The episode follows presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May in their successful attempt to be the first people to reach the 1996 position of the North Magnetic Pole (in Canada) in a motor vehicle.

[2] During the vehicle testing phase, the presenters were sent to Kaprun, Austria for cold-weather training by a former Royal Marines Reservist,[3] who taught them basic survival skills.

Hammond and McNair moved at a steady pace during the initial days of their expedition, being stopped only by the presence of a polar bear following them, while Clarkson and May drew ahead by taking advantage of satellite navigation to ensure that their route took them over smooth ice.

Problems soon developed for the Hilux, though, when it nearly fell through thin ice and had to be rescued by the support team, resulting in the need to plot a longer but safer route.

All vehicles underwent the same extensive modifications to make them suitable for the Arctic conditions, including: While the Hilux used by Jeremy Clarkson and James May became an exhibit because of its achievement, the one used by the film crew was put into storage, until it was later re-used by James May in 2010 in his attempt to get close to the still-erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano.The Hilux used by Clarkson and May is currently on display at the Toyota Great Britain Academy, situated at the Toyota Manufacturing Facility in Burnaston, Derbyshire.

The episode was largely scored with compositions by Clint Mansell and performed by the Kronos Quartet, particularly the pieces "Lux Aeterna" and "Death is the Road to Awe", from the soundtracks of Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, respectively.

The episode also contained a segment from the soundtrack of John Carpenter's The Thing, and also features the songs "The Killing Moon" and "Never Stop" by English alternative rock band Echo and The Bunnymen.

[10] The show's producers defended the footage, stating that it was "filmed in an uninhabitable area of the North Pole, in international waters and they weren't shown to be drunk or not in control of the car.

"[11] This has been edited out of subsequent re-runs, including streaming on BBC I-player Complaints were also made about scenes showing frostbitten genitalia and about staging of shots to mislead the audience.