'Around the World In 80 Days' Already Renewed For Season 2

Around the World in 80 Days has not premiered yet, but there are already plans for more. Producers Slim Film+Television and Federation Entertainment confirmed that the series will return for another installment. Even though, as far as anyone knows, the first season, which runs eight episodes, will cover the entirety of Jules Verne's famous novel, this is not as big a surprise as one might think. Even before the show released its first full trailer, showrunner Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars) had already hinted at the possibility.

The new series, which was delayed by a year due to the 2020 Hollywood shut down, is planned as a Christmas-timed release in Europe, with the BBC, France Télévisions, Germany's ZDF, and Italy's RAI all airing it around the same time. (BBC One's premiere is planned for late afternoon on Boxing Day, with the show's first two episodes.) PBS Masterpiece will follow just after the new year, with the first episode arriving over New Year's Day Weekend, on Sunday, Jan. 2. The cast is a stacked one, featuring David Tennant (Doctor Who) with Ibrahim Koma (Mother Is Wrong) and Leonie Benesch (Babylon Berlin) as his two companions in travel.

The series was initially envisioned as something of a holiday special, albeit one with global ambitions, and with eight hours of storytelling will almost certainly cover the whole novel. Exactly where the show thinks it's going next remains a mystery. But considering other series, like The Handmaid's Tale, have managed to extend classic novels far beyond their endpoints, it stands to reason Verne's classic would eventually get the same treatment. A second season also means that fans here in the states can tune in this winter, knowing more will come.