Film SummaryA period comedy about an illegal radio station in the North

Sea in the 1960’s. It tells the story of the fictitous pirate radio station “Radio Rock” and it’s crew of eclectic disc jockets, who broadcast rock and pop music to the UK from a ship anchored in the North Sea while the British government endeavors to shut them down.

Synopsis: THE BOAT THAT ROCKED is an ensemble comedy, where the romance is between the young people of the 60's, and pop music. It's about a band of DJs that captivate Britain, playing the music that defines a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, prefers jazz.In 1966 – British pop music's finest era – the BBC played just 2 hours of rock and roll every week. But pirate radio played rock and pop from the high seas 24 hours a day. And 25 million people – over half the population of Britain – listened to the pirates every single day.Recently expelled from school, Carl (Tom Sturridge) has been sent by his mother to find some direction in life by visiting his godfather Quentin. However, Quentin is the boss of Radio Rock, a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea, populated by an eclectic crew of rock 'n' roll DJs.They are led by The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman); a big, brash, American, god of the airwaves, and totally in love with the music. He's faithfully backed up by his co-broadcasters Dave (Nick Frost); ironic, intelligent and cruellyfunny; Simon (Chris O'Dowd) - super-nice and searching for true love; Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom) - enigmatic, handsome and man of few words; Wee Small Hours Bob - the late night DJ, whose hobbies are folk music and drugs; Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke) - possessor of the smallest intelligence known to mankind; On-The-Hour John (Will Adamsdale) - the newsreader; and Angus 'The Nut' Nutsford (Rhys Darby) - possibly the most annoying man in Britain.Life on the North Sea is eventful. Simon finds the woman of his dreams and is married on the boat…only to be left by his bride the next day. Gavin (Rhys Ifans) returns from his drug tour of America to his rightful position as greatest DJ in Britain and, in doing so, clashes with the Count. And Carl discovers the opposite sex and who his real father is.Meanwhile, pirate stations have come to the attention of government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) who is out for the blood of these lawbreakers. In an era when the stuffy corridors of power stifle anything approaching youthful exuberance, Dormandy seizes the chance to score a political goal and The Marine Broadcasting Offences Act is passed in an effort to outlaw the pirates and remove their ghastly influence from the land once and for all.What result is a literal storm on the high seas. With Radio Rock in peril, it’s devoted fans rally together and stage an epic Dunkirk-style hundred boat rescue to save their DJ heroes. Some things may come to an end, but rock n roll never dies.

Production

The film is written and directed by Richard Curtis.Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Hilary Bevan Jones.Cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy. Rhys Ifans,

Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh. Produced by Working Title Films for Universal Pictures and was

filmed on the Isle of Portland and at Shepperton Studios. Budget was over £30 million.

Stars

Bill Nig

hy

Famous English actor, starred in such films as Love actually and Lord of the Rings.

Philli

p

Hoffm

an

Famous American actor, known for mission impossible III etc.

English actor from Essex. Ice age, Paul, Wild child, Shaun of the dead, hot fuzz etc.

Nick Fr

ost

Tom Sturridge

English actor, both parents in the film industry. Also known for a few other films like waiting for forever (2010)

Release

Released on 1st April 2009 in UK.Released on 13th November 2009 in North America. Box office £36,348,784??Only making £6.1 million in its first 12 weeks at the British Box

office. In US Pirate Radio was still commercially unsuccessful, earning

only approximately £5 million.

Pirate Radio

The name change from The boat that Rocked to Pirate Radio was made in America.

Inspiration

The director Richard Curtis said “Every person in my generation has the same memory”, “You would go to bed at night and put your transistor radio underneath your pillow, switch it on and hear fantastic music you could not hear elsewhere. And your parent-s would shout from downstairs ‘Go to bed! Turn off the light; go to sleep!’ It was one of the things that made me love pop music, that slight sense of it being illicit and illegal.”

Curtis aimed to capture the essence of Robert Altman’s classic MASH and John Landis’ Animal House in the film; informality, loose structure, male bonding and irreverent jokes. I think that this was successful constantly through-out the film and those words describe it perfectly.

Many of the cast was sent to ‘Boot Camp’ which involved them living and rehearsing on the boat which they would be filming. Rhys Ifans said “It worked as a bonding exercise”.

Tester poster and trailer Main poster and trailer

Character posters