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The first of the four TV movies, The Even Chance,
introduces Hornblower (Ioan Gruffudd) to us and he's not much
to look at. Bedraggled and seasick he finds himself at the
rough end of bullying on board the Justinian.
His tormentor is the bitter Midshipman Simpson (Dorian Healy),
who is too stupid to ever make the rank of lieutenant and
who harbours a huge hatred of Hornblower.
Unable to fightback on board ship, Hornblower challenges
the swine to a duel - with disastrous consequences.
Still, our lad is smart and attends his studies and finds
himself transferred off on to the frigate Indefatigeable under
the command of Captain Edward Pellew (Robert Lindsay).
Life improves greatly and his abilities lead to being assigned
interesting tasks by Pellew.
These include sailing a prize ship of rice back to England
and undertaking a dangerous cutting-out operation to steal
a French warship.
Just before the last mission the Indefatigeable rescues survivors
from the Justinian and, unfortunately, one of them is Simpson.
Needless to say that apart from battling the Frenchies, Hornblower
finds himself having to deal with an implaccable foe on his
own side.
The Even Chance is a terrific introduction to what
is a quality British series.
The uniforms look perfect and the cast is superb. Gruffudd
is excellent as Hornblower, Lindsay is masterful as Pellew
and a host of well known British actors make up the large
support cast.
The main sailing ship used in filming is the Grand Turk,
a 50-metre replica, which adds a huge dose of realism to the
drama. Other ships (up to one-tonne models for the action
sequences) are lifelike and if you can pick the fact they
are models during the naval battles you need your eyes tested.
The transfer is excellent, with no obvious glitches, and
the colour is perfect.
We want more!
Conclusion: Movie 90%, Extras 60%
Continued: DVD
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