New World

Synopsis

Stephen Fry was very nearly an American. Just before Stephen was born, his father was offered a job at Princeton University, but chose to turn it down.

And so, Stephen was born in NW3 rather than in NJ, New Jersey.

In this six-part series he travels, mostly in a London cab, through all 50 states of the country that he could have nearly called home and which has always fascinated him.

In this first episode, he explores the states that make up New England, before heading south to the nation's capital and ending up at the civil war battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

Presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire, witches in Salem, nuclear submariners in Connecticut, deer hunters, small time mobsters in NYC, socialites in Rhode Island, lobster fishermen in Maine, ice cream blenders in Vermont and card washers in New Jersey - Stephen meets them all as he takes the road through the autumn colours to uncover what really makes America tick.

Credits

Presenter

Stephen Fry

Broadcasts

1. Sun 12 Oct 2008
   21:00
   BBC One
2. Sat 18 Oct 2008
   19:10
   BBC Two
3. Thu 20 Nov 2008
   01:30
   BBC One (except Scotland)
4. Sat 22 Nov 2008
   01:55
   BBC One (Scotland only)
5. Sun 4 Jan 2009
   19:00
   BBC Four
6. Mon 5 Jan 2009
   00:30
   BBC Four