- Title: The Search For The Northwest Passage
- Date: 24th March 2015
- Summary: The conquest of the world's last great geographical barrier took place only 100 years ago. In this 2 hour series the extraordinary story of human bravery and failure, combined with the inventiveness and daring of the men who finally discovered the Northwest Passage, will be told.
- Description:Deep within the Arctic Circle lies the most dangerous place on earth to sail a ship. A maze of islands and drifting ice where channels open without warning and close again just as fast. This ice stretches for 1,000 miles across the Canadian Arctic and finding a route across it - the fabled Northwest Passage - has been the holy grail of exploration for more than 400 years. Of the hundreds of attempts, two are legends in themselves. The first, led by Sir John Franklin, was the climax of Victorian Britain's passion for conquest, as arrogant and heroic as any expedition in history. The second, led by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, was a penniless venture in a tiny second-hand fishing boat, but so revolutionary it tore up the rulebook of exploration. Both men would pay a devastating price in their battle with the ice maze. Northwest Passage relives Franklin and Amundsen's respective missions, piecing together recently discovered clues to reveal the story of the mysterious disappearance of Franklin's two ships and 129 crew, and using the testimony of scientists, historians and explorers to create a dramatic reconstruction and engrossing account of the two contrasting adventures.
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:INDEPENDENT TELEVISION NEWS LTD
- Programme Episode:1
- Transmission Date:24/03/2015
- Decade: 2010s