Blame Peter Weir`s `Master and Commander` for setting the ships and swords drama bar so high, as I found most of this to be dull, with the lacklustre visuals not helping. However, when I learned that Jack was a young boy, not a pirate, and that this was a European project and not overblown camp nonsense based on a Disney fairground ride, I became slightly better disposed to the prospect. Each disc has three episodes which can be watched together using the `play all` function or individually with a plot synopsis which should be avoided unless you know the story as these contain spoilers.Ĭonclusion Given my utter disdain for Gore Verbinski`s `Pirates of the Caribbean` films, when I saw that this was a pirate drama with a character called Jack, I can`t say that I relished the thought of watching this miniseries. `Jack Holborn`, based on the book by Leon Garfield, was a 1982 German production and, whilst relatively unknown here, is obviously popular in Germany, with a 3-disc Collector`s Box available there since 2005. In six episodes on two discs, Jack learns the trade of a cabin boy and has adventures around the world, gradually learning the meaning of his dream. Haunted by an episode from his past about his parents on a rowboat in the ocean and with a leather wristband bearing his name, he believes that he belongs at sea and must get to know Captain Sharingham. Arrows makes no secret of her dislike for Jack, who runs away to sea as a stowaway. Captain Sharingham (Matthias Habich), a privateer, offers to take the boy on, but his brother, the Chief Justice Lord Sharingham (also played by Matthias Habich) orders him to live with John and Elizabeth Arrows, who make ropes for the ships. Introduction In Bristol, at the end of the 18th century, Jack Holborn (Patrick Bach), a 13 year old orphan, wants to be a cabin boy, but he is too short.

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