Full Circle with Michael Palin

The series documented a 245-day, 50,000-mile (80,000 km) trip taken by Palin and a film crew around the rim of the Pacific Ocean in 1995 and 1996, beginning on the Diomede Islands between Alaska and Russia in the Bering Strait. The intent was to make the full anti-clockwise trip around the Pacific Rim and end up back on the Diomede Islands, but due to rough weather, he was unable to actually set foot back on the Islands again at the end of his journey, bringing him within two miles of completing the full circle. Palin travelled through Russia, Japan, South Korea (they were not allowed to pass through North Korea), China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, United States, and Canada.

Palin also authored a companion book based upon the series, which was published concurrently with its first broadcast. This book contained both Palin's text and many pictures by Basil Pao, the stills photographer on the team. Pao also produced a separate book of the photographs he took during the journey, Full Circle – The Photographs, a large coffee-table style book printed on glossy paper.