Chris Larkin (Berringer) and Toby Stephens (Flint) are brothers. Their parents are Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens. Anna-Louise Plowman (Mrs Hudson) is Toby Stephens's wife.
While this serves as a prequel to "Treasure Island," the characters of Captain Charles Vane, Jack Rackham, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, Israel Hands and Anne Bonny were actual pirates in history that operated in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy.
Jack Rackham originally came up with the commonly known "Jolly Roger" flag design that is shown in the show.
Captain Flint's ship "The Walrus" was actually built on set for the show.
The musical instrument heard in the opening credits and through much of the soundtrack is a hurdy-gurdy. The hurdy-gurdy is a bowed stringed instrument, like a violin, but the bow is a rosined wooden wheel that is turned by a crank. There can be anywhere from three to six strings with some of the strings acting as drone strings. That is what makes the buzzing sound. The hurdy-gurdy dates as far back as the Middle Ages.