O'HANLON'S HEROES
Nineteenth-Century Explorers
A series by Roel van Broekhoven and Maaik Krijgsman
vpro
Episode 1
Leaving ‘Pelican House’
In his cold cottage, 'Pelican House', near Oxford, Redmond O'Hanlon is preparing for new
expeditions around the world. This time he will follow in the footsteps of 19th-century
explorers who refused to believe that the world stopped at the physical boundaries of their
own little countries. Amidst an incredible chaos of books, photographs, eggs, skulls, and last
week's food remains, Redmond is studying his heroes, seeing if there is anything else he can
learn from the way they used to prepare their voyages.
Redmond's wife Belinda and his best friend Ian McEwan try to discourage the directors from
setting off with Redmond, warning them that O'Hanlon is capable of doing anything for a
good story, including sacrificing his own travel companion. The crew prepare for the worst.
Redmond doesn't care what they say: he is so caught up in the preparations for his mission
that he even takes a taxidermy course. Then, later, he can bring home lion skins without his
whole suitcase smelling of dead animals.
Redmond in his study:
"The books have sort of multiplied by themselves in a fairly random way."
He does not throw anything out, because it has long passed 'the point of no return', says
Redmond.
Ian McEwan has only one piece of advice for travelling with Redmond: "Double the budget."
McEwan says that O'Hanlon's predilection for the 19th century originates from Redmond's
depressing childhood. According to McEwan, this often leads to a far-reaching melancholy
for days long gone.
Belinda O'Hanlon:
"He wouldn't even notice it if he left me behind somewhere on a journey, I swear!" To which
Redmond says, under his breath and unconvincingly: "Sure I would."
Human Flesh
Episode 2
Redmond dives into the life of his hero Paul du Chaillu: the first westerner to be face-to-face
with a gorilla. Everyone used to love his stories, especially those about his encounters with
cannibals in inner Gabon.
Deep in the jungle O'Hanlon meets the grandchildren of those cannibals. But they are not
very eager to talk about their man-eating grandfathers.
Today, consuming your fellow man is even prohibited by law in Gabon, although in 1989 an
English teacher was still served for supper. Tradition has it that his killers found him very
tasty, garnished with some cucumber.
Actually, O'Hanlon was looking for the historic tale. Not for a second did Redmond and his
crew assume that this would still be happening today. And why would it? Is human flesh
really all that savoury? Little by little Redmond unravels the mystery of contemporary
cannibalism. It's not a very cheerful story. It is about power, superstition, and incredible
cruelty, that you would not think possible in the 21st century. And, by the way, what was in
the fetish that Redmond had made for himself? A piece of a child's finger?
Grandchildren of cannibals
Even today, almost every week a child is offered up in Gabon. They are found later, severely
mangled. Especially in election time this kind of ritual murders is of the order of the day.
Politicians, for example, like to increase their eloquence - before addressing their voters - by
putting the clitoris of a young girl on their tongue.
This priest tells with relish about the English teacher that was eaten: "avec du concombre,
oui!" "They cut out the heart, the tongue or the member from the body. Not because they
enjoy eating it, no: these are ritual murders."
Redmond on his way to 'Monsieur le féticheur', still unaware of what they put into this fetish.
According to Redmond, sworn atheist, subconsciously there is 'something' that makes him
believe in the power of the fetish. But we're not sure that he will ever have another one made
after this trip…
Episode 3
Looking for King Kong
Redmond goes on a hell of a trip through the Gabon jungle, in search of the gorilla that so
inspired his hero Du Chaillu. Redmond himself is fond of apes too. Not a day goes by when
he doesn't remember the little monkey from Congo that he adored every bit as much as he
now loves his cat Bertie.
In the days when Darwin and his evolution theory shook the religious world, O'Hanlon's hero
Du Chaillu brought a gorilla home. With that ape Du Chaillu once again proved that man was
closer to the ape than the church would like to believe. But that was not the reason why the
correctness of Du Chaillu's discoveries were doubted. That - as Redmond is about to find out
- was more the result of the extramarital affairs Du Chaillu's father had.
In Great Britain and the United States people were fighting over a place in the salons where
Du Chaillu gave lectures on his 'king of the jungle'. But scientists in both continents ridiculed
him and refused to take his stories seriously. It is not until now that it becomes clear why…
The motto at the time was: "What's hit is history; what's missed is mystery." In other words:
if you can't take the proof home, no one will believe you. And since Du Chaillu suffered from
disbelief more than anyone. So, shoot that gorilla.
Just as his 19th-century heroes, Redmond loves to shoot. Even as a little boy he was shooting
animals. "I never grew up, I suppose."
Du Chaillu's mother was a half-breed. In 1861, two years before the abolition of slavery, it
was unthinkable for anyone with less than 100% white blood to make such great discoveries.
The Bone Wars
Episode 4
In the US O'Hanlon follows in the footsteps of two of his heroes: Othniel Marsh and Edward
Drinker Cope. In the days of Buffalo Bill and the mass murders of the Indians, when the
railway companies were still busy constructing their lines, and the US had just survived a
civil war and the gold rush, the two famous palaeontologists Marsh and Cope went to the
Wild West looking for bones. Dinosaur bones, to be precise. To complicate matters, the two
men hated each other's guts. But why? Once they had been good friends, but somewhere
along the way, things went wrong. Redmond tries to understand why these two gentlemen
fought each other by fire and sword.
The battle between Cope and Marsh became known as the "Bone War". The two
palaeontologists made no bones about bribing each other's workers or blowing up each other's
digs with explosives to prevent the competition from finding anything of value. Meanwhile,
their productivity was unequalled. Literally thousands of extinct animal species were
discovered by fieldworker Cope and networker Marsh.
Redmond O'Hanlon crosses the wild prairies of the Midwest, trying to figure out what caused
the lifelong feud between Cope and Marsh. He also follows the Missouri, looking for the
locations where his heroes made their greatest discoveries.
Even historians are divided on the subject, but most of them agree that this animal, the
Elasmosaurus, marked the beginning of the "Bone Wars". Cope discovered the bones, but in
his reconstruction he placed the head on the tail instead of the neck. Marsh found out and
made a public fool out of Cope. That marked the beginning of a war between the two
gentlemen that would never end.
Travelling an Undiscovered World
4
The Bone Wars
8
The Lost City
5
The Sky & The Limit
6
Stalin's Father
1
Leaving ‘ Pelican House’
7
The other side of the mountain
2
Human Flesh
3
Looking for King Kong
Episode 5
The Sky & The Limit
In 1897 the Swede Salomon August Andrée, unencumbered by too much knowledge, wanted
to fly across the North Pole in a balloon. On 11 July of that year his balloon took off from
Spitsbergen where it slowly flew beyond the horizon, and then disappeared without a trace.
Thirty years later seal hunters accidentally discovered the stiff-frozen bodies of Andrée and
his travelling companions. Underneath their coats were journals that were still legible and a
few rolls of film. They were able to print 96 of the photographs.
With the journals in hand, O'Hanlon goes to Spitsbergen to find out what happened to the
members of the expedition - there were three of them - after they left. He uncovers a story of
heartbreaking love, boundless optimism, and a series of incomprehensible stupidities, as a
result of which, once they had taken off and realized their mistakes, there was no turning
back. For three months on end the men wandered the ice. When the cabin that they had
planned to winter in was shattered by the pack ice and hungry polar bears started circling the
tent, the end was inescapable.
Spitsbergen is home to 2500 people and 3000 polar bears. The polar bears are a protected
species: you are not allowed to shoot them unless you are convinced that they will eat you.
Redmond still has a pressing question before he starts off on his quest for August Andrée's
expedition: Should he undress if he should happen to run into one of those polar bear? To
scare them off and chase them away?
Stalin's Father
Episode 6
This journey starts with the biographer of the explorer Nikolai Michailovitsj Przewalski. As
he was writing his book, the biographer could not wait until he could actually let his main
character die. That's how much he had grown to hate him. He thought he was cruel and
selfish.
Przewalski was paid by the Russian Ministry of War, to map the then undiscovered areas
between Russia and India. England watched his moves with Argus eyes: in the 19th century
England and Russia were fighting for the power in Central Asia, 'The Great Game', with
Tibet as their final goal.
In St. Petersburg Redmond is going over Przewalski's personal correspondence, in which he
wrote remarkably fondly about his travelling companions, mostly 17-year-old boys, and did
nothing to hide his contempt for women. Then Redmond moves on to Mongolia, the
gorgeous scenery of which you can see in Episode 7.
In Moscow Stalin's grandson is waiting. The rumour that Stalin is in fact the son of
Przewalski is very persistent. And it's true: there is a strong likeness between the two. But
grandson Stalin, director in a military theatre, says firmly: njet! Not related.
Redmond on the sofa visiting Przewalski's second cousin, his famous great-uncle's namesake.
The second cousin and his wife idolize uncle Przewalski: a true hero!
"I hope you're not gay too!" Maria Fedorovna, curator of the Geographical Museum in
Moscow, giggles shyly as Redmond raises the subject of Przewalski's alleged homosexuality.
And when Redmond asks her if she would have wanted to be married to Przewalski, she
blushes and says: "I wouldn't mind marrying you either!" Grist to Redmond's mill.
During all his travels, Przewalski dreamt of a 'Russian bath', a sauna, including the inevitable
birch-twig trashing. Redmond wants to give it a try, although his chastiser is not a young
officer, but a wrinkled professor with his boxers halfway down his buttocks.
Episode 7
The other side of the mountain
In part 2 of the Przewalski diptych Redmond travels Mongolia, as far as the rented Russian
minivans will let him.
Przewalski hated the Mongols. He found them lazy and dirty. He even recommended to the
Russian Ministry of War that the Mongols should be extirpated and replaced by Cossacks.
O'Hanlon on the other hand gets along just fine with the Mongols. He finds them hospitable,
very friendly, and not nearly as dirty or stupid as Przewalski wrote. Sleeping in gers, the
round nomad tents, Redmond finds himself closer than ever to his beloved 19th century.
Redmond is pleased to find that Mongolia seems not to have changed at all, even though
today the Great Game is going on between Russia and China. A battle that is mostly about the
riches of Mongolian raw materials as a result of which the country has gained momentum.
Over half of the nomads now live in the city.
Together with Tjalling Halbertsma, anthropologist and chargé d'affairs with the Dutch
Consulate in Mongolia, Redmond goes looking for the yeti, the Abominable Snowman,
which the Mongols call the Almas. But he hasn't shown himself since 1945, except in Tintin
in Tibet.
Ugi, the guide, lives in the city of Ulan Bator and studies German. She texts like crazy and
wears UGGs. Her grandmother is horrified by the thought of living in the city and leads an
old-fashioned, traditional nomadic life. Today, you can travel back and forth between the 19th
and 21st centuries in a single day.
Przewalski made five attempts at reaching Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. He failed five times.
He died with his boots on, from typhoid, in his final attempt to make it to Tibet. Redmond,
too, really wants to see Tibet before he dies. The bus willing, he may succeed.
The lost city
Episode 8
In the Brazilian rainforest Redmond goes on a quest for the lost city of Z, the mythical city
that the British explorer Percy Fawcett spent his lifetime searching for, but probably never
found. He never returned from his last expedition.
Fawcett became famous for his disappearance. Even today, his vision of a lost city appeals
hugely to the imagination of adventurers, film makers and other romantic souls. Including
Redmond's.
Guided by a rich Brazilian, he works his way through the jungle, learns to dance with gold,
tries to push a rock aside and, after his initial scepticism, comes close to traces of a lost city.
But what happened to Fawcett?
Some think he was killed by Indian tribes that he was said to have offended. Others see him
as a guide to a better world, where it is quite normal to walk through rock faces, and where
UFOs and apparitions are of the order of the day. Fawcett remains a mystery.
Redmond is exhausted after his trip through the jungle and returns to Pelican House, to his
cat Bertie, who has been waiting for him all this time.
According to Redmond, he will even make Bertie depressed if he stays home too long.
Redmond together with director and editor-in-chief Roel van Broekhoven. Van Broekhoven
worked with O'Hanlon before, on the VPRO series on the Beagle, and decided to do a series
that had Redmond written all over it.
Director Maaik Krijgsman together with Redmond in the US. He, too, knew O'Hanlon from
the Beagle series. Maaik directed the episodes in England, the US, and Brazil.
Paul du Chaillu,
1831-1903
(US-French)
Investigative area:
West Africa
Edward Drinker Cope,
1840-1897 (US)
Investigative area:
US
Othniel Charles Marsh,
1831-1899 (US)
Investigative area:
US
Salomon August Andrée,
1854-1897 (Sweden)
Investigative area:
Spitsbergen, North Pole
Nikolai Michailovitsj Przewalski,
1839-1888 (Russia)
Investigative area:
Russia, Mongolia, China
Percy Harrison Fawcett,
1867-1925
(Great Britain)
Investigative area:
South America
Redmond O'Hanlon
He was born in the wrong century. When a large part of the world was yet to be discovered,
that's where he would have wanted to be: Redmond O'Hanlon, author and adventurer. And
that is why he is now following in the footsteps of his 19th-century heroes: explorers, who
travelled the world to fill in the blanks on the map at the risk of their own lives, of which
there were many in those days. They visited places where no westerner had gone before.
Redmond follows in the trails of his heroes, with all the associated misery. But also with all
the adventure, emotion, discomfort, and hilarity. For wherever O'Hanlon goes, something
always happens.
O'HANLON'S HEROES