First look at David Tennant in Around the World in 80 Days

In Around the World in 80 Days, adapted from Jules Verne’s classic novel of the same name, Tennant will play legendary adventurer Phileas Fogg, who has to use a series of bizarre contraptions and his own ingenuity to complete the titular challenge – and in a first-look image, we can finally see how Tennant will look in the central role.

Tennant will be joined in the BBC series by Ibrahim Koma as sidekick Passepartout and Leonie Benesch as Abigail Fix (a journalist who joins the voyage to chronicle the experience), and all three can be seen in the teaser image above.

“The clock is ticking,” a statement from the production team said. “Join Phileas Fogg (David Tennant), Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) and Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch) on their journey Around the World in 80 Days - coming to screens 2021.”

Set to play out over eight episodes next year and written by Life on Mars’ Ashley Pharoah among others, Around the World in 80 Days began filming in February and was expected to be delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent halting of most TV production around the world.

However, it now seems the series is back on track, even if fans have to wait rather longer than 80 Days to see Tennant in something a little bit more uplifting and cheerful. Unless, of course, you just fancied checking out some of his old Doctor Who episodes as a palate cleanser.

Around the World in 80 Days comes to the BBC in 2021. Want to watch something sooner? Check out our full TV Guide.