Classic Stories: Around the World in Eighty Days
05:36 Share

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

At Arizona State University, we're bringing world-class education from our globally acclaimed faculty to you. Ranked number one in innovation for 10 consecutive years and number two among public universities for employability. ASU isn't just ahead of the curve. It's creating new paths to success. Earn your degree from the nation's most innovative university. Online, that's a degree better. Explore more than 300 undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs at asuonline.asu.edu.

So

So come and live the diamond life. Desert Diamond Casino. An enterprise of the Thornhill Art Nation. Hello, I'm Tim. Today's story takes place in an age of adventure, when people travelled by boat, train and plane to the furthest corners of the earth. We begin in London with Phileas Fogg, a rich man who's around 40 without close friends or relatives.

He spends most of his time with his servant, Jean Passepartout, lounging around his beloved reform club. One evening at the club, Fogg joins a conversation about the theft of £55,000 from the Bank of England. The discussion revolves around the thief's escape, and Fogg remarks that travelling abroad has become much easier.

Very soon he has bet half his fortune that he can travel around the world in 80 days, returning to the Reform Club by 8.45 on the evening of December 21st. Around two hours later, Fogg and Passepartout are on a train to Paris, bound for a boat that will take them to Egypt.

Meanwhile, a policeman, Detective Fix, is running around looking for the Bank of England robber. Fix suspects Phileas Fogg and travels to Egypt to intercept him. Without beating around the bush, Fix accuses Fogg of the crime, but, unluckily for the detective, an arrest warrant has not arrived from Police Headquarters, Scotland Yard, in London.

Begrudgingly, Fix allows the pair to continue, the first, but not the last, time that Fogg runs rings around the detective. Not wishing to hang around, our travellers depart on the next boat to India. But when Passepartout gets into trouble after fooling around in a temple, the pair hasten to their next stop, Calcutta, by the only means available, riding an elephant.

Along the way, they meet Aouda, a young widow who's being bossed around by her in-laws. Fogg rescues Aouda, and they escape just in time to board a boat to Hong Kong, where the widow has relatives who will help her. Is Detective Fix on the boat? You bet he is. He's still waiting for a warrant, and Hong Kong is his last chance to arrest bank robber Fogg.

In Hong Kong, Fix asks around about an unusual Englishman travelling with a servant, but the locals give him the runaround. Fog pass partout and Aouda slip away on a small boat to China.

Arriving in Shanghai, there's no time for them to look around. The clock is ticking and our adventurers rush on to San Francisco, sled over the frozen grasslands towards New York and arrive at the Chicago seaboard only to see their Liverpool-bound ship sailing away. Convincing a steamboat captain to change his destination...

Fogg finally docks in Ireland and arrives by ferry in Liverpool before midday on December 21st, the last of the 80 days. Who is waiting for him? You guessed it. Detective Fix, of course, who arrests Fogg as the Bank of England robber. MUSIC

When the detective telephones his bosses at Scotland Yard, they tell him, can you believe it, that the real thief was arrested three days previously. Fogg and the others are free to go. But rushing to the station, they find the express train to London has been delayed and arrive back home at 8.50, just five minutes after the deadline. Phileas Fogg has lost his bet.

Feeling miserable, our three adventurers spend the following day at home. The mood is lightened when Fogg proposes to Aouda, and Passepartout sets out to arrange the wedding for the following day, a Monday.

He returns with some amazing news. Because of the hours gained travelling around the world's time zones, it's not Sunday at all. But Saturday the 21st of December, the 80 days are not over. In a dramatic turnaround, Fogg arrives at the Reform Club with seconds to spare and wins his bet.

The prize money means little to him when he reflects on his epic voyage, leading him to meet the woman who has made him the happiest man in the world.

With so many options, why choose Arizona State University? For me, the only online option was ASU because of the quality. Their faculty was really involved with their students and care about your personal journey. The dedication to my personal development from my professors, that's been extremely valuable to me. Earn your degree from the nation's most innovative university.

That's a degree better. Explore more than 300 undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs at asuonline.asu.edu.