Airdate: Black Sails

Showcase premieres STARZ series Black Sails later this month, starring Australian actors Luke Arnold (INXS: Never Tear Us Apart) as John Silver The Recruit and Toby Schmitz (Underbelly: The Man Who Got Away) as Jack Rackham the Quartermaster.

This premiered in the US in January.

1715. The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean is at its apex. The former British colony of New Providence Island is now lawless territory, controlled by a few dozen of the most notorious pirate captains in history. The most feared among them is Captain Flint (Toby Stevens).

But as the British Navy returns to these waters, and the threat of extinction looms, another side of Flint emerges. A man driven by deep, complicated, even romantic motives. He will ally himself with the beautiful Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New) , daughter of the local smuggling kingpin who turns the pirates’ loot into profits. Together, they forge a plan to hunt the ultimate prize, and by winning it, stave off reclamation of their home by a resurgent empire.

Arrayed against them are a series of opponents: rival captains, jealous of Flint’s power; Eleanor’s father, (Sean Cameron Michael) whose ambitions for the island conflict with his daughter’s; and a young sailor, recently recruited onto Flint’s crew, who will somehow manage to constantly undermine his captain’s agenda. His name is John Silver (Luke Arnold).

Black Sails also stars Zach McGowan as Capt Chrales Vane, Jessica Parker Kennedy as Max, Barnes as Miranda Barlow, Clare Paget as Anne Bonny and Richard Wright –Firth as Muldoon.

Tuesdays from August 26 at 9.35pm Showcase.