Sir Francis Drake

Two or three times in elementary school in Maryland in the early 1970's, we saw a half-hour black and white film about the round-the-world voyage of Sir Francis Drake. It had much better production values than the typical 16mm classroom film of the time and I always wondered where it came from.

Now I know -- it must have been an episode of this series. I'd love to see it and other episodes, especially since I now live in the state named after Queen Elizabeth I.

Though I was very young at the time, I remember this well acted,handsomely mounted"swashbuckler".It was probably one of my first sources for British history.,and not a bad one ,as all the episodes were well researched.

An excellent performance by that very underrated actor, Terence Morgan. You felt that Elizabethan England was in safe hands! How refreshing it was that television used to show real historical characters in series that were attractive to children. Of course Drake was made exceptionally sympathetic but it managed to put over some of the aura that the real historical character must have possessed. Many of the issues raised in this series - starving and underpaid seamen and soldiers, the diplomatic conventions hiding an inevitable move to war, and corruption amongst the great and the good. Maybe it's time for another series on Drake!

I was one of those kids glued to the TV for every episode! It was my favorite show. I used to look forward to episodes with the ship in them, it was beautiful, to my 12 year old eyes it was real and certainly buckled my 'swash'! I remember the quality of each episode, as a kid, you were there! The acting, settings and costumes were excellent and convincing to me their target audience. Shortly after that we came to Australia where I joined the Royal Australian Navy! I just couldn't wait to get to sea. It made for some great times and great shipmates many of whom are still taking the 'mick' out of each other 35 years down the track. So Thank you to all concerned with the making of this excellent series. It made a difference in my life! PS I still sail a small sloop and still have the Airfix model of Drakes ship I made age 13 :-)

I am so pleased that (in the UK) the Talking Pictures channel is running the whole of this series. Like some of the other contributors I haven't seen them since I was a nipper but they must have made a big impression on my young mind as the music and sets are so familiar.

Its also fascinating to spot guest stars in early roles - Michael Anderson Jnr, Michael Crawford, Nanette Newman, David McCallum, Howard Lang, and of all people the bloke from 'Play School' Brian Cant who played a small part in one episode, to name but a few.

They don't make them like this anymore . . .