The life of Captain Robert Falcon Scott – Scott of the Antarctic – and the courage that he exemplified have marked him out as a hero to generations, despite his failure to be the first to reach the South Pole.

Born in 1868, Scott joined the Royal Navy as a cadet at the age of 13 and progressed through the ranks to become a lieutenant. In 1899, after a chance encounter with Clements Markham, president of the Royal Geographical Society, he asked to be involved in the forthcoming exploration of the Antarctic. A year later he was appointed to lead the National Antarctic Expedition, which reached further south than any previous attempts, and Scott returned to Britain a national hero. But Scott was not content to stop there: he dreamed of becoming the first explorer to reach the South Pole. And so it was that, in 1910, he and his team ventured out on a second Antarctic expedition.

Scott of the Antarctic vividly recreates that fateful journey across the unforgiving, frozen continent. In practical terms, the mission was a failure, but the men’s bravery ensured that they would become part of exploration history.