'Around The World in 80 Days' To Debut On Masterpiece In January
When Masterpiece announced it was bringing Around The World in Eighty Days to American shores last month, it was the end to a pandemic-riddled saga of getting the David Tennant series made. Originally envisioned as a Christmas series for the BBC and European markets for 2020, filming for the project got underway just before production shut down in March 2020. The announcement was the first time the project had surfaced in months, with the promise that it would air overseas around Christmas 2021, as expected. But for Masterpiece, there was no date revealed.
The good news is that Masterpiece didn't make fans wait long to find out when the show would arrive. Nor will fans have to wait long after it finishes airing across the pond. The series will debut as part of the Winter 2022 block, with the eight-episode run beginning on Sunday, Jan. 2. Tennant stars in this new version of the story as English gentleman-turned-adventurer Phileas Fogg alongside French actor Ibrahim Koma (Mother Is Wrong) as Fogg's valet, Passepartout, and Leonie Benesch (Babylon Berlin) as journalist Abigail "Fix" Fortescue.
This debut of Around The World in Eighty Days will come one week ahead of the highly anticipated All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 premiere, which arrives the following Sunday, on Jan. 9. Since the new All Creatures season is a six-episode run (plus a Christmas episode), the two will then run as a pair for the next six weeks with Around the World at 8 p.m. ET and All Creatures following at 9 p.m. ET, with the finales on Feb. 20. It is probably a good bet that Masterpiece will announce a mystery series to round out the set, which is almost certainly following the usual 10 p.m. ET slot, making a full Sunday evening of programs.
