The Fireships

Originally Aired: November 18, 1998 (UK-ITV)/April 11, 1999 (USA-A&E)

Also known as "The Examination for Lieutenant" (UK/Australia)

Cast:

Ioan Gruffudd - Acting Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower

Robert Lindsay - Captain Sir Edward Pellew

Denis Lawson - Captain "Dreadnought" Foster

Ian McNeice - Tapling

Andrew Tiernan - Bunting

Jonathan Coy - Lieutenant Bracegirdle

Ian McElhinney - Captain Hammond

Paul Copley - Matthews

Chris Barnes - Finch

Sean Gilder - Styles

Simon Sherlock - Oldroyd

Colin MacLachlan - Master Bowles

Rupert Holliday-Evans - Steward

Frank Boyce - Midshipman Cleveland

Peter Corey - HM Consul Duras

Simon Slater - Commander Morris

Frank Rozelaar-Green - Spanish captain

Jonathan Aris - Clerkly officer (a.k.a. "Rhumbline Guy")

Crew:

Director: Andrew Grieve

Based on the novel Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by: C.S. Forester

Screenplay by: Mike Cullen

Producer: Andrew Benson

Executive Producer: Delia Fine

Executive Producer: Vernon Lawrence

Associate Producer (Russia): Pavel Douvidzon

Associate Producer (Russia): Stepan Pojenian

Line Producer: Peter Richardson

Cinematographer: Neve Cunningham

Film Editor: Keith Palmer

Production Design: Andrew Mollo

Art Direction: Mike Joyce

Set Decoration: Christian Huband

Costume Designer: John Mollo

Production Supervisor: Lorraine Goodman

Executive in Charge of Production: Philip Leach

Production Manager: Andrew Wood

Production Manager (Russia): Tatiana Shakheldyan

Assistant Production Manager: Sasha Stratievsky

Production Manager (Russia): Viktor Taranov

Unit Manager: Sash Voronin

Assistant Production Manager (Russia): Yulia Zhuravleva

Second Unit Assistant Director: Valentina Plugaru

Painters: Gerry Graham, Dean Hawley

Property Master: Brian Henry

Plasterer: Mickey Spence

Stand-by Carpenter: Alan Sprawson

Assistant Art Director: Ilia Iovu

Dubbing Editor: Michael Crouch

Dubbing Mixer: Colin Martin

Foley Recordist: Dave Sloss

Special Effects Assistant: Pyro Supervisor: Graham Aikman

Special Effects Senior Technician: Model Unit: Jeremy Lovett

Special Effects Supervisor: Russian Crew: Dima Stesenko

Director of Photography: Model Unit: Roy Field

Model Unit Director: Martin Gutteridge

Digital Effects: Mark Thomas-Stubbs

Stunts: Oleg Botin

Production Assistant: Anna Callaghan

Assistant to Producer: Dani Gordon

Production Accountant: Pauline Granby

Script Supervisor: Amanda Lean

Grip: Keith Mead

Unit Nurse: Gerry Savage

Production Coordinator: Adele Steward

Assistant Accountant: Chris Tarry

Assistant Film Editor: Matthew Tucker

Unit Transportation Coordinator: Oleg Gres

Production Assistant (Russia): Zhuraleva Julia

Production Accountant: Zinaida Kravchenko

Army Supervisor (Russia): Teodor Matveev

Production Coordinator (Russia): Lina Merculova

Unit Transportation Coordinator (Russia): Vladimir Skakun

Fireships Trivia

• One of the first scenes filmed on the Hornblower series almost became the last.  According to Ioan Gruffudd in his  "Horatio on Horatio" interview in the Collectors' Edition (US) box set, during the shot in which Hornblower boards the Caroline, Ioan attempted to leap onto the ship--only to fall into the water between the ship and the barge when he missed the side and grabbed onto a rope which wasn't attached to anything.  Thankfully, Paul Copley ("Matthews") was quick enough to reach down and pull the title character out before the two vessels slammed together.  Good ol' Matthews!

• One of the cameras used to film the fire-ship scene in Gibraltar harbor was completely melted by the heat of the flames.  Thankfully, the camera was a bolex, designed to protect its contents and able to run without the presence of a crew.  While the camera didn't make it, the film did. (~Tim McGregor's The Making of C.S. Forester's Hornblower)

• Dennis Lawson ("Captain Foster") spent the bulk of his time during the filming of Hornblower (in which nearly 12 hours a day were spent at sea) sick. (~according to Dennis Lawson's Wikipedia entry.  Thanks to HMS Lozzy for this bit of trivia!)