
S01E01 The Challenge
Palin accepts the offer from the BBC to attempt going around the world in 80 days. After boarding the Orient Express at Victoria Station in London, he reminisces on his rigorous preparations for this extraordinary...
In Shanghai, he gets some herbal remedies to help him on the rest of his trip. He and Basil take in a Chinese jazz band. After parting with Basil the next day, he takes a ferry to Japan, where he rides the world-famous shinkansen train. Meeting up with David Powers, a fellow Brit, he is taken to a sushi bar and then a karaoke bar, where he does a duet singing You Are My Sunshine. After spending the night in a capsule hotel, he is off on to the Pacific Ocean for eleven days, one of which includes crossing the International Date Line.
Michael Palin attempts to copy the exploits of fictional character Phileas Fogg, by trying to travel around the world (without flying) in 80 days.