''The Buccaneers'' was a 1956 Sapphire Films television drama series for

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

, broadcast by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

in the US and shown on ATV and regional ITV companies as they came on air during the infancy of ITV in the UK. Starring Robert Shaw as Dan Tempest, the series, aimed at children, followed the adventures of Tempest and his crew of former pirates as they made their way across the seven seas in ''Sultana''. This series was one of several swashbuckling adventure series produced during this period by or for

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...

's ITC.

Production notes

The series ran for 39 half-hour black-and-white episodes and was produced by

Hannah Weinstein Hannah Weinstein ( Dorner; June 23, 1911 – March 9, 1984) was an American journalist, publicist and left-wing political activist who moved to Britain and became a television producer. She is best remembered for having produced '' The Adventu ...

and

Sidney Cole Sidney Henry Cole (31 October 1908 – 25 January 1998) was a British film and television producer. Earlier in his career he worked as a film editor. Cole was educated at the London School of Economics (LSE), and entered the film industry as ...

for Sapphire Films Limited. The episodes were made at Nettlefold Studios at

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide r ...

using two studios with seven or eight standing sets. A real schooner was based at

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; kw, Aberfala) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,797 (2011 census). Etymology The name Falmouth is of English ...

and a faithful reproduction of part of it in a studio corner.Margaret Cohen feature in TV Times 21 September 1956 page 33 Rupert Evans, stunt artist, former army teacher of physical training taught Robert Shaw fencing. The series was set in the Port of Nassau in

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 24 ...

of about 1722. Sources report that Robert Shaw was unavailable for the first few episodes, but nevertheless shooting went ahead without him. In the majority of episodes, he is listed as "With" rather than "Starring" in the title sequence, for reasons that are open to speculation. The complete series is available on R2 DVD from Network in the UK. There are a number of public-domain DVDs of the series in the North American market, as well as a complete series release.

Cast and characters

* Robert Shaw as Captain Dan Tempest * Peter Hammond as Lieutenant Edward Beamish *

Brian Rawlinson Brian Rawlinson (12 November 1931 – 23 November 2000)"Brian Rawlinson"
''BFI''. Retr ...

as Gaff Guernsey * Paul Hansard as Taffy * Wilfred Downing as Dickon *

Edwin Richfield Edwin Richfield (11 September 1921 – 2 August 1990) was an English actor. Career Richfield starred in the television series '' Interpol Calling'' (1959). He was '' The Odd Man'' in Granada Television's series of the same name in the early 19 ...

as Armando * Neil Hallett as Boatswain Sam Bassett * Willoughby Gray as Pop * Jane Griffiths as Paula *

Alec Mango Alec Mango (16 March 1911 – 7 November 1989) was an English actor. He is best known for portraying El Supremo in the 1951 ''Captain Horatio Hornblower'', he also appeared in ''South of Algiers'' (1953), ''The Strange World of Planet X'' (1958 ...

as Mr. Van Brugh Various characters were often played by Tony Thawnton, Terence Cooper,

Rupert Evans Rupert Evans (born 9 March 1977) is a British actor. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and starred in the Amazon series ''The Man in the High Castle'' and also in the CW's ''Charmed'' series. In 2021 Evans appeared in ''Bridgerton ...

, Roy Purcell and Denis Lacey.

Historical characters

Blackbeard Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about ...

played by George Margo, Terence Cooper * Governor Woodes Rogers played by

Alec Clunes Alexander Sheriff de Moro Clunes (17 May 1912 – 13 March 1970) was an English actor and theatrical manager. Among the plays he presented were Christopher Fry's '' The Lady's Not For Burning''. He gave the actor and dramatist Peter Ustinov ...

Anne Bonny Anne Bonny (8 March 1697 – disappeared April 1721), sometimes Anne Bonney, was an Irish pirate operating in the Caribbean, and one of the few female pirates in recorded history. What little that is known of her life comes largely from Capt ...

played by

Hazel Court Hazel Court (10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and American horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Terence Fisher's ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957) and ...

Calico Jack John Rackham (26 December 168218 November 1720), commonly known as Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and in Cuba during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the calico clothing that he wore, whil ...

played by Brian Worth * Black Bart played by Alex Scott * Charles Vane played by Brian Worth * Ben Hornigold played by Andrew Crawford

Episode list

Airdate is for ATV Midlands ITV regions varied date and order.

Music

Robert Shaw - Radio TV Mirror, July 1957

The show's ending theme contained the chorus:

Let's go a-roving, a-roving across the ocean
Oh, let's go a-roving and join the buccaneers!
We'll find adventure, adventure across the ocean
Oh, we'll find adventure and join the buccaneers!

Sea shanties A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a specific st ...

and traditional songs were incorporated into the show. Early episodes begin with sailors singing "Blow, Ye Winds, in the Morning," an anachronistic American

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

song. The second episode, "The Raiders," is the only episode to use " The Maid of Amsterdam" as its ending theme. Other songs performed in the show include: * "

Drunken Sailor "Drunken Sailor", also known as "What Shall We Do with a/the Drunken Sailor?" or "Up She Rises", is a traditional sea shanty, listed as No. 322 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It was sung onboard sailing ships at least as early as the 1830s, and ...

" (in "Printer's Devil") * "Haul Away, Joe" (in various episodes including "Dan Tempest's War with Spain") * "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (in "Mother Doughty's Crew") * " O Shenandoah" (in "Gentleman Jack and the Lady") * "

Spanish Ladies "Spanish Ladies" (Roud 687) is a traditional British naval song, describing a voyage from Spain to the Downs from the viewpoint of ratings of the Royal Navy. Origins A ballad by the name "Spanish Ladies" was registered in the English Sta ...

" (in "The Ladies") * "Shake Her, Johnny, Shake Her" (in "Hurricane" and "Flip and Jenny") * "Venezuela" by

John Jacob Niles John Jacob Niles (April 28, 1892 – March 1, 1980) was an American composer, singer and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers," Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 195 ...

(in "Mother Doughty's Crew")

DVD releases

Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series in Region 1 on 15 August 2006. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print. Network Distributing Home Entertainment (under licence from Granada Ventures Ltd) released the complete series in Region 2 on June 1, 2007. On 19 August 2008, Timeless Media Group released a 3-disc best-of set that features 30 episodes of the series.

References

External links

Screen Online

*

Modern map of New Providence. {{DEFAULTSORT:Buccaneers, The 1956 British television series debuts 1957 British television series endings British drama television series Television series by ITC Entertainment ITV television dramas Television series about pirates British adventure television series 1950s British drama television series Television series set in the 18th century Black-and-white British television shows English-language television shows Nautical television series