Whether it is through the numerous movie adaptations, the children’s animated series Around the World with Willy Fog, or the original Jules Verne 1873 novel Around the World In 80 Days, there are few people who haven’t come into contact with the story a man who wagers that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days or less. Now a trailer has been released for the newest adaptation, which sees former Doctor Who and Broadchurch actor David Tennant stepping into the restless feet of Fogg, who will take on the 80 days challenge in a humorous take on the original story, and also make a few changes to it along the way.

The series will make its debut in the U.S. on Masterpiece for PBS in January, and that means it is time for promotion of the adventure to begin, starting with this trailer which looks set to be another barnstorming performance by Tennant, whose work has include roles as diverse as voicing Scrooge McDuck in the recent Duck Tales reboot, playing villain Kilgrave in Netflix’s Jessica Jones series, himself in the lockdown comedy Staged with Michael Sheen and also with Sheen playing the demon Crowley in the TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens, which is currently filming its second season.

Of course, as with many modern adaptations of older texts there are some liberties taken and changes made, which can always work one way or the other depending on how heavy handed an unnecessary the changes are and how well they are incorporated into the narrative. In the 2004 movie adaptation, Fogg’s valet Passepartout was played by Jackie Chan for the purposes of comedy value brought by the actor which was a stark contrast to Verne’s original novel. This time around, we see the novel’s Inspector Fix, a police officer who pursues Fogg to get him back on British soil to arrest him after mistakenly believing he robbed the Bank of England, changed to the aspiring journalist Abigail Fix, played in the new series by The Crown’s Leonie Benesch. Rather than chasing the traveler around the world, it would seem that she will accompany him to report the story as it happens.

The strange thing about removing a character like Inspector Fix is that it also takes away some of the jeopardy that was in the original story. Yes, Fogg still had challenges to overcome as he attempts his feat of making it around the world in his set time period, but in the end, removing Inspector Fix and creating what will likely turn into a either a deep infatuation or incessant bickering between Fogg and the new Fix, which will lend itself better to the comedy element that this new iteration of the tale seems to be aiming for.

All in all, the trailer does its job and intrigues us enough to want to watch the series when it begin on January 2nd, and no doubt there will be plenty of David Tennant fans out there who would gladly go on a worldwide voyage with the star.