Greg Jenner

Great name. He does...

Great name. He does...

So 1779, Cook dies. George Vancouver says, this is just not going to happen. We've got to stop trying this. No one gets the memo because on go the next explorations. So Cook dies, you know, he gets into a big fight with the indigenous peoples and angers them and they kill him. So that's sort of the end of that one. But then we get Sir John Barrow and he's got a plan.

So 1779, Cook dies. George Vancouver says, this is just not going to happen. We've got to stop trying this. No one gets the memo because on go the next explorations. So Cook dies, you know, he gets into a big fight with the indigenous peoples and angers them and they kill him. So that's sort of the end of that one. But then we get Sir John Barrow and he's got a plan.

Wait for all these ships, and now they're just sitting idle.

Wait for all these ships, and now they're just sitting idle.

Pretty close to 1880. I think that's in the ballpark, isn't it? We have a kind of post-Napoleonic change of... of purpose for the Royal Navy, which means now the Navy is no longer private companies. It's now the Navy, the Admiralty. And so Barrow, he's off for his expeditions in 1818, and do they succeed?

Pretty close to 1880. I think that's in the ballpark, isn't it? We have a kind of post-Napoleonic change of... of purpose for the Royal Navy, which means now the Navy is no longer private companies. It's now the Navy, the Admiralty. And so Barrow, he's off for his expeditions in 1818, and do they succeed?

Right, good. Ditto. I'm getting a lot of ditto on it. It's a lot of like, we found some ice, we went home.

Right, good. Ditto. I'm getting a lot of ditto on it. It's a lot of like, we found some ice, we went home.

I failed to pronounce the North West Passage there, so I can't really... OK, so we've got naval officers sitting around, naval gazing, but they can't get through the ice. Naval gazing!

I failed to pronounce the North West Passage there, so I can't really... OK, so we've got naval officers sitting around, naval gazing, but they can't get through the ice. Naval gazing!

How would you entertain a ship full of sailors who are sort of hunkered over in the ice? Drag sea shanty. I'm up for that.

How would you entertain a ship full of sailors who are sort of hunkered over in the ice? Drag sea shanty. I'm up for that.

32 drag artists. Whittle them down.

32 drag artists. Whittle them down.

RuPaul's Northwest Passage Arctic. Vanessa, was Britain alone in organising these Arctic explorations in the kind of 1820s, 30s, you know, that sort of post-Napoleonic time?

RuPaul's Northwest Passage Arctic. Vanessa, was Britain alone in organising these Arctic explorations in the kind of 1820s, 30s, you know, that sort of post-Napoleonic time?

OK. So we've got various sort of powers and superpowers in the region. But in the 1840s, Britain... Hello, Britain, at last. Launches the most famous Arctic mission of all. In the wind? In the 1840s. So it's pretty, you know, this is kind of peak Queen Victoria era. She came to power in 1837, so we're in the Victorian era. And the Franklin expedition is the big one.

OK. So we've got various sort of powers and superpowers in the region. But in the 1840s, Britain... Hello, Britain, at last. Launches the most famous Arctic mission of all. In the wind? In the 1840s. So it's pretty, you know, this is kind of peak Queen Victoria era. She came to power in 1837, so we're in the Victorian era. And the Franklin expedition is the big one.