The Polar Sea

2014 - 2014

The New Everest

1st December 2014

Episode 1

"The Polar Sea" begins in Reykjavik, Iceland with Richard Tegner, an ordinary Swedish man embarking on an extraordinary expedition to cross the Northwest Passage with his friends.

Sailing Ice

2nd December 2014

Episode 2

It is late July and the Northwest Passage is still choked with ice. In the small village of Ilulissat, Greenland, a motley collection of Arctic voyagers assembles to prepare for their expeditions while they wait for the sea to melt.

Legends of Food

3rd December 2014

Episode 3

The explorers cross Baffin Bay to the tiny Inuit village of Pond Inlet. The new accessibility of this region has brought an unprecedented wave of tourists to Pond. For residents this is one of the many mixed blessings of climate change.

Wild Science

4th December 2014

Episode 4

We depart coastal civilization for Lancaster Sound, a wilderness teeming with whales, birds and bears which is now being swarmed by scientists racing to understand the biological effects of climate change.

Arctic Exiles

5th December 2014

Episode 5

Crossing the Northwest Passage remains an immense challenge despite the melting ice. Halfway through their journey, some explorers break down and fall back, leaving others exiled.

Surviving Civilization

8th December 2014

Episode 6

In the little coastal village of Gjoa Haven deep in the Northwest Passage, modern life - driven by Canada's ongoing efforts to dominate this territory - has led to very mixed results.

Arctic Crossroads

9th December 2014

Episode 7

Late August finds our explorers at the halfway point of the Northwest Passage in Cambridge Bay, racing against the return of winter. Undiscovered until the 20th century, this is an ancient crossing place where surreal contrasts abound.

Melting Land

10th December 2014

Episode 8

Richard Tegner has hitched a new and luxurious ride and is sailing west along a melting coast. Climate change is turning the Arctic green and the consequences are as complex as they are frightening.

Striking Oil

11th December 2014

Episode 9

Entering Alaska, USA, the Northwest Passage transforms from wild terrain into an industrial corridor lined with oil rigs. As ice melts, newly revealed oil and minerals create a bitter divide between petrol politics and reality.

A Passage to the Future

12th December 2014

Episode 10

Two months after they began their journey, our explorers finally exit the Bering Strait and complete the Northwest Passage, but not before passing one last astonishing impact of climate change: an entire community sinking into the sea.

Top Cast

The Polar Sea is a 10 part television series that follows an incredible amateur expedition through the fabled Northwest Passage during a summer of revolutionary change in the Arctic.

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Gordon Pinsent

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