Around the World in 80 Days

around-80days

Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager (about £2 million in today’s money, wowzer!) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne’s most acclaimed works.

Phileas Fogg, a rich British gentleman, living in solitude. Who despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with obsessive compulsive precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club and is known for his eccentricity.  . Having fired his former valet, James Forster, for bringing him shaving water at 84 °F (29 °C) instead of 86 °F (30 °C), Fogg hires a Frenchman by the name of Jean Passepartout as a replacement.

At the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days.   He accepts a wager for £20,000 from his fellow club members to complete such a journey within this time period. With Monsieur Passepartout accompanying him, Fogg departs from London by train at 8:45 p.m. on 2 October; if he is to win the wager, then he will have to return to the club by this same time on 21 December, 80 days later!


“Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne and originally aired October 23rd 1938 on Mercury Theatre. “Around The World In 80 Days” staring Orson Welles aired one week before the infamous and historic “War of the Worlds” broadcast.

Total Play Time:  60 Minutes