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| Hornblower | |
|---|---|
 UK DVD cover | |
| Based on | Mr. Midshipman Hornblower Lieutenant Hornblower Hornblower and the Hotspur byC. S. Forester |
| Directed by | Andrew Grieve |
| Starring | Ioan Gruffudd Robert Lindsay Paul McGann Paul Copley Sean Gilder Jamie Bamber |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Production company | Meridian Broadcasting |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 7 October 1998 (1998-10-07) – 6 January 2003 (2003-01-06) |
Hornblower is a series of Britishhistorical fictionwartelevision films based on three ofC. S. Forester's ten novels about the fictional characterHoratio Hornblower, aRoyal Navy officer during theFrench Revolutionary andNapoleonic Wars.
The series ran from 7 October 1998 until 6 January 2003, withIoan Gruffudd in the title role. It was produced by the British broadcasterITV Meridian, and was shown onITV in the UK andA&E in the US. It is often repeated onITV4.
Other well-known actors appeared in guest roles, includingMichael Byrne,Denis Lawson,Antony Sher,Ian McNeice,Andrew Tiernan,Samuel West,Christian Coulson,Cherie Lunghi,Greg Wise andRonald Pickup.
The series consists of eighttelevision films, which are notable for their high production values. All were later released on DVD (with the original aspect ratio of16:9 widescreen in Europe and4:3 in the US). In the US, the series was retitledHoratio Hornblower, and some of the films were known by different titles. The eight films cover the events of just three of the ten novels (Mr. Midshipman Hornblower,Lieutenant Hornblower, andHornblower and the Hotspur), and various alterations and additions are made to the source material (e.g., the recurring characters of Lt. Archie Kennedy, Matthews and Styles).
Captain Pellew's ship,HMS Indefatigable, is represented by theGrand Turk, a modern copy of the 1741frigateHMS Blandford. To represent Hornblower's ship, HMSHotspur, theEarl of Pembroke, a civilian ship, underwent some conversion. The Baltic trading schoonerJulia and thebrigPhoenix of Dell Quay were used to represent the smaller vessels. No real74-gun ship existed any longer at the time of production (the last one,HMSImplacable, was scuttled in 1949), so HMSJustinian andHMSRenown had to be recreated as models. For the first series a quarter of a 74-gun ship (one exterior side and three open sides to shoot live action on several decks) called thepontoon was built. Later live action on thequarterdeck or thegundeck below was shot on the actualHMSVictory. Eleven scale models, ranging from 4.5 to 7 m in length, were used for the battle scenes, the largest weighing 1400 kg, and made with working rigging and cannons that were fired by remote control. Shooting locations included theBlack Sea, theLivadia Palace, Portugal, and the former administration (Melville) building of theRoyal William Yard and theBarbican, Plymouth in England.
Ioan Gruffudd had shown interest in participating in moreHornblower films.[1] In 2007, he reportedly discussed the possibility of a big-screen version ofHornblower, and had been attempting to gain the rights to the books by C. S. Forester."[2]
