Hillary and Tenzing: Everest and After

The series that looks behind the public face of prominent figures continues with a new approach to Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's ascent to the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953. Their names were linked forever, but the tidal wave of celebrity that engulfed them when they returned soon threatened to drive them apart. Newspapers competed for exclusives, politicians sought to bask in their reflected glory, and nationalists claimed the triumph for their own causes. Behind the clamour, a simple nagging question -who got there first?