Words of Everest

Marking the 60th anniversary of Hillary’s successful expedition, which was attempted as Coronation fever took hold in the lead up to the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II, a brand new documentary from ITV’s award-winning ‘Words of…’ strand brings to life the two stories, intertwined and retold side-by-side.

After Britain lost the race to both Poles, the word’s highest peak, Mount Everest was seen as the greatest remaining challenge on Earth. In 1924, intrepid British climbers, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared after being spotted just 800 yards from the summit. Twenty-nine years later, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay approached the same summit after a long and arduous journey, determined to claim their prize of being the first explorers to conquer the mountain.

The stories of these two expeditions are retold using the climbers’ own diaries and private letters read by actors including John Hannah, Jason Flemyng, Freddie Fox and Stephen Campbell Moore. (Source: ITV)