

The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne is a 22-episode science fiction television series in the steampunk genre that first aired in June 2000 on CBC Television in Canada and in syndication in the United States. The plot concept is predicated on a vast fictional conspiracy beginning with the revelation that Jules Verne did not merely write the stories behind his famous science fiction classic books Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth or Around the World in Eighty Days — but actually experienced these adventures personally. A television technological historic footnote, this work was the first hour-long series filmed entirely in HDTV format.
The adventure begins. In Paris, Jules Verne, a student with the ambition of becoming a great novelist and playwright, unwittingly attracts the attentions of the League of Darkness and its leader, Count Gregory, with his visions of fantastic machines and ideas for the future. The League, hoping to use Jules' ideas for their own nefarious purposes, kidnaps Verne and tries to steal the images directly from his imagination. He is saved by British secret agent Rebecca Fogg who had been sent to Paris to find the very machine being used to extract the images from Jules. Meanwhile in London, Rebecca's distant cousin, former secret agent Phileas Fogg, has embarked on a life of gambling after the death of his father, Sir Boniface Fogg, former head of the British Secret Service. Unaware of the greater plan, Phileas "wins" the airship Aurora and her navigator, Passepartout, during a game of cards.
Aired: 6/18/2000Sign in to share your thoughts with the community.
Using an idea stolen from Jules Verne (from In the Beginning), the League of Darkness construct a giant underground tunneling machine, the "Mole." The League first kills a diplomat to get papers giving their own agent access to Queen Victoria, whom they plan to kill. While Rebecca goes to investigate the sewers where the Mole is, Phileas first believes that Jules was involved since one of his drawings was found in connection with the Mole. After a bit of slapping around, he eventually believes Jules and recruits him to help track down the Mole. Jules creates a series of tracking devices, but is then kidnapped by the Mole's female commander. They still want him to assist them, and torture him when he doesn't. Rebecca has figured out who the League's agent is at the Queen's meeting, and goes after him with the tracking device the League uses to guide the Mole to its victims. The agent is skewered on the Mole's bore, and with the aid of a giant magnet created by Passepartout, Phileas pulls up the Mole and punches out the Commander. Jules gets the gratitude of the Queen and the four decided to stay together.
Aired: 6/25/2000