As the first episode of Around the World in 80 Days begins, we see a large clock. The clock turns into a picture on a plate carried by Grayson (Richard Wilson). As he moves oddly, the coffee slowly splashes out and begins covering the plate under it. As he enters the room, Phileas Fogg (David Tennant) tells him good morning and recommends getting bigger cups. Fogg picks up the postcard of the large clock and flips it over. On the back, he finds one word, coward. He is distraught and wants to know who sent it, but there is no evidence confirming the sender’s identity. Then, we see Abigail “Fix” Fortescue (Leonie Benesch) outside The Daily Telegraph’s dispatch office. She talks to a man about being late before revealing it is her first credit so she is nervous. She receives a newspaper seconds later. Then, we’re introduced to Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) who heads to work.

He goes downstairs and talks to his girlfriend who is working there as well. Passepartout sweet talks Edith (Masali Baduza) while another worker watches in the distance. He says he envies the man who falls in love with her and marries her. She believes he is the man, but he argues against it. The boss interrupts and tells Passepartout to get back to work. Phileas Fogg joins Bernard Fortescue (Jason Watkins) and Nyle Bellamy (Peter Sullivan) and claims everything is fine when they ask him. Nyle reads a newspaper story about a railroading opening and the claim that one can circumvent the world in 80 days. While Nyle calls it nonsense, Fogg suggests it would be possible if a man was well organized. He tells them about the balloon contraption he was reading about last night as Passepartout arrives with drinks. When Fogg mentions the inventor is French, Nyle says he can’t imagine going up in a balloon created by a Frenchman.

Passepartout doesn’t like the comment so he accidentally drops sugar in Nyle’s lap. While Passepartout works to clean up the mess, Bernard and the others begin ordering dishes. Passe leaves with their orders while Phileas talks about the time he planned a similar excursion. He is confident he could’ve made it in 80 days. Nyle continues belittling Fogg including mentioning the time he cried when he was told not to wear a vest in August. Abigail storms into the member’s only dining room despite the rule that women are not allowed. She complains about the article because it doesn’t have her name on it. She reminds him it is 1872 so readers should be fine with a woman writing the article. Her father makes her leave in a hurry but promises to meet with her at this office later. As she leaves, Bernard apologizes for the disturbance. Passepartout catches up with her to encourage her to stay out because it is a place where people come to die.

After the intro, Passepartout continues working downstairs. Upstairs, Fogg tells Bernard that his daughter wrote a fascinating piece. He is adamant that someone is going to do it although Nyle is sure it won’t be him. As Passe brings their dishes, Fogg continues thinking about the trip and the postcard he received earlier that morning. He blurts out that he is going to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days or less. Most of the men begin laughing at him believing he will never do it. He decides to get started today and makes a 20,000-pound bet with Nyle that he’ll be back no later than one on Christmas Eve. Passe goes downstairs where he finds Edith crying so he tries to comfort her. A big coworker tells him to get away from her. They end up getting into a fight and the big man is knocked to the ground. When he gets up, he notices something stuck in the palm of his hand which is bleeding. He faints so Passe knows he has to run for it.

Bernard approaches Fogg to warn him he cannot go alone, but Fogg says Grayson will be coming with him. He reminds Phileas that Grayson hasn’t left the house in 20 years so that isn’t going to be a good idea. Fogg calls over the bellboy and gives him instructions before leaving. As he walks away from the building, Nyle yells at him something about the best man winning. Passepartout catches up with him as he unlocks his door and says he was sent by the agency to be his new valet. In a flashback, we see the fight again, Passe runs up the stairs, and learns about Fogg wanting the agency’s best man. He takes the note from the bellboy containing Fogg’s address and follows him there. He tells him about his plan to go around the world in 80 days before Passe tells him about some of the languages he can speak.

Phileas wonders if they’ve met since he served them as breakfast, but Fogg never remembers that. He tells his new valet to go pack his bags and that Grayson will show him what he needs. He stashes a handful of postcards with similar pictures in his bag and sticks a flask he was likely given as a gift in his pocket. Bernard complains to his daughter about Fogg’s foolish expedition while she writes the contract for her new column which follows her around the world. He isn’t eager to send his daughter on the trip, but she believes she needs it to become a proper writer. He says expenses only before signing the contract. She wants her name on the article. They agree to the terms, hug, and she eventually leaves. She grabs a picture first. Grayson offers to come with Fogg who tells him to stay and make sure the household runs like clockwork. Once Passepartout flags down a carriage, he learns they’re going to France to get on another train. He seems worried about going there.

Abigail catches up with them on the boat as Fogg throws up over the railing. She explains she wants to cover his progress for The Daily Telegraph, but Phileas doesn’t want that. Once he walks off, Passe tells her he believes they would’ve enjoyed her company. She recognizes him as the waiter so he quickly excuses himself. Fogg drops his hat and loses it in the water. Later that night, Passe joins Fix who is busy reading a book about Paris. He doesn’t think she can learn much about the city from reading a book. Fogg looks through the postcards of landmarks while Fix asks if Passe believes he’ll make it around the world in 80 days. He laughs because he doesn’t think Fogg will make it and that is why he doesn’t want a journalist following him. Abigail hopes Fogg will prove him wrong. When she denies having anything to drink, Passepartout decides to call it a night. On Day 2, they reach Paris where they are met by protests and closed railways. While Passe goes for a cab, Fogg stumbles around apologizing to people who run into him.

When a man knocks Fix down, Passepartout notices the papers on the ground and Fix calls the stranger a rude man. It seems Passe and the strange may know each other. He encourages Abigail to come with them although he knows Phileas isn’t going to like this. Passepartout makes sure Fogg reaches the carriage with his belongings. Inside, Phileas isn’t happy to see Fix, but she is going to follow them regardless. Passe tells them the locals are protesting available President Adolphe Thiers. Passe decides to get out after promising to meet with them later since this is going to take some time. Before he goes, he tells Fix that there will only be room for two people in the carriage. Fogg complains when his valet leaves. Abigail asks what he knows about the valet, but Fogg isn’t going to answer her questions. He hits the roof in hopes of getting the carriage to move. It doesn’t until Abigail hits it.

She decides to get out because she wants to know who she is going around the world with. Fogg screams at her that she is going back to London and not around the world. As the carriage takes Fogg God knows where, Abigail follows Passepartout. She follows him to the spot where his father’s life was ended by the government of France because he was strong and brave. He goes on to say his father believed in a better world. His brother Gerard (Loic Djani) arrives and says they were indeed very proud of their father. As two others approach them, Fogg’s carriage stops and he hears “down with Thiers” being shouted repeatedly. As they pull the carriage’s door open, Phileas screams that this has nothing to do with him. The protestors begin taking his belongings.

He is pulled out of the carriage with two bags as he screams that he is English. A group of kids chases after him. Gerard talks to his brother about returning after ten years and admits he knew he’d come back. It is an important day for them. Fix notices the other man as the one who ran into her earlier. Passepartout and Fix tell them they’re not married before he tells his brother where he has been. Now, Passe is a manservant and Fix describes him as a bad one. Gerard says he has continued their father’s work by creating the Commune he wanted. Passepartout asks if Fix can leave since she won’t be interested in all that, but Fix says otherwise and would like to decide for herself. Since she is a journalist, Gerard offers to give her the story of a lifetime. Meanwhile, Fogg is shown running around like a chicken with his head cut off. The kids corner him and scour through his belongings. They throw his cards and other stuff around.

He tries to retrieve these items while Gerard leaves Passepartout and the others to an old building. Passe asks Fix to leave, but he isn’t interested. Fix wants to know what he meant about this being an important day for them. Gerard says the Government tried to destroy their commune a year ago by turning their canons on them. Abigail wonders if they’re going on a protest march although it seems to be something bigger than that. Fogg is belittled in the street until the nuns arrive and tell the kids to give his stuff back. One nun asks him to forgive them and blames their behavior on their empty bellies. She believes he is a stranger to poverty and quickly asks for a donation. He gives her money and more. Once the nuns leave, a little girl comes up, apologizes, and gives him a picture back. It belongs to Abigail and happens to be the one she took from her father’s office. Fogg apologizes to Bernard and promises to bring his daughter home at once.

Gerard takes the others to a building where they can see the new Gendarmerie. He explains the President will be there soon and shows them a gun. Gerard and his friends intend to assassinate the President of France. Gerard begins telling Fix what his dad said to him before he was killed, but she doesn’t care and suggests abandoning the idea. Passepartout promises his father and Gerard believes he let him down now. Passe says he was young and just wanted to get away from these politics. He admits he was a bad brother and apologizes to Gerard for it. Gerard apologizes as well and says they’ll die together. Meanwhile, Phileas shows Fix’s picture to the locals in hopes of finding her. Passepartout tells Abigail that they’ll storm the building and kill everyone if his brother happens to kill the President. When she suggests Fogg will rescue them, Passepartout calls him a fool who can’t run his own bath.

He goes on to say Fogg is likely on his way back home. Abigail listens as Passe says nobody is going to rescue them. Fogg continues his search outside. He asks for a policeman before a woman points him in the right direction. Abigail wants Passe to tell her father she loves him and he shouldn’t feel guilty if he gets out of this and she doesn’t. She offers to do the same for him, but it doesn’t seem he has anyone to care for him. Gerard mentions the same since he doesn’t have a wife, children, beliefs, or country. He tells his brother nobody would care if he lived or died. Fix whispers to him that she would care a little bit. Once the President arrives outside, Gerard grabs the rifle and points it out the window. Passepartout desperately tries to talk his brother out of shooting the President, but he can’t before the other man forces him to move. Fogg arrives outside and asks to talk to the Chief of Police who is inside with the President.

As President Thiers (Alain Guillo) steps outside, Fogg begins yelling at him about looking for a woman. Theirs says they all are. Abigail screams for him so he steps out from behind protection and takes the bullet instead of the President. Just before he is shot, he says he is going to London. The guards begin shooting at the building nearby. They soon storm the building as Passepartout and Abigail take cover. Once Gerard’s friend is shot, he turns to his brother and tells him to go. Gerard refuses his brother’s pleas to come with them. Instead, he steps in front of the window and yells freedom. He does a jig as he is filled with bullets. Outside, Fogg wakes up and learns that the flask in his pocket stopped the bullet saving his life. His attitude has changed completely and he immediately begins searching for Abigail. He catches up with them before asking Passepartout to take him to a certain place.

He leads them through the nearby building and down into a dark sewer. They continue running from the guards that keep shooting at them. They eventually make it to the building in question. They’re confronted by Monsieur Lome (Andre Penvern) who invented the air balloon in front of them. Passe says he isn’t going up in that and Lome says nobody is going up in the balloon. He explains he doesn’t want to sell it before Fogg learns it is named Marie Rose after Lome’s wife. They had dreams of flying together like birds or angels. However, she died before he could complete the balloon. The guards arrive outside of the gate so Fogg pleads with Lome to let them take the machine. Phileas says she should fly and nobody knows more about lost opportunity than him. Lome relents and gives them permission to take the balloon. When the guards open the gate and storm inside, they only see the balloon above them. Later, Phileas tells them they’re going to Italy and don’t have a second to lose.

He has changed his mind about Fix and offers to let her record their journey. Fogg has a little alcohol left in the flask so he lets them have the last sips. Passepartout reads the words on it and says whoever gave it to him saved his life. They stand up and look at the sunset in the distance. Phileas says they’re going around the world in 80 days.

 

Around The World In 80 Days Review

I was really looking forward to Around the World in 80 Days and hoping for something to finally fulfill my hunger for quality television. It has been a long time since I’ve watched anything spectacular and I am afraid it is going to take a bit longer because Around the World in 80 Days doesn’t seem like it is going to hit the mark. The majority of reviewers have complained about the politicization and modernization of the show. Unfortunately, it does feel like the casting choices are becoming stale as they’re nearly identical from one production to the next nowadays.

There is no sense rambling on that topic since there is enough vitriol out there already. Regardless, the television show just doesn’t have the same heart and significance as the book at this point. That could easily change over the course of the upcoming episodes though. I sincerely hope it does so it’ll become a worthwhile adventure with true meaning. Another issue is the fact that they’ve decided to create caricatures of the original characters or at least Phileas Fogg.

It will be difficult to sympathize or cheer for the character now that they’ve turned him into a cowardly idiot. Tennant claims they’re showing a “different type of stuffy Englishman” and one that is “very damaged”. It simply doesn’t feel that way. The incompetency of the character oozes out of his pores every time he is shown on screen resulting in a character that has turned into a cartoon. The intended stars of the show here are obviously Passepartout and Abigail Fortescue as both were confident, brave, and received far more screen time.

The issue is that these two characters weren’t particularly well done or interesting. They’re carbon copies from so many television shows and movies in the past few years meaning we’ve seen it all before countless times. I am genuinely hopeful this gets better as it goes on and it easily could. The story is still there with a few tweaks and some of the scenes are stunningly gorgeous. The opening episode was a bit bland with the writers expecting us to immediately have empathy for any of the characters. Some scenes were too dark and many won’t be able to understand some of the actors as they begin mumbling their lines midway through the episode. I had to go back several times as a result. Subtitles would be helpful.

It scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Around the World in 80 Days will be available on Reel Mockery here.