Early in 2018, I was asked to do some on-screen interviews about the Franklin expedition to be used in the promotional material for Adventure Science's expedition to King William Island - In Franklin's Footsteps.
On a chilly day in March, I met up with enthusiastic young filmmaker, Georgia, at St Andrews Mission Church in Gravesend where all the spoken material was to be filmed. As I rubbed my hands together and shivered, I reflected that Franklin's men would probably have considered it pleasantly warm.
After Gravesend we moved on to the dock at Greenhithe, from where the Erebus and Terror had departed on that fateful day in May 1845. Sir John Franklin spent his last night on English soil at the White Hart Inn which stands behind the dock and which, appropriately, has been renamed in his honour.
All in all, it was a most enjoyable and interesting experience. I have great admiration for the onerous task of the editing process, in which most of my mumbling and stumbling was excised and the few coherent sentences of mine which remained were sewn together with some beautifully scenic footage and shots of me looking wistful. Anyway, here are the three videos, I hope you like them.
Part 1: In Franklin's Footsteps
Saint Andrews Mission Church
Part 2: In Franklin's Footsteps
The dock at Greenhithe.
Part 3: In Franklin's Footsteps
Sir John Franklin pub.
