Alexander Armstrong in the Land of the Midnight Sun

In episode one, Alexander’s odyssey begins in Scandinavia, as he flies into Northern Norway on a light aircraft towards Bodø, ten miles north of the Arctic Circle. His pilot John decides to let him lose on the controls for his first ever flying lesson, before they land at Bodø to catch the day’s only ferry to the Lofoten Islands.

In episode two, Alexander continues his journey through Iceland. He heads to Thingvellir National Park to explore a vast 40,000 mile crack in the Earth’s surface. Alexander says: “This is the meeting point between two enormous slabs of earth. Over to that side, the Eurasian slab that contains Europe, most of Russia, most of mainland China, right the way down to southeast Asia, and on this side, the north American slab.” Archaeologist Kevin Martin convinces him to get an even better view by immersing himself in near freezing water, five miles down the road. As they snorkel together, the visibility underwater is incredible and they are able to see 50 metres down into the gorge, into some of the clearest water in the world. No-one lived in Iceland until the Vikings arrived 1000 years ago and the country is so remote that their culture has been uniquely preserved. Alexander heads to Reykjavik, the capital, and learns that the Vikings were famous for a good fight. He agrees to take on a world champion female Glima, or Viking wrestler - Eva Dogg Johannsdottir, and changes into an official Glima costume: “OK, I’m gonna be quite honest with you. It feels like a sort of fetishist morris dancer costume.” Alexander hopes that Eva will go easy on him but soon finds himself being repeatedly flung to the floor. Eva explains that Iceland is so isolated that it has enabled it to be carefully preserved and documents that are a thousand years old are still accessible, making it possible to trace Viking roots using the Islendingabok. She explains its benefits: “Well, for example, I can trace my ancestor to the first person who has been confirmed to come in Iceland and settle, Ingolfur Arnarson….When you think, ‘OK, I have this guy here and I’m gonna have a long-term relationship, I’d better check he’s not like my third cousin.” Alexander heads west to somewhere even more isolated, Greenland, to Constable Point, which is so r

In episode three, Alexander begins the final leg of his journey by flying over the Canadian arctic over the Yukon and Klondike regions, which experienced a gold rush at the beginning of the 20th century. At Canada’s Great Slave Lake, he boards a 1956 Bombardier with tank tracks and skis, which transports him to the settlement close to the north shore of the lake. Alexander meets Daniel Gillis and Monique Robert who came to the lake five years ago from Ottowa, to run a floating B&B. In addition to running the B&B, Monique has a successful side line as a painter. Monique explains: “Work is very good here. Jobs are more plentiful than down south. So people have more income to spend on painting and the arts in general. There are people from all over the world here. They want to experience the north in as frontier a situation as possible, so they’re off grid mostly except for the cords running to their shacks.” After being taught how to ice-skate by Daniel, Alexander heads off to Dawson City, at the heart of the region. Checking into the infamous Bombay Peggy hotel, a former house of ill repute, he is given the key to the ‘Lipstick Room’. Alexander says: “Dawson is a bit of a revelation. It is, in every detail, exactly what I was expecting a gold rush town to look like. If you listen hard, you can almost hear the ghostly piano playing downstairs and maybe a few chairs being broken over people’s heads. I think I’m going to have a fantastic time here.” With the price of gold topping $1000 an ounce since 2008, the city is experiencing a second wave of gold fever and Alexander meets Denys Sevigny, who has been prospecting in the hills for 12 years. Alexander is surprised at the high value of the gold when Denys shows him a small amount in the palm of his hand. Denys says: “Well this here, I would say is probably close to a quarter ounce, maybe ten grams. So close to $600 bucks.” Alexander then climbs into the deep s