The Last Place on Earth 

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 | weather | antarctica | tv mini series | 

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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

Release Date:

1985 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Last Place on Earth

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

In the series, Amundsen visits Dr Frederick Cook in Leavenworth Prison shortly after the publication of Scott's journal. In reality, the meeting took place more than a decade later, in 1926, when Cook was serving a sentence for his part in an alleged oil fraud.

User Reviews

It gets no better...

This is a fabulous mini-series - a docudrama - about the South Pole expeditions of Norwegian R Amundsen and the British Robert Falcon Scott. The acting and photography are superb, an excellent period piece (although the quality of the DVD itself is a bit grainy).

Unless you've slept under a rock for 100 years, or never read a history book, you know that Amundsen reached the Pole first, and successfully returned, whereas Scott and 4 of his men perished miserably on the return trip. Why? It's all about project management. This DVD is all about properly managing a complicated project dealing with the wilds of nature. Amundsen has 'it' - Scott doesn't.

The Norwegians are highly-skilled at traveling in frozen wastelands. They are in fine physical condition, they know how to ski and handle dog-teams. Amundsen recruits a small team of specialists. He doesn't get too high or low about anything, nor does he get too close to the team--he remains aloof. He makes meticulous preparations.

The British are operated like a Navy Ship under military command: Scott gives orders and doesn't want them questioned. He has a group of favorites, but takes a colossal team of guys, mostly military, but some civilians, who find Scott pompous, arrogant and misguided. He breaks promises and plays the men against each other, while they hope to be in the final group to make the final trek. He sends the wrong guy to purchase Siberian ponies, to save a few bucks, plus he fails to include a couple of key players, including a properly-trained team to tend to the motor sledges. Since there wasn't a Walmart Auto (or Canadian Tire) in the Antarctic, you might wonder what he was thinking. But his biggest problem is the notion of man-hauling the enormous loads all the way to the Pole. you see: no one walks when they can ride. and the Eskimos always rode dog-teams. Scott had experienced some difficulties with dogs in the past, but that's no excuse.

I might direct your attention to a couple of fabulous scenes featuring Bill Nighy, who plays Meares, one of the dog-team drivers. Meares says he'd rather swim back to New Zealand than spend another season under Scott's command. He later tells Scott, in so many words, that he finds it highly unlikely that Scott will live to criticize Meares' choices. Nighy is terrific.

In case you missed it, this screenplay is based on a historical non-fiction piece created after it was discovered that many unflattering portions of Scott's diary were excised from the publication released to the public. There has been quite the resistance from many quarters to a revised viewpoint of a man considered to be a great British hero. Apparently, some recent discovery that the weather was particularly cold when Scott tried to return from the Pole is cited as startling scientific evidence that this presentation of Scott as a peevish incompetent should be set aside. well, whose decision was it to try walking there and back anyway? As Meares says (in this dramatization): 'any man who sits in the Antarctic and whines about the weather is unfit to lead'.

I'll close with a quote, not from this film, but from the 1948 'Scott of the Antarctic' with John Mills. The Scott character (Mills) tells Nansen (the elder statesman of Arctic exploration) that he is going to the South Pole with motor sledges, Siberian ponies, and dogs. Nansen replies that Scott should take dogs, dogs and more dogs.

Amundsen did - Scott didn't. Case closed.

Enjoy this excellent re-creation of events. It's insightful.