Their sleeping bags are made of reindeer hide and lined with eiderdown. (It is too dark to see anyway.) Their state-of-the-art polar footwear comprises puttees wound around the trouser-leg and fur-soled Norwegian boots called finnesko, lined with felt and insulated with a Norwegian hay called saennegrass.
Cherry-who is so nearsighted that he was almost refused entry to the Expedition’s ranks-cannot wear his glasses because the freezing metal burns his face. The harnesses are canvas their underclothes are wool. Body-heat is insufficient to keep moisture liquid-“it passed just away from our flesh and became ice.” It takes hours to harness each man to the sledge because the straps freeze into sculptural shapes before they can settle them square on their shoulders. In a climate known as “the polar desert,” their own breath and sweat become primary enemies.
If you get the chance, I thoroughly recommend you watch this brilliant piece of drama.On every one of its 600 pages, The Worst Journey in the World describes weather conditions that are ludicrously inhospitable. It made me stare and sit on the edge of my seat, it sent shivers down my spine and made me cringe (there are a few gruesome parts) because of the reality it portrayed so phenomenally. Before I watched it, I knew hardly anything of these characters, but I have learnt a lot as well as enjoying a good period drama.
The realism described and acted is superb. Every detail added up and it made me feel as if I was there with them. As acting goes, the talents of Mark Gatiss and Lee Ingleby never cease to amaze me, and was originally the reason I watched it.
It even made me cry, and that hardly ever happens! Even though the budget was probably not very high, the special effects and creative shots were perfect. It was amazing to watch, and beautifully written. I've just seen this on BBC Four, and I never realised how a program sixty minutes featuring three men travelling to the south pole would be so fantastically fascinating.
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