New World

Episode image for New World

Episode 1 of 6

Duration: 1 hour

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.

More episodes

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  • Clip: How to hypnotise a lobster

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    Stephen Fry meets a lobster fisherman in Maine who shows him how to hypnotise a lobster before cooking it.

  • All American season

    All American season

    This programme is part of All American, a BBC Four season about US culture. You can also watch further programmes from the BBC archives, online and in full, in the All American Collection.

    Go to the BBC Four All American Collection

Credits

Series Producer
John-Paul Davidson
Presenter
Stephen Fry
Director
John-Paul Davidson
Writer
Stephen Fry

Broadcasts

See all broadcasts of New World (9)

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