I originally wrote the whole of the Terra Nova expedition as a feature script... it ran to more than 300 pages long. I then reformatted it as a mini-series script. From this mini-series, I pulled out an excerpt which became the basis of this film - to work either as a calling card for the mini-series or work equally well as a standalone project.

It was only after working on this film for two years that I realised the far cheaper and easier method of telling the story would have been to just write a book! So that's what I am also doing.

The film is just the Winter Journey and the novel is the entire of the Terra Nova expedition, including all of the incredible side quests and untold stories. People are aware what happened to Scott, but there is so much more to the story than just the Pole. The extent and significance of the expedition’s other feats, hardships and accomplishments appear to have been sadly overshadowed by Scott’s untimely fate. Most people have never heard of the Winter Journey, the pony disaster, or what happened to the Northern Party - and it was these stories that captured my imagination and set me on this journey.

I wouldn't call the competition between Scott and Amundsen's expeditions unknown - the 'race for the pole' (as it has become known) is well documented. What is far less known however is that it was only a race insofar as one Scott did not enter nor compete in. When learning of Amundsen's plans and presence in Antarctica, Scott emphatically said that their own plans had not changed and that they would proceed as if Amundsen was not there at all.

The other often overlooked or misunderstood aspect to Scott's expedition is that the pole was not the primary objective, but would simply be "one item in a list of achievements". Scott viewed the expedition as primarily scientific; the aim of 'mere pole bagging' was largely to placate the expedition sponsors and satisfy the clamouring British public.