Critic Reviews

As opposed to film, television proves itself to be the ideal format for adapting Verne’s tale, given how each new location lends itself nimbly to a new episodic adventure, and the pace across the first season stays lively.

Tennant promised a “romp” from this updated version of Jules Verne’s novel, and it certainly is lively. This is big television in the vein of His Dark Materials. ... Clearly, there is great confidence in it. It is justified, largely.

Around the World in 80 Days isn’t an earth-shattering Jules Verne adaptation, but it is a lovely one. Thanks mostly to the way it understands how to harness David Tennant’s magnificence on screen.

By journey's end – which is satisfying even if viewers believe they know what to expect – our affection for the trio has grown. It's no wonder that the studios have already wagered on a second round of more Verne-inspired adventures.

The new version is far less about spectacle [than the 1956 film], though it is quite beautiful in the way it captures the physical world, from post-Commune Paris to the Yemeni desert to Raj-era India to, eventually, the U.S., where a meeting with the legendary lawman Bass Reeves (Gary Beadle) leads to a gun-slinging romp through Reconstruction Era America that borders on the preposterous but is highly exciting.

What seems like a not-necessary idea actually turns into a pretty good one with "Around the World in Eighty Days," adapting Jules Verne's novel into an eight-episode Masterpiece series, one already renewed for another voyage. David Tennant plays the unlikely adventurer Phileas Fogg, in a slick retelling that significantly updates and expands the story.

This Around the World frolic might just be the ticket for those whose wanderlust was curtailed in recent years. Buckle up. [3 - 16 Jan 2022, p.9]

Look, it’s reasonably good fun. But – and I hate to say this – if Netflix and Amazon had made it, and thrown a shedload of money at it, they’d probably have done a better job. It’s a story that would benefit from a more lavish treatment.

The pace was glacially slow.

It’s certainly not short of activity and yet, it all feels a little flat. The cast do their best with the material they’ve been dealt – Tennant, Benesch and Koma are convincing in their roles – but after watching the first three episodes made available to critics, we were quite happy to leave it there.