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Starz’ pirate series
Black Sails
, a prelude to Robert Louis Stevenson’s
Treasure Island
,
continues on its course to greater success with a knockout third season.
Xxxxxx
PIRATES
BAHAMAS
Black Sails'
creators
claim the show is "set in
and around a historically
accurate time and place."
But does it debunk myths
surrounding piracy, or
create new ones?
• Actor Robert Newton
invented the piratical growl
of "Arrrrr!" in his role as
Long John Silver in the
1950 film
Treasure Island
– a bad attempt at a West
County accent.
Black Sails
'
John Silver (Luke Arnold)
is a more articulate chap.
Moreover, the series avoids
other stereotypes like a peg
leg, parrot on the shoulder,
and eye-patches.
• Nassau's brothel workers
are far too healthy looking.
Personal hygiene wasn't a
big concern for seafarers
either: the pirates of
Black
Sails
boast dental work
that's a bit too perfect.
•
Charles Vane, Jack
Rackham (aka Calico Jack),
Blackbeard and Woodes
Rogers are all real-life
historical figures.
• Maritime combat is
accurately depicted in
Black
Sails
, including fighting from
strong points at each end of
the ship as opposed to the
main deck.
C
reated by Jonathan E.
Steinberg and Robert
Levine,
Black Sails
was
a success before the first
season had even been
broadcast, thanks to ecstatic
reaction at San Diego Comic-
Con in 2013, which led to the
show being renewed for a
second season of ten episodes,
six months prior to its premiere.
Now in its third season and
with a fourth to follow in 2017,
Black Sails
blends historical
drama and Stevenson’s fictional
characters into an exhilarating
mix of high seas adventure and
the politics of piracy.
Set during the Golden Era of
Piracy, circa 1715, the ongoing
struggle between the pirates
and the British for control of
New Providence Island (Nassau)
becomes paramount in the third
season, particularly for Captain
Flint (Toby Stephens), who is
now a feared figure following
the burning of Charles Town.
“The struggle for Nassau’s
survival drives the story in season
three,” explains Stephens. “For
Flint, Nassau represents everything
that he is. He would be lost without
it and he will do anything to get it
back, including taking on the British.
The stakes are enormous for him
and this develops throughout the
season.”
Flint is a haunted man following
the loss of Miranda Barlow,
making questionable decisions that
endanger his crew. The third season
builds on his relationship with John
Silver (Luke Arnold), who having
recently lost a leg is gradually
discovering that his role in Flint's
crew might be more important than
self-interest.
As the regular characters
continue to discover their place
in the chain of events that will
eventually lead to Stevenson’s
classic tale, a couple of new
additions threaten the
status quo on Nassau
– most notably the
arrival of the notorious
Captain Edward Teach
(Ray Stevenson), aka
Blackbeard.
“When Blackbeard returns to
Nassau, he finds that through the
decadence of success, the men
have gone soft,” says Stevenson.
“They’re not worthy to serve on
ships. The pirates are not worthy
to call themselves pirates. The
captains don’t deserve to be
called captains. They’re not the
men he left behind. And this bites
hard on him.”
The other new antagonist on
the island is Woodes Rogers (Luke
Roberts), the face of civilisation in
the West Indies, who intends to
put an end to piracy for good.
“Woodes Rogers is an
adventurer. A privateer. A man
who has circled the world
conquering different areas,
winning gold, fighting,” says
executive producer Dan Shotz.
“But now he wants to conquer
the thing that is unconquerable.
He wants to conquer Nassau.
He wants to be the guy that
everybody remembers that has
come to Nassau and has neutered
the pirates, put them down, and
reclaimed Nassau for England.”
The interaction between the
characters has always been a key
element in
Black Sails
’ appeal, but
so too the cinema-quality production
values and complex FX shots, with
season three delivering several
standout set pieces including Flint
steering his ship into the eye of a
hurricane.
“We were drenched and had
water firing at us horizontally for
two weeks, which was testing at
times,” recalls Toby Stephens.
“But we knew that in the end
it would be something never
seen before on television --
not at this scale. For me that
is really exciting. I can’t wait
for the audience to see it.”
•
Black Sails:
Season 3
is out
on August 11
The struggle for
Nassau's survival drives
the story in season three
OF
THE
A PIRATE'S
LIFE?
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