Pole stars
Posted by Andy Wilman at 10:00AM on Thursday 26 July, 2007 11 Comments
It's past midnight and I'm a bit drunk and quite happy, because I think that one worked.
It's a peculiar thing about telly, but you can watch one of these shows maybe 10 or 15 times when you're putting it together, scrutinising every last section for quality of shots, pace, narrative structure, words, music, the lot.
Yet you never really get a sense of whether you've pulled it off until you're at home watching it on the box at the same time as everybody else.
Afterwards I made my usual masochistic trip to the computer and logged on to Final Gear to see what our harshest, fairest, sharpest and most loyal critics had to say. I love the spirit of that gang, and they are superb at spotting where you've made a horlicks of things, but they seemed to like this one.
If only they'd known what a bitch it was to make. We came back from the Pole with over 180 hours of rushes to condense into one hour, and after about three weeks in the edit we started to go a bit mental.
Finding your way through the material was like trying to get out of that boulder field, so we sent a long rough version to Jeremy and he was superb at acting like a pilot flying overhead, giving us a great overview of where it was going tits.
Next I had the genius idea of making two versions, a 60 minute and a 90 minute, and we ploughed on down that path until we ended up with a 75 minute version that didn't want to go either way. Bollocks.
Eventually, we ditched the 90 because it was becoming a self indulgence fest, focused on the 60 and got our mojo back.
If ever though, you needed proof of the old adage that talent is 10% inspiration and 90% hard work, it's this film. Everybody - the film crews, the director, the presenters, the researchers, the back up team, the editors, the sound engineer, sweated blood over this little sod like never before.
What made me laugh the most was an internal memo in the BBC saying that all producers must warn presenters that filming in High Definition would mean all blemishes would be more pronounced, and they may not look as good as they normally do.
I replied that our lot look rough even in the dark from ten miles away, in a fog, and anyway they went through the mill so much during that journey you're lucky their faces didn't make children cry. And I think the shattered state of their mugs sum up what made the Polar film unique amongst our body of work so far.
When we set out to do a race or a challenge we have no idea what the result will be but we usually know the terrain and the conditions, be it Verbier or Slough, and we sort of know we'll be safe and that the ring of civilisation is ever present around us.
With this film though, when the starting gun went, we didn't know if we'd go 100 yards and disappear into a hole in the ice, closely followed by all the cash the BBC had given us to make the show. And when we did get 100 yards down the road, the next 100 was a genuine mystery, and so on, for the whole journey.
Would the truck ever get out of the boulder field once it dived in? Would the ice hold up? Would the presenters hold up? Would Hammond nail Jeremy and James in the final push? In the end, as it turned out, he was miles and miles behind, but communications were either abysmal or crap, and at the time nobody knew where anybody was.
I don't think Polar is the funniest thing we've ever done - it certainly hasn't got the joie de vivre of the American road trip, but we went to another place, spiritually, with this one and I'm very proud of that fact.
I'm also proud of what Richard did, coming on like the Terminator whilst the Two Fat Ladies shovelled in another Kit Kat. And I'm immensely proud, after God knows how many episodes, to finally get Echo and the Bunnymen into a film.
I could get into these blog things. It's just like blathering on in the pub.
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11 Comments for "Pole stars"
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Flippin' fantastic! Really - I watched this with my entire family and it was amazing - from the gorgeous HD to Clarkson's ice pool diving! - Now that was a real - "let's see that again moment"!!!!!! I was engrossed from start to finish. I know critics could say it turned into one long Toyota advert but who cares - let them pay for another trip and do it again - I'll watch it over and over. Only down side if any was how sad it was to see Richard at less than his best - he was really suffering towards the end but what a brave man - I really admired the guts he showed and was gutted for him when he lost it towards the end of the film. Lastly - well done and where can I buy the DVD with all the extra footage on it?!
Just the best TV ever, can't wait to watch it again on Sunday. This is a must for a future CD or endless repeats. I think you could have made a few programmes out of it, just to see the boys dealing with the extreme conditions. Hamster is a hero with steel bollocks.
Brilliant! Ive got to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the show from start to finish. What a challenge! I would like to know this, what is the story behind the aircraft the boys discovered? Anybody know? Keep up the good work.
Excellent programme. Unfortunately I missed the first 10 minutes, but still good. Slighlty puzzled though. The display on the GPS navigation when they were at the 'pole' showed somwhat over 78 degrees North. Now, I know things have moved on a bit since I was navigating around the world using a sextant, but in my day the poles were at 90 degrees North and South. Please explain.
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Stunning. Idiotic. Hilarious. Ground breaking. Captivating. Foolish. Incredible. Think of any superlatives you can and they will all apply to this epic programme. It had everything you could possibly want in entertainment and more than other shows manage in an entire series. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe when Jezza froze a nut on to his lips. How on earth did 2 old men and a hamster manage this when Sir Rannulph lost half a hand trying it? Clarkson, Hammond, May, legends
In a single word, staggering! If you guys don't get a bafta or whatever there is for the highest achievement on the telly, the judges deserve to be sitting under Jeremy's "Bumper Dumper". Honestly, the edit is fantastic. The combined effort from each and every single person is clearly visible and astonishing. It is plain that TG has a highly motivated team. Shame about the in-car windshield facing camera, though. There could have been some brilliant moments if that was a better camera. The kite was bloody brilliant and it looked fantastic on camera. Kudos to the camera crew - they must have had the most difficult job by far, trying to cover all the events and get the best shots. 180 hours of rushes over a few days is no joke. I guess there is a lot that can be said, but I guess you guys just need to lay back and be satisfied with the thought that there's something amazing you have given the world. Thanks for letting me see it.
In the void that has been left by the short last series, the special last night was a welcome oasis to drink in the cynicism, politically incorrectness and stick a finger up at the environmentalists, that drone on at Joe Average. You genuniely get the feeling that if you were to organise a trip to the North pole with your mates, this is what it would be like, a kind of 'rough guide' for people who never want to be real explorers. James's approach to survival was class. The show can normally be measured by how many people the lads have upset and this was no exception. Top quality television.
Just wanted to pass on my congratulations to all for producing what I feel is the best 60 minutes of TV I have seen in years. It had everything - humour, drama, fantastic locations - I'm on my third viewing!
I agree the film was great - although I think 90min would have been better. My only complaint was the ending - as we never saw Richard either reach or fail to reach the Pole it felt unfinished. To be left only with the heart-broken expression on his face when told the others had won , and yet never knowing if he had made it after a far more arduous journey... I hope that you'll release a lengthened version on DVD to truly complete it.
I thought that the special was a very good one. There is so much reality in it, with Jeremy and James almost losing it in the middle of nowhere, and Richard braving the elements and moody dogs. I have to say that I had my fix of Top Gear. I was feeling a little cold turkey with its long period of absence. Good show. Great performances. A pity Richard didn't beat those other two. Keep it up, boys.
What a work of art! I was sceptical in the first 15 minutes that the team were coming across as a bunch of halfwits, with their lack of respect for the undertaking. Then the comedy moments kicked in when that bloke pushed JC in to the freezing water (I bet he'll get bought beers of that for years). The rest was poetic and heart stopping at the same time, my wifeand I were glued to the screen (and she doesn't like Top Gear) for the remainder. Well done and don't ever let the Ecomentalists stop you from doing more. Top Gear is still the single best reason for the license fee.