Drake's Venture

Drake's Venture (1980)

Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the world in search of adventure and treasure.

Date of release
1980-12-28
TMDB
5.8 / 10 (4)
Runtime
1h 41m
Genres
TV Movie, Drama, History
Director
Lawrence Gordon Clark

Casting

Interesting facts

Drake's Venture is a 1980 film depiction of Francis Drake's voyage of circumnavigation. Produced by Westward Television to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the event, it focuses on the voyage's most controversial aspect, the execution of the gentleman Thomas Doughty for mutiny. The film has been aired in the UK on 28 December 1980 by Westward Television, on 19 October 2024 and 12 October 2025 by Rewind TV, and once in the US on Masterpiece Theatre on 27 March 1983.

Production

According to actor Paul Darrow, Drake's Venture was Westward Television's attempt to justify its franchise renewal. The subject matter was especially appropriate since Westward's logo was the Golden Hind. The attempt failed and the news that the south-west franchise was given to TSW (Television South West) was made during a commercial break during the lone showing of Drake's Venture in Britain.

What little we know of the production is from Darrow's autobiography, You're Him, Aren't You?. In it, he remarks that the filming took three months, using a full-scale authentic replica of the Golden Hind. The ocean scenes were filmed in the English Channel; the location shooting for San Julian was at Slapton Sands in Devon.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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