Around the World in 80 Days - 20 Years On

Michael Palin goes in search of the crew of the wooden dhow Al Shama, featured in his series Around the World in 80 Days. The eight-day voyage across the Arabian Sea to Bombay filmed in 1988 has become a TV classic.

Michael's search begins in Dubai, which has been transformed since he was last there 20 years ago. He soon moves on to what is now Mumbai. There, a helpful freight broker tells him what has befallen Al Shama. But there is better news of Captain Hassan Suleyman, and Michael books himself onto the Kutch Express, which will take him far to the north, close to the Pakistani border. There he hopes that his long search will be crowned with a reunion with men with whom he forged a special bond, and on whom his life depended 20 years ago.