The Pyrates
{{Short description|1983 comic novel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = The Pyrates
| author = George MacDonald Fraser
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| image = File:The Pyrates.jpg
| caption = First edition
| publisher = William Collins, Sons (UK)
| series =
| genre =
| release_date = 1983
| media_type =
| pages =
| followed_by =
}}
The Pyrates is a comic novel by George MacDonald Fraser, published in 1983. Fraser called it "a burlesque fantasy on every swashbuckler I ever read or saw".{{cite book|first=George MacDonald|last= Fraser|title=The Light's On at Signpost|publisher= HarperCollins |date=2002|page=311}}
Plot
Written in arch, ironic style and containing a great deal of deliberate anachronism, it traces the adventures of a classic hero (Captain Benjamin Avery, RN, very loosely based on Henry Avery), multiple damsels in distress, and the six captains who lead the infamous Coast Brotherhood (Calico Jack Rackham, Black Bilbo, Firebeard, Happy Dan Pew, Akbar the Terrible and Sheba the She-Wolf). It also concerns the charismatic anti-hero, Colonel Thomas Blood (cashiered), a rakish dastard who is loosely modeled on the historical figure, Thomas Blood. All of the above face off against the malevolently hilarious Spanish viceroy of Cartagena, Don Lardo. The book's 400 pages of continuous action travel from England to Madagascar to various Caribbean ports of call along the Spanish Main.
As with Fraser's other historical novels, the storyline incorporates fictitious characters with real life people such as King Charles II and Samuel Pepys.
The book is completely unrelated to the 1991 movie Pyrates starring Kevin Bacon.
1986 TV version
{{Infobox film
| name = The Pyrates
| image =
| caption =
| director = Andrew Gosling
| producer = Ian Keill
| writer = Mervyn Haisman
| starring = Marcus Gilbert
| music = Rodney Newton
| cinematography = Derek Slee
| editing = Dave Hambelton
| studio = BBC
Canamedia Productions
| distributor = BBC Two
| released = {{Film date|1986|12|21|df=yes}}
| runtime = 85 mins
| country = United Kingdom
Canada
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
A television adaptation starring Marcus Gilbert and Jane Snowden was shown on BBC2 on 28 December 1986.{{cite news|title=BBC 1|newspaper=The Times|date=27 December 1986|page= 41}}[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/70ea1eda55c14443856b6ece29adb0a4 The Pyrates] at Genome
The film was one of a number made by the team of Andrew Gosling and Ian Keill.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/31/andrew-gosling-obituary|title=Andrew Gosling obituary|first=Ian|last=Keill|newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 June 2016|accessdate=27 September 2016}}
=Cast=
- Marcus Gilbert as Captain Ben Avery
- Tom Adams as Calico Jack Rackham
- Jane Snowden as Lady Vanity Rooke
- Josette Simon as Sheba
- Malcolm Stoddard as Colonel Blood
- Nicholas Gecks as Happy Dan Pew
- Wanda Ventham as Anne Bonney
- Tatyana Colombo as Donna Meliflua
- John Savident as Don Lardo
- Robin Bailey as Solomon
- Howard Lang as Captain Yardley
- John Rapley as Samuel Pepys
- Howard Goorney as Groonbaun
- Nosher Powell as Firebeard
- Richard Davies as Dai Lemmer
Stage version
A world premiere stage adaptation was written and produced by members of Chicago's Defiant Theatre in 2004.Michael Phillips, T., [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-06-30-0406300026-story.html "Timing and finesse arrr off in 'Pyrates'"], Chicago Tribune, June 30, 2004.
''Captain in Calico''
Much of the material had been covered in a novel Fraser wrote in 1959, Captain in Calico. This novel was published after his death.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470897/ 1986 BBC production] at the IMDb
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20161003133439/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b75dbedf3 The Pyrates] at British Film Institute
{{George MacDonald Fraser}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyrates, The}}
Category:Cultural depictions of Anne Bonny
Category:Cultural depictions of Calico Jack
Category:British novels adapted into films
Category:British novels adapted into plays
Category:British novels adapted into television shows
Category:William Collins, Sons books
{{1980s-novel-stub}}