Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin Season 1 Episode 4
In Mumbai, Palin finds himself a week behind Phileas Fogg. He is able to find a train from there to Chennai in the south. Before leaving Mumbai, he runs into an astrologist who, after giving him a chart for a baby to be born to one of his referees, tells him he will complete the journey on time. He finds himself in trouble, however, trying to get a connecting boat to Singapore. Eventually, an “…Anglo-German-Indo-Yugoslav agreement the UN would have been proud of” was reached and Palin was on his way, albeit eleven days behind. This agreement meant that only Palin and the cameraman Nigel could travel aboard the ship, meaning that Palin had to take a “crash course in sound testing” so they could film aboard the ship.
One of the train stops on his way from Mumbai to Chennai is Poona, where Palin talks about his father winning two rowing cups there in the 1920s.
Episode Title: A Close Shave
Air Date: 1989-11-01
