day, we fought the storm white and seas flung to and fro
26:40by nature in the pride of her strength.
26:43Time after time, it was the deck covering built by McNeish
26:47that saved us from being engulfed.
26:52How long would it hold?
27:06What the hell?
27:08What is it, Harry?
27:10You're drinking water!
27:13Shorty!
27:17With 700 miles still to go, I had no choice but to cut the daily water ration.
27:28Many tombs we could hold up!
27:28We are.
27:49We are not running out of nowhere.
27:49We have a piece of the air.
27:49We have a piece of the air in the middle of the air.
27:49We will be rolled out of the air.
27:51We have the air.
27:51We have a piece of the air in the air.
28:03Oh, my God.
28:06Oh, my God.
28:09Oh, my God.
28:10Oh, my God.
28:10Six stays now, isn't it?
28:12Six and a half.
28:15I'll be right in the path with the greybeards.
28:19Greybeards?
28:20Giant waves. Biggest in the world.
28:23That's what Australian seamen call them.
28:26Cape Horn rollers.
28:28Some of them are 200 feet high.
28:30Come at you at 30 knots.
28:33That would be after a few pints.
28:34No, not at all. As real as a roller coaster.
28:37Except on a roller coaster, you can't get caught sideways on.
28:49How's young Blackie?
28:52Ah, not good.
28:55Gangrene in both feet. I'm going to have to operate.
29:00Would you care to assist?
29:01Hm. Well, if you need me.
29:04I better warn you've got a poor stomach for your kind of work.
29:11Zhasko.
29:16Ready lad.
29:18Ready lad.
29:20Going home.
29:29I don't know.
29:56I don't know.
30:00I don't know.
30:33If no one minds, I think I'll get some air.
30:43The next few days passed for us in a sort of nightmare.
30:49Lack of water is always the most severe privation for men to endure.
30:53And now the salt water which lashed our faces and soaked our clothing made our thirst grow quickly to a
30:59burning pain.
31:09But with dry mouths and swollen tongues, any thought of peril from the waves was buried beneath the consciousness of
31:16our raging thirst.
31:18Our one mug of hot milk per day was the only moment of relief.
31:38There are a bit more.
31:41All just steady now.
31:44Take your time, Frank.
31:45Take your time.
31:52Take your time.
31:53Take your time.
32:04Take your time.
32:05All right, ma'am.
32:07We have made an air of ten degrees and we'll sail right past South Georgia in the night with no
32:14more land for 2,000 miles.
32:19That would be Ireland, I take it.
32:26It is the most distressful country that ever yet was seen.
32:35We'll show the hangin' men and women there are the wearin' of the dream.
32:51It was two weeks to the day since we had left our companions and there, directly in our path, was
32:57South Georgia.
32:59I knew very well from two years before that all the whaling stations were on the other side of the
33:04island.
33:06But just seeing that rugged coastline again made our spirits soar.
33:32Look out for them…
33:36Shh.
33:51Water!
33:52Water!
34:27You couldn't sleep, I thought.
34:29too comfortable takes a good heaving sea to send me off tell me Frank any heart
34:40did you think we'd make it
34:53if we try and make the other side of the island by boat is 150
35:01miles that way it's just 20 over those mountains
35:09has it ever been done Frank has never been a reason
35:18Vincent and McNish are in a pretty poor way I doubt if they're up to it we'll come back for
35:21them and if we don't make it then they've got the boat I was looking at those ice
35:27cliffs they're practically sheer we'll rest up here for a couple of days regain our strength
35:36you need the exercise
35:44biscuits primus half a box of matches binoculars two compasses and fifty feet of rope we'll be needing
35:53your ads chippy the nearest thing to an ice axe I'll manage how about sleeping bags to cumbersome Frank
36:02in any case we'll be going on through the night
36:09right that's the last
36:14well done chippy
36:18okay
36:20okay
36:28Oh, my God.
36:53Oh, my God.
37:19Time to rope up.
37:39I should try to cross the ridge between those two peaks.
37:41What's on the other side?
37:44According to the chart, nothing at all.
38:26We three now held the only key to the whereabouts of all our men.
38:32If our route were to take us over a precipice or into the waiting jaws of a crevasse, no
38:38one would go in search of the men on Elephant Island or the rest of our boat crew, because
38:43no one would know they were there.
38:46Come on.
38:47Come on.
39:11Come on.
39:19My name is Frankie Wildo.
39:23My hut's on Elephant Isle.
39:25The walls without a single brick, the roofs without a tile.
39:29But nevertheless, you must confess for many and many a mile.
39:33It's the most palatial dwelling place you'll find on Elephant Isle.
39:52Sweethearts and wives.
39:54Sweethearts and wives.
39:58When's the boss coming, Frankie?
39:59Tomorrow, let's.
40:06Let's go once.
40:12Here we are.
40:19I will take you as a victim that has done.
40:19Here we have to come.
40:28You're welcome.
40:28Well done, Lord.
40:29I think we should slide.
40:31Let's get around.
40:31the ropes off. Slide. Temperature's dropping fast. If we don't get off this
40:38way soon, we're as good as dead. Can you see the bottom? No. I suppose it ends in a
40:45precipice. Oh, we hit a rock. Oh, we just have to risk that. Come on now. Make yourselves a pad
40:51to sit
40:52on. Come on, like this. I'll drive. Tom, you'd better act as brakeman at the back. Ready. Ready. Ready.
41:22Off we go.
41:52Ha, ha, ha.
41:54Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
42:00Ha, ha, ha.
42:23After 30 hours, we were now so cold and tired that sleep became a mortal danger.
42:33Frank. Frank!
42:38I'm sorry, Frank, but if you sleep much longer, you might not wake up at all.
42:43What time is it?
42:45It's time for breakfast.
42:52I'm going to have a look at the route from over there.
42:58Make mine orange juice, coffee, and a lightly boiled egg.
43:02Yes, sir, Your Honor.
43:08He sleep?
43:09No, not for a minute.
43:13He's got bunches of men stranded all over the Antarctic.
43:16And if you ask me, he won't sleep.
43:19Not really and truly sleep.
43:22But he's rounded them all up again.
43:59It couldn't have been a bird.
44:01No, it was a whistle.
44:04I'm sure of it.
44:06What time is it?
44:09It's just after 6.30.
44:11So, if it was the wailing factory,
44:15the whistle should blow again at 7.
44:1940?
44:2345.
44:2750?
44:3255?
44:39That's all right.
44:57First you will start from the outside world for 17 months.
45:03Come on. Let's get down then.
45:49That's our way down, boys.
45:51Nice.
45:51Nice.
45:52Nice.
45:52Nice.
46:03Nice.
46:05Nice.
46:08Nice.
46:21Nice.
46:21Nice.
46:23Let's go.
47:00Let's go.
47:23About 50 feet of rope were all the possessions we bought back from the Antarctic, which two years before we
47:31had entered with a well-found ship, full equipment, and high hopes.
47:40Let's go.
48:42Let's go.
48:42Let's go.
48:44Let's go.
48:44Let's go.
48:45Let's go.
48:46Let's go.
48:48Let's go.
48:48Let's go.
48:48Let's go.
48:49Let's go.
48:51Let's go.
48:52Let's go.
48:54Let's go.
49:04Let's go.
49:08Let's go.
49:15Let's go.
49:21Let's go.
49:22Let's go.
49:31Let's go.
49:35Let's go.
49:53Let's go.
49:56Come in.
50:01Mr. Sawler.
50:06We've come to ask for your help.
50:10I know the voice.
50:14My name is Shackleton.
50:41Two days later, having retrieved our three companions,
50:44the Whalers gave a dinner in our honor.
50:48I am so sorry for my English.
50:51But my friends and I, they wish me to speak.
50:55All day, you have seen the men from our ships
50:59coming to see this little boat, which sits on the key.
51:04The kind remarks of the wailing captain rang in our ears,
51:08but our thoughts were far away
51:10with Frank Wilde and the men on Elephant Island.
51:13We knew the task was still unfinished.
51:16We have never heard of such a journey.
51:36The next day, one of the largest whalers, the southern sky,
51:40was immediately put at our disposal.
51:42For three days, we steamed south.
51:50But our ancient enemy, the pack, was waiting for us.
51:54Our ship was steel-built and could not enter ice
51:57of even moderate thickness.
52:00All our efforts to dodge or push through it were in vain.
52:05After all that we had come through,
52:08to be stopped at this stage was almost unendurable.
52:20Better make for the Falklands.
52:22There's a cable station there.
52:28In desperation now, I cabled the Admiralty in London,
52:31requesting them to send discovery.
52:34No good.
52:35There seems to have been a big naval engagement
52:36in the North Sea, off Jutland.
52:38They must be preoccupied with that.
52:40Damn it, Frank! They can spare one ship!
52:45I loathe the Admiralty. I always have.
52:48I'd love to stick some of these fat admirals
52:50on Elephant Island for a couple of months.
52:52Rumors that we've lost a lot of ships, so the operator says.
52:56Well, how about this? Just to jog their consciences.
53:01You are winding my men in a shroud of red tape.
53:10It might get you court-martialed,
53:12but I doubt if it'll get you the discovery.
53:23So where next?
53:25We've tried Argentina and we've tried Uruguay.
53:28There's the mail boat leaving for Punta Arenas.
53:30I think we should ask the Chileans.
53:33They're good sailors and they know these waters as well as anyone.
54:06they're nothing for you.
54:14They're all going home.
54:15They're all going home.
54:16I'd love to put you in the street.
54:22There it is.
54:26I was so happy today.
54:28Up at the lookout. He'll come soon enough when he smells hoosh.
54:31Anyone seen the encyclopedia?
54:34Blackie ever.
54:36Oh come on Blackie, hand it over. You must know the bloody thing by heart.
54:42Frank Frank! There's a ship! There's a ship out here!
54:45Any more of your sick jokes, Paddy? I'll personally bring you with a pickaxe.
54:51There's a ship out there.
55:02There's a ship out there.
55:17Christ, she's gone right past. Quick, get the petrol!
55:45Come on!
55:47Highline! Coming!
56:02Come on!
56:18Who's seen us?
56:20They're coming in!
56:34Hey, old lad, a grandstand seat for you.
56:47Open!
56:47Hooray!
56:50Uppet!
56:51Hooray!
56:52Uppet!
56:54Hooray!
56:59Hooray!
57:01Ah, you all!
57:02All Roscoe.
57:04immer returning for the risks.
57:07Hooray!
57:09Hooray!
57:12Hooray!
57:13Hooray!
57:15Hooray!
57:17All right, all right, all right.
57:51All right.
58:19All right.
58:47All right.
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