0:00:08 > 0:00:14In the spring of 1892, a charismatic Norwegian explorer called Fridtjof Nansen
0:00:14 > 0:00:19announced a daring plan to venture into all this.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24The Arctic, unmapped and unconquered.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29At the top of the world,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32the ultimate goal - the North Pole.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Few had even entered these icy wastes.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Fewer still had returned.
0:00:39 > 0:00:45Nansen's dream to conquer the Pole was thought nothing short of suicidal.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53But Fridtjof Nansen ignored his critics
0:00:53 > 0:00:58and embarked on the most extraordinary voyage in history.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02It would be an expedition of spectacular discoveries
0:01:02 > 0:01:07that would launch polar exploration into the modern era.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13But at the cost of extreme suffering and mental torture
0:01:13 > 0:01:16in the most hostile place on Earth.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Little more than 100 years ago,
0:01:43 > 0:01:48this 16 million square kilometres of frozen sea was the last unknown on Earth.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59A dangerous fascination for that ominous blank on their maps
0:01:59 > 0:02:05had enticed a few daring explorers to venture into the barren ice.
0:02:08 > 0:02:09But up to now,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14all the attempts to penetrate the Arctic had resulted in either death
0:02:14 > 0:02:17or ships being destroyed in the crushing polar pack.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Despite this, on 24th June 1893,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Nansen set sail from Oslo - a man obsessed.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36He was determined to fulfil the dream that fired his imagination -
0:02:36 > 0:02:40to reach the North Pole and claim it for his country.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50He bade farewell to his beloved new wife Eva
0:02:50 > 0:02:53and their infant daughter Liv.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58He promised he would return from his Arctic odyssey a hero.
0:03:00 > 0:03:06The expedition would keep them apart for at least three years, possibly eight,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08but most thought forever.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I thought everything was black.
0:03:12 > 0:03:18Within me, I was torn apart as if something would break.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21But nothing could deter his ambition.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38So with a raggedy bunch of sailors, whalers and sealers
0:03:38 > 0:03:43prepared to risk their lives with him, Nansen embarked on his epic voyage.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55At 31, Nansen was an eminent zoologist,
0:03:55 > 0:04:01a pioneering neurologist, as well as an ambitious explorer.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05He had just made an epic crossing through the icy heart of Greenland.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Now, with his outrageous attempt to conquer the Pole,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11he was risking everything.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Nansen was convinced he could achieve the impossible, and he had a plan.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20A plan that was bold and brave,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24but most people thought plain barmy.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Ironically, Nansen's theory on reaching the North Pole
0:04:28 > 0:04:33was inspired by a tragic shipwreck and the loss of 18 men.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37In 1879, the US Arctic exploration ship Jeannette
0:04:37 > 0:04:40had made a bid for the Pole,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43but the ship was crushed by the freezing ice cap
0:04:43 > 0:04:46and trapped in the north-eastern Arctic.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51When the wreckage was found over two years later,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55it was on the opposite side of the polar ice - in the west.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00Nansen's theory was that the wreck had been carried the 4,000 kilometres
0:05:00 > 0:05:04by the drift of the floating ice cap.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06His audacious adventure was born.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14My plan for the North Pole is to sail in ice-free water as far as possible.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Then go into the ice until we are beset and frozen in,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21then drift towards the Pole.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Nansen, as he had done for much of his life, was turning a reigning concept
0:05:29 > 0:05:36completely on its head, and he was about to intentionally confront the polar explorer's worst nightmare.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41He was going to freeze the Fram in to the polar pack -
0:05:41 > 0:05:45the same ice that wrecked the Jeannette and many ships before her.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49At best, it was considered a ludicrous idea, as this little ditty in The Punch shows.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54"So, Doctor Fridtjof Nansen's off.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56"Cynics will chuckle and pessimists scoff.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59"What a noodle, that Norroway chap,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02"to drift to the Pole to complete our map."
0:06:03 > 0:06:07Even in Norway, scorn was poured over Nansen's idea
0:06:07 > 0:06:10of deliberately freezing into the ice cap.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15Few academics would sign up for what most thought was a doomed expedition.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18One able and willing candidate DID apply.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22A fellow explorer called Frederick George Jackson.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25But he had to be very politely turned down cos he was English,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28and as far as Nansen was concerned,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30this expedition was for the honour of his homeland.
0:06:30 > 0:06:37For Norwegians to claim for Norway the last great unexplored region in the world.
0:06:54 > 0:07:00To start with, everything depended on getting to the northeast side of the polar ice pack.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05But after six weeks at sea, they were desperately struggling to make headway.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09It was as if the ship was being held back by a kind of strange force.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Nansen was baffled.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20Back then, there were no instruments for sampling underwater.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24So, in the workshop on board ship, Nansen designed and built his own.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28And the very one he made survives to this day.
0:07:28 > 0:07:34Can you believe it? Who better to tell us how it works than Ola, from the Nansen Institute in Bergen.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36So, come on then, mate, how does it work?
0:07:36 > 0:07:38OK, this is a device
0:07:38 > 0:07:41which you can bring up water from great depths.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46You send a messenger down the cable, and the messenger hits like that...
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and it turns round. And you see?
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Now it's closed, and all the water from, say, 3,000 metres sits in here.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56- Can we use it?- Yes, absolutely.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Come on then, what are we doing?
0:07:58 > 0:08:00First we have to screw these up here.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Bit of slack. Ah, yeah.
0:08:05 > 0:08:11Now we're going to put the messenger, so it turns to pick the water up, OK?
0:08:13 > 0:08:15That's blooming clever!
0:08:15 > 0:08:19OK, Paul, give me the bottle because now I open it up...
0:08:19 > 0:08:21We'll do this again.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24- No water in there. - Yes, here it comes, you see?
0:08:24 > 0:08:28With this sample, you can determine the salinity of the water,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32and Nansen discovered that it was a very fresh layer,
0:08:32 > 0:08:38really fresh layer, for example caused by ice melting, fresh layer on top of the salt water.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41- The water is so fresh that you can even drink it.- Wow!
0:08:43 > 0:08:48'Fresh water was not something anyone expected in the middle of the Russian Kara Sea.'
0:08:51 > 0:08:57Nansen realised it was the outflows from the Siberian rivers and the melting glaciers they were passing.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02This layer of fresh water sitting on salt water was causing
0:09:02 > 0:09:08a kind of extra underwater wake, gripping the ship while she tried to make headway.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12The strange layers that Nansen discovered are now known as dead water,
0:09:12 > 0:09:17and they're marked on the charts up here, so we can avoid them.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22With his new found knowledge, Nansen steered a course away from the river run-offs
0:09:22 > 0:09:26to the northeast - but into more trouble.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Already delayed by the dead water,
0:09:34 > 0:09:39Nansen needed to push further north before being frozen in.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44But the winter ice was forming a month early.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48The sea was freezing around him...
0:09:48 > 0:09:49too soon.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Finally, on 22nd September 1893,
0:10:07 > 0:10:13Nansen crossed the 78th parallel of latitude, into uncharted territory.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Now we are entering the absolutely unknown.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Here, all charts stop,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24and now our real voyage of discovery begins.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31They were now in the mysterious polar realm, with no support,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35no communication and no means of rescue.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Nansen and his men were off the map.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39It was time to party.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Nansen joined everyone round the table in the saloon, and drank hot punch.
0:10:56 > 0:11:02This proved what the moment meant, as under his regime, alcohol was a rarity.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05Navigator Scott Hansen summed it up.
0:11:07 > 0:11:13A party that begins at 4am in the morning at the northernmost tip of the known world
0:11:13 > 0:11:16belongs to the rarer events of a man's life,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and must be absolutely classed as a success.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22- Skal.- Skal!
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Nansen had navigated the ship through the closing ice floes
0:11:38 > 0:11:42as far north as he could go.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45They were now at the mercy of the polar pack ice.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54When the Arctic Ocean freezes in winter, the sea ice can get to be almost 50 metres thick.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58This groaning mass has a potential crushing pressure
0:11:58 > 0:12:01of 500 kilograms per square centimetre.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07Now the entire bid for the Pole depended on this small ship
0:12:07 > 0:12:11surviving the huge pressure of the closing ice.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15For Nansen, it was the moment of truth.
0:12:15 > 0:12:21His tiny wooden vessel and his dreams would be tested to their limits.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30Nansen called his eccentric creation Fram, meaning forward,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33and she was truly a ship like no other.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37His wild idea was that the unusual curved sides and rounded bilges
0:12:37 > 0:12:40would stop the ice from getting a grip on her.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44And his theory was that being egg-shaped, she would slowly rise up
0:12:44 > 0:12:47under the crushing pressure of the freezing ice,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50and end up sitting on top of the frozen sea.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Nansen wasn't an engineer, but he'd done his research,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00and he had a good innate feel for design - stuff that works -
0:13:00 > 0:13:04and on his side he had Norway's best ship designer.
0:13:04 > 0:13:10Together, they hoped to create a ship that would rise up above the incoming pressure of the ice.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12A bit like this.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16As the ice comes in, it's a huge amount of pressure,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21and unless it's right, the ship's going to break under that pressure, and sink.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24And in this case, this is what they hoped to do.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Well, Nansen's theory was all well and good,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31but there was no way it could be tested on a full-sized ship,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34except out in the unforgiving Arctic ice.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42As the ice pushed in against the hull,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46the Fram was facing her greatest test.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53For Nansen and his crew, there was little they could do but...wait.
0:13:53 > 0:13:59And Fram's timbers moaned and creaked as the pressure on them grew.
0:13:59 > 0:14:06Now we are in the very midst of what the prophets would have had us dread so much.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11The ice is pressing and packing around us with a noise like thunder.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26It took the whole of October for the sea to completely freeze around the ship.
0:14:26 > 0:14:32And by the 25th, when the sun dipped below the horizon for the last time,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36the wretched sound of the timbers creaking became just too much.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Terrified, the men abandoned ship.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47From the surrounding ice floe, they stood and watched.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50The ship trembles and jumps up.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54She allowed the ice to move beneath her, and lifted a little.
0:14:59 > 0:15:06There's no movie footage of Nansen's bid for the Pole, but it was documented with still photographs.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09These extraordinary images capture the moment
0:15:09 > 0:15:13the ship, intact and undamaged, rose up out of the ice.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18It had worked.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23This egg-shaped hull had resisted the crushing forces, and rather than get trapped in the ice,
0:15:23 > 0:15:29the 800-tonne ship had been lifted up, and was sitting on top of the sea ice.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31And just as Nansen had promised,
0:15:31 > 0:15:36Fram was demonstrating she was the toughest wooden ship ever built.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40We're now in the front of the ship.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- Wow!- With all the... - It's absolutely massive.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48All the thick beams, and all of them are joined together
0:15:48 > 0:15:52- by knees from Norwegian pine trees.- Which bits are the knees?
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Is it all right to get up there?
0:15:54 > 0:16:01- Instead of using metal, they used the root and the stem of a tree in one piece.- So it's upside-down.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03- This is the trunk.- Exactly.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06And this is the root. It's obviously massively strong.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Yes, the strongest piece of the tree and also very flexible.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13How many of them are on board because they seem to be every couple of feet?
0:16:13 > 0:16:16They used 400 trees for the ship.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21These knees themselves look massive, but how thick is the hull here, do you think?
0:16:21 > 0:16:25On the sides it's 80cm - about this big.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Three layers of wood.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30And the front is also three massive beams,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34one in front of the others, making 1.25 metres.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38So this hull, right here,
0:16:38 > 0:16:43- is that thick.- Yeah, 80cm on the side and 125 in the front.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Every effort was made to make the hull as smooth as possible,
0:16:47 > 0:16:53so even the nails was pushed hard in, so that the ice couldn't grip the nail.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59And also, there's no keel, the keel is inside the ship with only two inches pointing out,
0:16:59 > 0:17:05so that the ice could not grip the keel if the ice was pushed under the boat, and then tip it.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11So with this extremely smooth hull, is so the ice can't get any grip all.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Even the rudder and the propeller can be pulled up when the ice came.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21But that the trade-off for that is that she would have been really lively at sea.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Exactly. You float like a cork on top of the waves,
0:17:24 > 0:17:28and all the diaries talk about massive seasickness.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32One of the crew members said that at first they were worried about dying,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and then about NOT dying soon enough.
0:17:36 > 0:17:42For all the Fram's strength and weight, she's still a small ship.
0:17:42 > 0:17:48Just 39 metres long, 11 metres wide and a five-metre draft.
0:17:48 > 0:17:54Compared to the unforgiving polar ice cap, she was just a spec of dust.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10The ship was now part of the Arctic ice.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13If Nansen's theory was correct,
0:18:13 > 0:18:18she would drift across the top of the world, over the North Pole.
0:18:22 > 0:18:28Inside, 13 men would have to endure the cold and dark...
0:18:28 > 0:18:32imprisoned in the tiny vessel for more than three years.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41The Fram was now over 2,000 kilometres from civilisation.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46She'd vanished from the world, and for those on board, the world had vanished from them.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50And the dangers now changed from being physical to mental.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55It was a very real threat.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Polar expeditions in the past had foundered
0:18:59 > 0:19:04as the isolation of the Arctic pushed men into insanity,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06mutiny, even cannibalism.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11And Nansen's crew now faced years alone in the Arctic,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14in a tiny vessel trapped in the ice.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19So he drew up a rigorous schedule to try and occupy the men.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24Scientific observations, surveying and maintenance were top of the exhaustive list.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30The working day would begin at 8am sharp, with monitoring,
0:19:30 > 0:19:36experiments and repairs filling every hour until dinner at 6pm.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39The crew were then allowed the evenings to themselves.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Nansen had also figured out, when he was crossing Greenland,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50that variety in the diet is exceptional for morale.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Up till then, monotonous diets on expeditions were legendary.
0:19:54 > 0:20:00So Nansen personally supervised the sterilising and canning or freeze-drying
0:20:00 > 0:20:05of 52 varieties of meat, fish, vegetables, potatoes,
0:20:05 > 0:20:10pates and fruit and, best of all, he brought along plenty of this -
0:20:10 > 0:20:11chocolate.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18In fact, Cadbury's sponsored the expedition.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24At every moment of importance or anything worth noting, out would come the chocolate.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37But being so far inside the Arctic Circle created an extra challenge -
0:20:37 > 0:20:44the disorientation and depression caused by five winter months of constant darkness.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Ever the innovator, Nansen installed a windmill to generate electricity,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52and used the new-fangled light bulbs to create an artificial day.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And an organ for evening renditions
0:21:01 > 0:21:05lifted the spirits during the never-ending night.
0:21:14 > 0:21:21Ironically, and despite all his precautions, it was Nansen himself who began to suffer.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24The loneliness and tedium prompted wild mood swings.
0:21:28 > 0:21:34He's an odd character - sometimes serious, scientific and aggressive in discussions.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40And then, one fine day extravagantly cheerful and pleasant, almost to the point of puerility.
0:21:44 > 0:21:50Nansen became surly, depressed, and ranted at the futility of his expedition...
0:21:51 > 0:21:54..and even, sometimes, his own life.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03Here I am, among the drifting ice floes and the great silence.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07I stare up at the eternal courses of the stars,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09thoughtful as thought.
0:22:09 > 0:22:15Everything is picked to pieces and becomes miserably small and worthless.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21As leader, Nansen was unable to confide his feelings.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25He missed the companionship of his wife Eva.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Nansen had now been away for six months,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and Eva was distracting herself by pursuing another love.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42Singing.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45SHE SINGS IN NORWEGIAN
0:22:45 > 0:22:51She would rehearse regularly with the aim of turning professional and touring in the spring.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56This was their first winter apart, and on 8th January,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Nansen missed the first birthday of their daughter, Liv.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Nansen's diary entry on that special day
0:23:08 > 0:23:12records his thoughts as they turn to his little Liv.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18A good day to you on this your day, little Liv.
0:23:18 > 0:23:24Perhaps Liv's day will be the start of our luck in our northward drift under your star.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32But Nansen's hopes would soon turn to despair.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38Star sightings to check his northward drift towards the Pole
0:23:38 > 0:23:40revealed a disaster.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46Over the last six months, the path of the Fram was erratic, to say the least.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49The ice they were stuck in was going backwards,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53sideways and occasionally - if they were lucky - north.
0:23:53 > 0:23:59Basically, they had only travelled 111 kilometres towards the North Pole.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Nansen had calculated that the prevailing wind
0:24:05 > 0:24:10and the predictable current would carry his ship directly to the Pole.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13This news was a terrible blow.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16During a routine series of underwater soundings,
0:24:16 > 0:24:21he made an extraordinary discovery that explained everything.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26At the time, it was assumed there was a shallow sea beneath the polar ice.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31But when Nansen took depth soundings, he was astonished by the results.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37The cable, lowered through a hole in the ice,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41touched the bottom at 1,860 fathoms -
0:24:41 > 0:24:44that's almost 4½ kilometres.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56In an extraordinary breakthrough, Nansen had discovered
0:24:56 > 0:25:01over 63 million cubic kilometres of previously unknown deep sea -
0:25:01 > 0:25:03a massive new ocean.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06The Arctic Ocean.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13And it was the strange currents in this deep ocean that were skewing his drift to the Pole.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19When he was here, he was noticing that, compared to the wind,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22he wasn't drifting as he expected to drift.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26That is correct. He expected to kind of drift
0:25:26 > 0:25:29with the same direction as the wind,
0:25:29 > 0:25:35but measurements show that he was drifted to the right of the wind.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38- Always to the right? - Always to the right.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Roughly with 30 degrees to the right.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45- Oh, wow, that's a lot.- It's a lot, yes, but then it also postulated
0:25:45 > 0:25:50that when you went down into the deeper part of the ocean,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54one layer dragged the other, so the current was turning...
0:25:54 > 0:25:57and then he started to think.
0:25:57 > 0:25:58What about Earth's rotation?
0:25:58 > 0:26:02And then came the idea that it must be...
0:26:02 > 0:26:08The deflection to the right must be caused by the Earth's rotation.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11And this was one of the first times
0:26:11 > 0:26:14a scientist really looked
0:26:14 > 0:26:19at the whole Earth rotation was affecting the current.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22And it seems even more unbelievable to me
0:26:22 > 0:26:26that he figured it out while he was locked into the ice, stuck on the Fram.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Well, maybe he had time to think!
0:26:35 > 0:26:37It was an amazing discovery
0:26:37 > 0:26:40that the Earth's rotation affected current,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43but it was a cruel blow for Nansen.
0:26:43 > 0:26:50He now realised the drift would not take the Fram over the North Pole, after all.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53His voyage of discovery had failed.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59If the ice ever released him, he would be returning home empty-handed.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Nansen was devastated,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06but his obsession would not die.
0:27:09 > 0:27:15On 16th November, he gathered the crew together to make a remarkable announcement.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Nansen had an extraordinary new plan...
0:27:25 > 0:27:27THEY SPEAK IN NORWEGIAN
0:27:32 > 0:27:38To leave the ship, and ski the remaining 600 kilometres to the Pole.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45His crew were horrified.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52To stand any chance of success, he proposed to travel swift and light.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58He would take only one other person -
0:27:58 > 0:28:02first mate Frederik Hjalmar Johansen.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Johansen was a world-class gymnast,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and also the fastest skier Nansen knew.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17This was Nansen's biggest gamble to date.
0:28:17 > 0:28:23It was only 30 years since the British Navy's Sir John Franklyn - along with all his 134 men -
0:28:23 > 0:28:27had perished whilst battling the brutal open Arctic.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33Nansen's new action plan was ambitious by any measure.
0:28:33 > 0:28:39With provisions for just 100 days, he calculated he could get to the North Pole and back to land.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44He'd have to face the whole unmapped polar pack,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47and temperatures often below minus-45.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Nansen used the dogs and sledges from the Fram.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58They'd been brought up in case the Fram was crushed in the ice and they'd had to abandon ship.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02But now Nansen figured the Fram was safe in her icy cradle.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07So, with the dogs in harness,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12Nansen was ready to start the most risky journey of his life -
0:29:12 > 0:29:17to conquer the top of the world, in his own unique style.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00It was now almost two years since Nansen had set sail.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05Eva was becoming a success, her reputation as a singer growing all over Europe.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12She had no idea that her beloved had now left the relative safety of the Fram
0:30:12 > 0:30:16and was risking everything in his dash for the Pole.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19At first, everything went well.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36Nansen was getting into his stride,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39thanks to a brilliant range of innovations that kept him on the move,
0:30:39 > 0:30:42and still work for us explorers today.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47It was the first time that dogs and men had worked together in the polar regions
0:30:47 > 0:30:51and, to Nansen's joy, it was a perfect match.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00In eight days away from the Fram, he had covered 105 kilometres,
0:31:00 > 0:31:06and was now averaging over 13 kilometres a day towards the Pole.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11But it was still tough going, and the physical exertion would really have taken its toll
0:31:11 > 0:31:17were it not for a small but simple device that Nansen had spotted and decided to try out.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24It was a prototype stove called the Primus,
0:31:24 > 0:31:30and Nansen immediately saw its potential to combat the dreaded Arctic thirst.
0:31:32 > 0:31:38Strenuous exercise in dry polar air causes extreme water loss.
0:31:38 > 0:31:44You can lose over four litres of liquid a day, all of which needs to be replaced.
0:31:47 > 0:31:52Eating a bit of snow for refreshment tastes great, but it's very dangerous.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54It chills the central core of your body.
0:31:54 > 0:32:00The trick is to melt the snow, and that takes a tonne of fuel.
0:32:00 > 0:32:01The Primus...
0:32:05 > 0:32:08..used pressurised fuel...
0:32:08 > 0:32:12and a clever pre-heating mechanism
0:32:12 > 0:32:15so that you burn vaporised fuel.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18It produces a really clean,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21soot-free, super-hot flame.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24In fact, I've heard that in the old days,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27these original Primus stoves were used by Scandinavian women
0:32:27 > 0:32:31in the marketplace - they put them under their dresses to keep warm!
0:32:33 > 0:32:35With the fuel-efficient Primus,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Nansen avoided the dangerous dehydration of Arctic thirst,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41so he travelled light and fast,
0:32:41 > 0:32:46melting as much snow as he needed, going twice as far on half the fuel.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51DOGS BARK
0:32:51 > 0:32:57By the third week into the trek for the Pole, Nansen was truly pushing hard.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04And his remarkable talent for invention served him well.
0:33:04 > 0:33:10He had come up with a whole new way to allow him to travel fast over the ice -
0:33:10 > 0:33:13cross-country skis.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17These are the very skis that he used?
0:33:17 > 0:33:22Yes, they are our cultural heritage.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25- It's light.- It's lovely.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28I've got skis shorter than this that are a lot heavier, even now.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32I find it really interesting that he went to do the North Pole
0:33:32 > 0:33:35with just wood - he didn't take skis, he built skis on the way.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Yes, and they had to use skis for exercising.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43They were very fat, so Nansen ordered his crew going around the ski
0:33:43 > 0:33:46to lose some weight also.
0:33:46 > 0:33:47It's not built for turning.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51I mean, there's no...no side cut at all or waist -
0:33:51 > 0:33:53it's just completely parallel.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58They are parallel, and then they are pointed at both ends.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01- Oh, I see...- Also very practical. You can see also...
0:34:01 > 0:34:04The tail is cut away, isn't it?
0:34:04 > 0:34:11Yes. So it's lighter, more elegant, and in the worse case, if one end -
0:34:11 > 0:34:16this end, for example - broke, you can just turn the ski and continue.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21And they are just incredibly designed for one single purpose -
0:34:21 > 0:34:23going in a long straight line
0:34:23 > 0:34:26using the smallest amount of energy as possible.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29He was a fantastic inventor.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Inventing a new energetic style of skiing
0:34:40 > 0:34:44brought a fresh challenge for Nansen - overheating.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48Old-style heavy-duty clothing didn't suit the demands
0:34:48 > 0:34:51of vigorous cross-country skiing,
0:34:51 > 0:34:53so Nansen had another idea -
0:34:53 > 0:34:56lightweight layers to regulate body temperature.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05Nansen's ideas were inspired by a weatherproof woollen material
0:35:05 > 0:35:08created by Dr Jaeger of Germany.
0:35:08 > 0:35:14And a ground-breaking breathable wind-proof material called Burberry cloth,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18and this was manufactured in a factory in Basingstoke, England.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22Now, this layer principle was an inspired idea by Nansen.
0:35:22 > 0:35:28It meant you could travel in the cold and across the snow and ice at the very limits of human endurance.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33These days, we use the layer principle without even thinking about it.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35But it's all thanks to Nansen.
0:35:44 > 0:35:50After one month on the ice, they were halfway to the Pole, but conditions were worsening.
0:35:52 > 0:35:58Even with all Nansen's ingenuity, the extreme environment was now punishing their bodies.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05At minus 45 degrees Celsius, skin will freeze within seconds.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Tuesday, minus 45.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14We don't sleep at all because of the cold.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17We work a lot and suffer much.
0:36:17 > 0:36:23My God, icy sleeping bags, heavy loads, but onward we must go.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25My fingers are all destroyed.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29All mittens are frozen stiff, it is becoming worse and worse.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33God alone knows what will happen to us.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36It's not pleasant to be a human being here.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38There must surely be an end to it.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46The problem were these hellish contortions in the pack ice.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49There's nothing worse for a polar traveller.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52And up here in the Arctic, the constant movement of the sea
0:36:52 > 0:36:55buckles and shatters the frozen surface
0:36:55 > 0:36:58and forces it into thousands of hummocks
0:36:58 > 0:37:00and these big pressure ridges.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Some of them can be ten metres high,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05making them completely insurmountable.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15And now the dogs were also suffering, as Nansen recorded.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19The dogs are becoming almost impossible to drive ahead,
0:37:19 > 0:37:22the more tanglements and other devilments that appear in them.
0:37:38 > 0:37:43In the growing chaos, the lead dog team fell into a crack in the sea ice
0:37:43 > 0:37:46and had to be pulled out of the water one by one.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50The sledge had gone in as well, and had to be man-hauled out.
0:37:52 > 0:37:58The mood darkened even more when they had to begin slaughtering some of the dogs to feed the others.
0:37:58 > 0:38:04And although they'd planned this, it felt like murder, and depressed them immensely.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06But on they went.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30After battling the ice for five weeks, their pace was slowing.
0:38:30 > 0:38:36The past 12 days had only achieved 75 kilometres.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40They were running out of time and supplies.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54Nansen also had a sense of unease. Something else wasn't right with their progress,
0:38:54 > 0:38:59so he stopped to take a precise star fix.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04The results came as a terrible shock.
0:39:04 > 0:39:11They showed that the last 75 tortuous kilometres hadn't got them any closer to their goal.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16Nansen was distraught, as he realised that the ice was playing a terrible trick.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21As they hauled northwards, the whole of the pack ice was drifting southwards,
0:39:21 > 0:39:26it was as if they were on a giant running machine - they were almost going backwards.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28It was a gut-wrenching blow.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38After 175 kilometres of painfully hard slog since they'd left the Fram,
0:39:38 > 0:39:44Nansen - frozen, exhausted and utterly demoralised -
0:39:44 > 0:39:48reflected on the note Eva had written in his diary.
0:39:48 > 0:39:55My beloved boy, God grant that health, happiness and good luck will follow you.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00The ice is growing worse and worse.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Yesterday it brought me to the brink of despair.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05We have advanced hardly a mile.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08There seems little sense in carrying on any longer.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11We sacrifice the precious days for too little.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17Nansen's North Pole ambition was over.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32It was time to turn back.
0:40:32 > 0:40:38They'd got further north than anyone before them, but the North Pole was out of reach.
0:40:38 > 0:40:43They were exhausted, conditions were worsening and their rations were dangerously low.
0:40:45 > 0:40:51Nansen knew in the shifting ice, he could never find the Fram again.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56Now his challenge was not reaching the Pole, but surviving.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15A month after turning and heading south for land,
0:41:15 > 0:41:21the sun was rising higher in the sky and the sea ice was melting under them.
0:41:23 > 0:41:30Having turned, they were searching for a glimpse of land that might help them get their bearings.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37By late May, Nansen was becoming more and more disorientated.
0:41:37 > 0:41:42Both their watches had stopped, which meant that they had completely lost track of time,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46and Nansen was navigating by guesswork.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51All he had was the sun, his compass and this hand-drawn map.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56But what he didn't know was that the map was wrong.
0:41:56 > 0:42:01It looked as if they were tantalisingly close to a large group of islands,
0:42:01 > 0:42:07but as it was, they were searching for some phantom land.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23After 100 days - the maximum Nansen had allowed -
0:42:23 > 0:42:26they had completely run out of provisions.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29The two dogs that were left were no use to them
0:42:29 > 0:42:33because from now on they would have to kayak.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Out of compassion they agreed to each shoot each other's dogs.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42And they used two precious bullets to despatch them quickly.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Then they used the dog's blood
0:42:44 > 0:42:49to moisten the last of the dry dregs of the meat paste.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00Still pressing south, and now four and a half months away from the Fram,
0:43:00 > 0:43:03the terrain began to change.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08Now desperately hungry, the starving men shot everything possible -
0:43:08 > 0:43:14seagulls, seals, even walruses were now in their sights.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Despite the huge body and deformed appearance,
0:43:19 > 0:43:24there was something gently pleading and helpless in the round eyes.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26Seemed mostly like murder.
0:43:28 > 0:43:29GUNSHOT
0:43:29 > 0:43:33I put an end to it with a bullet behind the ear,
0:43:33 > 0:43:36but those eyes pursue me even now.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43After another two weeks, they were exhausted,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46and the struggle was unrelenting.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50Now winter was closing in, making travel impossible.
0:43:53 > 0:43:58In the dying rays of the brief Arctic summer, their hope also faded.
0:43:58 > 0:44:04They battled aimlessly south, making little headway in the closing ice.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Temperatures were plummeting.
0:44:07 > 0:44:13Against all the odds, they had crossed 480 kilometres
0:44:13 > 0:44:18of the unforgiving polar wastes, but now they were spent.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20It would be foolish to proceed.
0:44:20 > 0:44:26In desperation, they prepared for another Arctic winter at the mercy of the ice.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36In the early 1990s, one of the most extraordinary sights
0:44:36 > 0:44:39in the history of Polar exploration was unearthed.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41When it was first discovered,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44all that remained was a shallow scraped hole,
0:44:44 > 0:44:49some used gun cartridges and a scattering of bones.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54And it was all that remained of Nansen's most unwelcome adventure.
0:44:54 > 0:45:00So it's here in the high Arctic where they built this winter cavern.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02Cavern or cabin... A hole in the ground,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04or even more so a hole in the permafrost.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07You have to remember, the ground is frozen from about...
0:45:07 > 0:45:13In summer, the top 30 centimetres defrosts and from there, down to 600 metres, it's frozen ice.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16And there's basically a log
0:45:16 > 0:45:18above a small hole in the ground.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20They'd dug a hole into the permafrost,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23laid a single driftwood log across the top.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25The walrus that they'd killed for food,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29they put the hides over the top with rocks holding down the hide,
0:45:29 > 0:45:31and they crawled in this hole in the ground.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- Wow.- Definitely not a cabin.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38They then started sharing the same sleeping bag to stay warm,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42they burned the walrus blubber for lighting because you have to remember,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46at that area it's four and a half months to five months of total darkness throughout the winter.
0:45:46 > 0:45:51And they would have laid in the cabin for that winter in nearly a state of hibernation.
0:45:55 > 0:46:01All that was keeping Nansen alive was the survival techniques he had learned form the Inuit in Greenland.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08I live their life, I eat their food.
0:46:08 > 0:46:14I learned to appreciate the inventions the Eskimos had made to secure life's necessities.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24The men were just surviving.
0:46:24 > 0:46:31They did little and spoke less, holding on to the last flames of optimism.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38It is miserable. One feels bitter and depressed.
0:46:38 > 0:46:43Monotony has told on both of us, and we both have our dark moments.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46If we did not have the certainty of returning to the world,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48this existence would be unbearable.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00Back in Oslo, three years had passed with no word of the expedition.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06But Eva refused to give up hope.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10Together, she and Liv faced their third Christmas alone.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Most people had given Nansen up for lost.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20Others believed he was already dead.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24SHE SINGS "SILENT NIGHT" IN NORWEGIAN
0:47:46 > 0:47:50Incredibly, they had survived.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Although buried alive in their hole in the ground,
0:47:53 > 0:47:59Nansen and Johansen also marked Christmas in their own special way.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03To celebrate, Johansen turned his grease-ridden shirt inside-out,
0:48:03 > 0:48:08and Nansen changed his underpants for the first time that year.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17As the dead of winter passed,
0:48:17 > 0:48:20a scattering of life slowly returned to the frozen wastes.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29They managed to kill a lot of walrus on the beach straight down from where they built the hole in the ground,
0:48:29 > 0:48:35and they put all that meat as a stash right next to the cabin,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38if you'd like to call it, and of course the bears started coming.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41So then they started shooting the bears as they come.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45And they couldn't eat the food faster than they managed to replenish.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48- I notice- you're- wearing a gun. Is that for the same reason?
0:48:48 > 0:48:51We've got the gun cos a bear could pop up anywhere.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54A wise Eskimo always looks over his shoulder.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05After eight months of total isolation,
0:49:05 > 0:49:09the men broke from their dark, cold, stony prison
0:49:09 > 0:49:12to struggle south again.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14They were still hopelessly disorientated.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20The islands Nansen hoped he was heading for were, in fact,
0:49:20 > 0:49:25over 800 kilometres away - an impossible distance to kayak.
0:49:28 > 0:49:35Nansen could not know this so, with blind faith, and little choice, they went on.
0:49:44 > 0:49:50For over a month, they'd skied, clambered and kayaked over unforgiving terrain.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52At last, they'd reached some open water,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55so they rigged their two kayaks together,
0:49:55 > 0:50:00catamaran-style, and rigged up a sail, and carried on.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02It worked great until they went ashore
0:50:02 > 0:50:04to stretch their tired bodies.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09A wind came up, caught the craft and it began to drift away.
0:50:09 > 0:50:16On board was their food, clothing, ammunition - everything on which their lives depended.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18And of course, it would have been complete madness
0:50:18 > 0:50:22for either one of them to have jumped in the icy water after it.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34The water was icy cold and it was exhausting to swim with clothes on.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37The kayaks drifted further and further away.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41It seemed more than doubtful whether I would manage it,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43but there drifted all our hope.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45If only I could hold out, we were saved.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49So I forced myself on.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53At long last, I could stretch out my hand and grasp the ski
0:50:53 > 0:50:54that lay across the kayaks.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02Nansen was numb with cold, and soaked through.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06I never could have done this if I hadn't had a safety back-up team.
0:51:06 > 0:51:14But Nansen had saved their provisions, he'd saved their lives, he'd saved the expedition.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22It was the luckiest of escapes.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27But if you thought THAT was lucky, what was about to befall them beggars belief.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33They were about to experience one of the most extraordinary
0:51:33 > 0:51:37and fortuitous coincidences in the history of exploration.
0:51:40 > 0:51:45Over 15 months since Nansen had walked away from the relative comfort of the Fram,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49and nearly a year since his provisions ran out,
0:51:49 > 0:51:54in the middle of nowhere, lost, on an unknown Arctic island,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57he heard the distant sounds of dogs barking.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05Suddenly I was certain that I heard a strange voice.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07The first for three years.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15Behind that single human voice in the middle of this wilderness of ice
0:52:15 > 0:52:19lay home, and she who was waiting at home for me.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31- Hello!- Hello!
0:52:31 > 0:52:35- Hello!- Hello!
0:52:36 > 0:52:40I waved my hat, he did the same.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50I came closer, and believed that I recognised Mr Jackson.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59- How do you do?- How do you do?
0:52:59 > 0:53:03- How do you do?- Aren't you Nansen? - Yes, yes, I am.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06'The man in black was a fellow explorer.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09'The Englishman Frederick George Jackson,
0:53:09 > 0:53:14'who Nansen had turned down for the voyage over three years before.
0:53:14 > 0:53:22'Undaunted, he'd organised his own expedition, but he'd been misled by the very same bad map as Nansen.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26'There was one crucial difference between the two men's predicament -
0:53:26 > 0:53:30'Jackson had a ship, and knew the way home.'
0:53:32 > 0:53:36- By Jove, I'm glad to see you. - I'm glad to see you too.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38It was a bitter-sweet moment.
0:53:38 > 0:53:44Nansen's ordeal was over, but he was returning home
0:53:44 > 0:53:50with his dreams of conquering the North Pole for Norway in tatters.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06In a final coincidence, on 19th May,
0:54:06 > 0:54:10exactly the same day that Nansen and Johansen left their winter lair,
0:54:10 > 0:54:16the Fram at last broke free from the ice, and she sailed here,
0:54:16 > 0:54:22to the most northerly inhabited place on Earth - the islands of Svarbard in the high Arctic.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25And from a telegraph station that was just over there,
0:54:25 > 0:54:31they sent the first message for over three and a half years to say they were safe.
0:54:53 > 0:54:58In an emotional reunion, Nansen rejoined the rest of the Fram crew for the final leg,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02and they fought back tears of joy as they sailed south for home.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04They were re-entering the land of the living.
0:55:07 > 0:55:13And not only had Nansen survived over three years in the Arctic wastes, he'd come home.
0:56:17 > 0:56:23Although the expedition never achieved its goal, Nansen's legacy is phenomenal.
0:56:23 > 0:56:30He'd gone further north than any man before, and opened up the Arctic to modern exploration.
0:56:30 > 0:56:38His pioneering achievements inspired Captain Scott, Shackleton, Pirie and Roald Amundsen.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41Amundsen even took the Fram when he beat Scott to the South Pole.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46In a spectacular series of journals,
0:56:46 > 0:56:52Nansen detailed hundreds of ground-breaking scientific observations still used today.
0:56:54 > 0:56:59Whilst trapped in the ice cap, he discovered a new magnificent ocean,
0:56:59 > 0:57:06developed the theory of Polar drift and launched the global science of oceanography into the 20th century.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13Nansen went on to be an Ambassador for Norway,
0:57:13 > 0:57:19and in 1922, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28He passed away peacefully on this balcony in May 1930,
0:57:28 > 0:57:33and is buried in the grounds of the house he designed and built here in Oslo.
0:57:33 > 0:57:38And long after he died, Nansen's innovations affect us all.
0:57:38 > 0:57:39Even today.
0:57:42 > 0:57:44He will never be forgotten.
0:57:44 > 0:57:51Two mountains bear his name, and even on the moon and Mars, you'll find a Nansen crater.
0:57:54 > 0:58:00Nansen was forever seeking results, whether in science, politics or exploration.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03He was inspirational and driven to the end.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Few men in history can match him in stature, and for me,
0:58:07 > 0:58:11he'll always be the original incarnation of Polar explorer as hero.
0:58:11 > 0:58:18His expedition that never reached the North Pole was truly the most successful failure ever.
0:58:50 > 0:58:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006
0:58:53 > 0:58:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk