A Thor in One's Side

In 1947, a crew of intrepid and hard-bitten Norwegians first set out on what was, on the face of it, a pretty flimsy premise - that you could cross the mighty Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia with nothing more solid than a balsa wood raft.

That raft, the Kon Tikki, and the exploits of those Norwegians, led by the visionary Thor Heyerdahl, were to become world renowned.

Tony Robinson tells the story of Heyerdahl’s epic journey, and its lasting effect on popular archaeology.

Producer: Geoff Ballinger

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2007.