Directed by Richard Curtis
In 1966, conservative elements in Britain had managed to limit the playing of rock and roll on BBC radio to just two hours every week. But half the British population (25 million people) tuned in to Radio Rock, a 24 hour pirate radio station operating outside British jurisdiction in the middle of the North Sea. The station’s owner and ship’s captain Quentin (Bill Nighy) oversaw an eclectic crew of disc jockeys who were dedicated to playing the popular music that defined a generation. Meanwhile, government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) threatened to get ‘the drug takers and law breakers and bottom-bashing fornicators’ off the airwaves.
I don’t know about the bottom-bashing but drug-taking, drinking and fornicating were popular recreational outlets for the boatload of guys who would import a boatload of women once a week. The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman) led the outrageous antics by threatening to say the ‘F’ word on the radio, while Gavin (Rhys Ifans) just oozed sex appeal into the microphone. Dave (Nick Frost) specialised in sarcasm, whilst Simon (Chris O’Dowd) was looking for love. Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom) was a man of few words, Wee Small Hours Bob (Ralph Brown) was into folk music, and the only female on the boat was the love-lorn lesbian cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson). Young Carl (Tom Sturridge), recently expelled from school and sent by his mother (Emma Thompson) to live with his godfather Quentin, learns a lot about life as well as the identity of his father.
Of course it is all rollicking good fun with 54 vintage 60s songs peppering the soundtrack. Unfortunately the fun comes to an end when the boat proves to be less than sea-worthy, but it is a fantastically fun tribute to those who helped to ensure rock and roll broadcasting had a long and healthy life.
Lezly Herbert
