The Last Place on Earth (1985– )

Scott vs. Amundsen. It wasn't meant to be a race, but race it becomes, as the world awaits news of the first to reach the Pole. What follows is a tale of heroism, foolhardiness, ... See full summary »

Stars:

Martin Shaw, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Stephen Moore

Cast

Series cast summary:
Martin Shaw	...	Captain R. F. Scott (7 episodes, 1985)
Sverre Anker Ousdal	...	Roald Amundsen (7 episodes, 1985)
Stephen Moore	...	Dr. 'Bill' Wilson (7 episodes, 1985)
Ståle Bjørnhaug	...	Olav Bjaaland (6 episodes, 1985)
Tom Georgeson	...	P.O. Lashly (6 episodes, 1985)
Hugh Grant	...	Cherry-Garrard (6 episodes, 1985)
Michael Maloney	...	Lt. 'Teddy' Evans (6 episodes, 1985)
Richard Morant	...	Capt. 'Titus' Oates (6 episodes, 1985)
Sylvester McCoy	...	Lt. 'Birdie' Bowers (6 episodes, 1985)
Robin Soans	...	Surgeon Atkinson (6 episodes, 1985)
Tom Gerrard	...	P.O. Keohane (5 episodes, 1985)
Jan Hårstad	...	Helmer Hanssen (5 episodes, 1985)
Erik Hivju	...	Sverre Hassel (5 episodes, 1985)
Ivar Nørve	...	Oscar Wisting (5 episodes, 1985)
Daragh O'Malley	...	P.O. Crean (5 episodes, 1985)
Paul Rothery	...	'Silas' Wright (5 episodes, 1985)
Pat Roach	...	P.O. Evans (5 episodes, 1985)
Susan Wooldridge	...	Kathleen Bruce - Mrs. Scott (4 episodes, 1985)
Jon Eikemo	...	Adolf Lindström (4 episodes, 1985)
Bill Nighy	...	Cecil Meares (4 episodes, 1985)
Sven Nordin	...	Gran (4 episodes, 1985)
Jirí Stanislav	...	Dimitri (4 episodes, 1985)
Hans Ola Sørlie	...	Jorgen Stubberud (4 episodes, 1985)
Max von Sydow	...	Fridtjof Nansen (3 episodes, 1985)
Lawrence Douglas	...	Bernard Day (3 episodes, 1985)
Per Theodor Haugen	...	Leon Amundsen (3 episodes, 1985)
Alexander Knox	...	Sir Clements Markham (3 episodes, 1985)
Toralv Maurstad	...	Hjalmar Johansen (3 episodes, 1985)
Peter Jeffrey	...	Lord Curzon (3 episodes, 1985)
Nils Ole Oftebro	...	Lt. Nilsen (3 episodes, 1985)
Sue Robinson	...	Mrs. Ory Wilson (3 episodes, 1985)
Bjørn Skagestad	...	Kristian Prestrud (3 episodes, 1985)
Robin Summers	...	P.O. Clissold (3 episodes, 1985)
Erik Bye	...	Andreas Beck (2 episodes, 1985)
Cliff Burnett	...	Reg Skelton (2 episodes, 1985)
Brian Dennehy	...	Frederick Cook (2 episodes, 1985)
Julian Fox	...	Lt. Campbell (2 episodes, 1985)
Astrid Folstad	...	Betty (2 episodes, 1985)
Anthony Hyde	...	Dr. Simpson (2 episodes, 1985)
Terry Kingley	...	Griffith Taylor (2 episodes, 1985)
Jane Laurie	...	Hilda Evans (2 episodes, 1985)
Peter Sands	...	Lt. Pennell (2 episodes, 1985)
Nickolas Grace	...	Lord Howard De Walden (2 episodes, 1985)
Richard Todd	...	Mr. Barnes (2 episodes, 1985)
Richard Wilson	...	Scott Keltie (2 episodes, 1985)

Storyline

Scott vs. Amundsen. It wasn't meant to be a race, but race it becomes, as the world awaits news of the first to reach the Pole. What follows is a tale of heroism, foolhardiness, selflessness and self-delusion, in a land where victory must be secondary to survival.

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Plot Keywords:

amundsen | south pole | antarctica | weather | snow | 

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Taglines:

Scott and Amundsen both wanted to be first to the Pole. One of them was. The other became a hero.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Maailman äärellä

Filming Locations:

Greenland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Central Independent Television, Renegade Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

396 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song that Olav Bjaaland (Ståle Bjørnhaug) sings when the Norwegian team breaks the "farthest south" record is "Nordmannen", also called "Millom Bakkar og Berg". The lyrics are by the Norwegian poet and linguist, Ivar Aasen (1813-1896), best known for developing the "landsmaal" written language from rural Norwegian dialects. The music is by Ludvig Lindeman (1812-1887).

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Goofs

On his return from the South Pole at 'Framheim,' Amundsen learns that the credit for reaching the North Pole has been taken away from Dr Frederick Cook and given instead to Peary. In reality, Amundsen was well aware of the controversy *before* his departure for Antarctica, and to avoid any question that he had not reached the true South Pole due to faulty navigation, staked out an area of ten miles around what he believed to be the Pole itself.

User Reviews

a lesson in preparation

and teamwork and always politics.

Scott is the typical stiff upper lip brit, soldiering on in the face of adversity. The problem is the adversity comes out of the British sense of entitlement and superiority. Time and again they refuse to face the fact they don't run everything and circumstance and chance is just going to tremble in the presence of royalty wot. hip hip fap.

So Amundson has to pull a fast one to get to the Antarctic, and his approach is to make hard decisions and difficult choices, like knowing full well ahead of time the sled dogs at some point are going to be a source of food for them and the remaining dogs.

When Scott feeds the exhausted horses (which shouldn't have been there in the first place) to the men and dogs, it's viewed in far more politically correct and image palatable manner. jolly good, well on with it then. the reason the courage and determination was necessary from the British expedition is because Scott refused to accept experience based input from his subordinates. before and during the expedition.

When things go wrong, he chalks it up to bad luck or the weather or the failure of others. Amundson doesn't even have to do that because his decisions avoided the impossible situations in the first place.

watch the dramatization and decide for yourself.