Around the world in 80 days - background information 

 Around the World in 80 Days (TV series) 
Around the World in 80 Days is a BBC television travel series first broadcast in 1989. It was presented by comedian and actor Michael Palin. The show was inspired by Jules Verne's classic novel Around the World in 80 Days. He followed Phileas Fogg's route as closely as possible. Along the way he commentated on the sights and cultures he encountered. Palin encountered several setbacks during his voyage, partly due to the fact that he travelled with a five-person camera crew. 
The programme was a critical and commercial success, winning strong ratings in the UK and selling well abroad. It was also released on video tape and later on DVD. 
Following the trip Michael Palin wrote a book about the experience. This book contains much more detail than could be present in the TV programme, and Palin's personal views are also more clearly evident. The book contains many pictures from the trip. 

Michale Palin 
Michael Edward Palin, CBE (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python* and for his travel documentaries. 
*Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC sketch comedy programme from the Monty Python comedy team, and the group’s initial claim to fame. The show was noted for its surreal plots, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags, and sketches without punchlines. 

  

Around the World in 80 Days (Novel) 
Around the World in Eighty Days (French: Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the Reform Club. 
  
The story starts in London on October 2, 1872. Phileas Fogg is a wealthy, solitary, unmarried gentleman with regular habits. The source of his wealth unknown and he lives modestly. He fires his former valet, James Forster, for bringing him shaving water two degrees too cold. He hires as a replacement Passepartout, a Frenchman of around 30 years of age. Later that day in the Reform Club, he gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph, stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. 
  
He accepts a wager for £20,000 from his fellow club members, which he will receive if he makes it around the world in 80 days. Accompanied by his manservant Passepartout, he leaves London by train at 8.45 p.m. on October 2, 1872, and thus is due back at the Reform Club at the same time 80 days later, on December 21. 

After many adventures he arrives in London just in time and wins the wager. 

  

Video 
Introduction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNR9bIuQ4RU
Egypt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezb4J0-NFMw