Black Sails is an American TV series about pirates in the Caribbean. It tells the backstory to the classic novel Treasure Island, written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1882. The plot centres around Nassau in the Bahamas, founded in 1670 and a pirate haven temporarily free of colonial control during the early 1700s. Over the course of the 4-part series, we watch the pirates amass the wealth that features in Stevenson's story, the interpersonal conflict that causes Billy Bones to flee, and the reason the treasure is abandoned on the titular island. No knowledge of the novel is required.
As the series opens, Captain Flint is pursuing information about a famed treasure galleon. The final clue Flint is seeking is hidden in the log of an unlucky merchant vessel, but when Flint captures the ship the important entry is missing...
Black Sails aired on the channel Starz between 2014 and 2017. It was largely filmed in South Africa, with a mixed cast of international actors. The series is notable for the more realistic portrayal of the pirate life than in earlier productions. In particular, the historian Benerson Little was consulted to ensure that the ship to ship battles were as accurate as possible for 1715. As a result, the audience can delight in the musketry, panoramic shots of ships firing broadsides at each other, and lots and lots of blood.
Other notable features are the beautiful title credits, and award winning theme music featuring the period instrument the hurdy-gurdy. This instrument, a kind of fiddle, was first developed in the tenth century. By the early eighteenth century its popularity was at a low ebb, although changing fashions in music would bring it back into style.
Any cacher tempted to put the series on for inspiration is asked to remember that, unlike the novel, it is most certainly not family friendly...