Shackleton (TV serial)

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Shackleton
Shackleton DVD Cover.jpg
Collector's Edition DVD cover
Genre Biography, drama
Written by Charles Sturridge
Directed by Charles Sturridge
Starring Kenneth Branagh
Theme music composer Adrian Johnston
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languagesEnglish
Norwegian
German
No. of episodes2
Production
ProducerSelwyn Roberts
CinematographyHenry Braham
EditorPeter Coulson
Running time206 minutes
Release
Original network Channel 4
Original release2 January (2002-01-02) 
3 January 2002 (2002-01-03)

Shackleton is a 2002 British television miniseries. It was written and directed by Charles Sturridge and starring Kenneth Branagh as explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. The film tells the true story of Shackleton's 1914 Antarctic expedition on the ship Endurance . The cast includes Kevin McNally, Lorcan Cranitch, Embeth Davidtz, Danny Webb, Matt Day and Phoebe Nicholls (also the director's wife) as Lady Shackleton. It was filmed in the UK, Iceland and Greenland. The film used first-hand accounts by the men on the expedition to retell the story. Shackleton biographer Roland Huntford was a production advisor.

Contents

Shackleton was first broadcast in two parts by Channel 4 in January 2002. In North America the film was first broadcast by the A&E Network in April 2002. The film was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, [1] six BAFTA Awards, [2] and a Golden Globe Award. [3]

Plot

The films tells the true story of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (Kenneth Branagh) and his 1914 Antarctic expedition on the ship Endurance . The story begins with him planning the expedition and finding sponsors, particularly Sir James Caird. Shackleton's goal is to drive dog sled teams from one side of Antarctica to the other, which would make Britain the first nation to undertake such a trans-continental journey.

Once the expedition is underway, trouble arises due to thick sea ice and low temperatures. Endurance becomes trapped and eventually crushed by pack ice. Shackleton vows to find a way to rescue the men. He undertakes an epic journey across the ice, followed by 800 miles of the Southern Ocean and then an uncharted mountain range on South Georgia Island. He finds a whaling station from which rescue parties are sent to collect his entire shipwrecked crew. The otherwise failed expedition is made famous for every crew member surviving despite insurmountable odds.

Cast

(In order of appearance)

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryNomineeResult
Golden Globe Awards 2002 [3] Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionNominated
Primetime Emmy Awards 2002 [1] Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a MovieHenry Braham (Part II)Won
Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Dramatic Underscore)Adrian Johnston (Part II)Won
Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a SpecialPeter Coulson (Part II)Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a MovieKenneth BranaghNominated
Outstanding MiniseriesFrancesca Barra, Delia Fine, Emilio Nunez, Selwyn RobertsNominated
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a SpecialKevin Brazier, Philip Barnes, Blair Jollands, Wayne BrooksNominated
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic SpecialCharles SturridgeNominated
BAFTA Awards 2003 [2] Best Drama SerialSelwyn Roberts, Charles SturridgeWon
Best Costume DesignShirley RussellWon
Best ActorKenneth BranaghNominated
Best Editing (Fiction/Entertainment)Peter CoulsonNominated
Best Photography and Lighting (Fiction/Entertainment)Henry BrahamNominated
Best Production DesignMichael HowellsNominated
Cinema Audio Society Awards 2003Outstanding Sound Mixing for Television, MOW's and Mini-SeriesDave Humphries, John Rodda (Part I)Won
Producers Guild of America Awards 2003PGA Award Outstanding Producer of Long-Form TelevisionSelwyn RobertsNominated
Royal Television Society Awards 2002Best Art DirectorLynne Huitson, Matthew RobinsonWon
Best Production Design, DramaMichael HowellsNominated
Best Make Up Design, DramaJeremy WoodheadNominated
Satellite Awards 2003Golden Satellite Award for Best MiniseriesNominated

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Shackleton</span> Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer (1874–1922)

Major Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Charles B. G. Sturridge is an English director and screenwriter. He is the recipient of a BAFTA Children's Award and four BAFTA TV Awards. He has also been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.

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The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. After Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition in 1911, this crossing remained, in Shackleton's words, the "one great main object of Antarctic journeyings". Shackleton's expedition failed to accomplish this objective, but became recognized instead as an epic feat of endurance.

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<i>The Endurance: Shackletons Legendary Antarctic Expedition</i> 2000 British film

The Endurance is a 2000 documentary film directed by George Butler about Ernest Shackleton's legendary Antarctic expedition in 1914. It is based on the book of the same name. Endurance was the name of the ship of Shackleton's expedition. Butler followed it up the next year with another documentary about Shackleton's expedition titled Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure.

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Henry McNish, often referred to as Harry McNish or by the nickname Chippy, was the carpenter on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. He was responsible for much of the work that ensured the crew's survival after their ship, the Endurance, was destroyed when it became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. He modified the small boat, James Caird, that allowed Shackleton and five men to make a voyage of hundreds of miles to fetch help for the rest of the crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Macklin</span>

Alexander Hepburne Macklin was a British physician who served as one of the two surgeons on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. In 1921–1922, he joined the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition aboard the Quest. When Sir Ernest Shackleton advert came out in newspapers, the surgeon signed up as he had been on many ships as a surgeon. He was also a dog trainer on Shackleton’s expedition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vincent (sailor)</span> English sailor and Antarctic explorer (1884–1941)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Clark (zoologist)</span> Scottish marine zoologist and polar explorer (1882–1950)

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<i>Shackletons Antarctic Adventure</i> 2001 film by George Butler

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy McCarthy (sailor)</span> Royal Navy sailor (1888–1917)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas McLeod (sailor)</span> Scottish sailor (1873–1960)

Thomas Frank McLeod was a Scottish sailor who took part in three expeditions to the South Pole. Born in Glasgow to Barbara McLeod, he grew up in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. He first went to sea aged 14, and in 1910 joined the Terra Nova Expedition, led by Robert Falcon Scott as an able seaman (AS). During the expedition, Scott and other members of the sledging party died, and the Terra Nova returned to England in 1913. McLeod and the other seamen were all awarded the Polar Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Shackleton</span>

Emily Shackleton, also known as Lady Shackleton, was the wife of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and the mother of Labour Party politician Edward Shackleton. In later life, she was involved in the Girl Guides movement. Her brother was cricketer Arthur Dorman.

South is a book by Ernest Shackleton describing the second expedition to Antarctica led by him, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 to 1917. It was published in London by William Heinemann in 1919.

References

  1. 1 2 "Primetime Emmy Awards". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 2002. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 "BAFTA Awards". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2003. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Golden Globe Awards". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 2003. Retrieved 27 February 2014.