My wife and I saw this documentary nearly 30 years ago and we were thrilled to find it on YouTube tonight. This is because it was one of the best documentaries we'd ever seen together...and when we saw it again tonight it was just as intriguing as we'd remembered.
In 1986, a group of scientists and doctors made a trip to Beechy Island--way, way up in the Canadian Artcic Circle. What brought them there was that they were going to do autopsies on two bodies which were buried back in 1845 when the ill-fated Franklin Expedition got stranded there. Ultimately, every member of the British expedition died and exactly what happened to all of them is up for speculation. The hope is that exhuming the two known bodies (in marked graves) might give them some indication why they all died and why the people went trudging the wrong direction in permafrost.
What follows is a step-by-step uncovering of the graves--ones that were surprisingly deep and in stony ground. This made no sense considering how hellish the conditions were. Why not bury them a foot or so deep?! Well, the incredibly high lead levels in the corpses might just explain this. But what was incredible was seeing the bodies--bodies that looked amazingly well preserved. This is because in many ways, the bodies were preserved like bodies in refrigeration for 140 years! Seeing the bodies might be creepy for some--we both just found them incredibly compelling and interesting.
Overall, an exceptional documentary--one of the best you can find. And, if you watch it at the very end you'll see the members of the 1986 expedition listed...as well as their dog, Keena, who it acknowledges saved them all!
In 1986, a group of scientists and doctors made a trip to Beechy Island--way, way up in the Canadian Artcic Circle. What brought them there was that they were going to do autopsies on two bodies which were buried back in 1845 when the ill-fated Franklin Expedition got stranded there. Ultimately, every member of the British expedition died and exactly what happened to all of them is up for speculation. The hope is that exhuming the two known bodies (in marked graves) might give them some indication why they all died and why the people went trudging the wrong direction in permafrost.
What follows is a step-by-step uncovering of the graves--ones that were surprisingly deep and in stony ground. This made no sense considering how hellish the conditions were. Why not bury them a foot or so deep?! Well, the incredibly high lead levels in the corpses might just explain this. But what was incredible was seeing the bodies--bodies that looked amazingly well preserved. This is because in many ways, the bodies were preserved like bodies in refrigeration for 140 years! Seeing the bodies might be creepy for some--we both just found them incredibly compelling and interesting.
Overall, an exceptional documentary--one of the best you can find. And, if you watch it at the very end you'll see the members of the 1986 expedition listed...as well as their dog, Keena, who it acknowledges saved them all!
