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Voyage in the Beagle
In July 1977 a replica of HMS Beagle, the ship in which Charles Darwin made his historic voyage in 1831, set out from the Cornish port of Charlestown.
The new Beagle was chartered by the BBC for the filming of The Voyage of Charles Darwin and her mission was none less than to re-enact Darwin's voyage in tropical Brazil, Tierra del Fuego and the Galapagos Islands, some of the most remote and spectacular landscapes of the world.
The author of this book, whose previous experience of ships had been confined to a rowing boat of Regent's Park lake, has written a saga - often hilariously funny - of adventure and misadventure.
The new Beagle was chartered by the BBC for the filming of The Voyage of Charles Darwin and her mission was none less than to re-enact Darwin's voyage in tropical Brazil, Tierra del Fuego and the Galapagos Islands, some of the most remote and spectacular landscapes of the world.
The author of this book, whose previous experience of ships had been confined to a rowing boat of Regent's Park lake, has written a saga - often hilariously funny - of adventure and misadventure.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published November 2, 1978
About the author
John Goldsmith
6 books1 followerJohn was born in London in 1947 and educated at Winchester, where he won the Queen’s Gold Medal for English Verse, and the University of Aix-Marseille (Diplome de langue et lettres Francaises.). At the age of 21 he sold his first novel, Mrs. Mount, Ascendant, to Leonard Woolf at the Hogarth Press. He subsequently worked for Hogarth/Chatto & Windus as a part-time reader and editor while breaking into TV by contributing episodes to the action-adventure series The Protectors.
After a short stretch in business he returned to full-time writing with the publication of his second novel, The Icing of Balthazar, in 1977, and a script for the cult sci-fi series Space, 1999. He also took on freelance editing work, with Edna Healy’s Lady Unknown, Sir John Gielgud’s An Actor And His Time, and the art historian Roger Hinx’s acclaimed Gymnasium of the Mind. He gave up this sort of work in 1986 having reached the summit of Sir Stephen Spender’s Journals. During this period he also contributed scripts to vintage British TV series including The New Avengers, The Return of the Saint and The Professionals.
In film and television, since the late 1980’s he has concentrated on historical subjects (Catherine The Great; Kings In Grass Castles; Paradise Found; A Bear Named Winnie; La Belle Otero ), classic adaptations (Great Expectations; The Old Curiosity Shop; David Copperfield; Kidnapped) and Biblical epics (In The Beginning; Mary Mother of Jesus; The Gospel of John). He started writing for the American market in 1987 with The Disney Channel’s thirteen-hour swashbuckler Return To Treasure Island.
He has published three other novels, including his child of shame, the airport bookstall blockbuster Bullion (1982). He has also published numerous children’s books.
His TV documentary Mrs Livingstone, I Presume won the Silver Award at the New York International Film and TV Festival. His feature adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Danny, Champion Of The World was nominated for an ACE in the writing category and won the award for Childrens’ Programming 9+, picking up five more awards in various festivals and countries. His Waltz Through The Hills picked up numerous awards, including the 1988 Australian Pater Award. As writer, he was
Nominated for an Emmy in 1998-99 for The Island On Bird Street and the movie itself won Best Picture in its category. His critically acclaimed mini series Victoria & Albert was nominated for Best Mini Series at Banff in 2002. His Gospel of John won the Templeton Foundation Epiphany Award in 2003. In 2005 he was nominated for a Gemini Award for A Bear Named Winnie.
In 1978 he published the best-selling Voyage In The Beagle, an account of the re-enactment of Darwin’s famous voyage in which he served as a crew member of the replica ship that featured in the BBC series The Voyage of Charles Darwin. Darwin resurfaced in his 2008 movie Darwin’s Darkest Hour.
His current projects include a feature on Mao Zedong, China Skies, a stage musical based on David Copperfield, an opera based on The Epic of Gilgamesh, a feature set in Australia, To The Bitter End, and a feature adaptation of Dante’s Inferno.
He is married and lives in Hampstead. His only son was killed in a car crash in France in 2005.
For a full list of screen credits go to:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0326089/
After a short stretch in business he returned to full-time writing with the publication of his second novel, The Icing of Balthazar, in 1977, and a script for the cult sci-fi series Space, 1999. He also took on freelance editing work, with Edna Healy’s Lady Unknown, Sir John Gielgud’s An Actor And His Time, and the art historian Roger Hinx’s acclaimed Gymnasium of the Mind. He gave up this sort of work in 1986 having reached the summit of Sir Stephen Spender’s Journals. During this period he also contributed scripts to vintage British TV series including The New Avengers, The Return of the Saint and The Professionals.
In film and television, since the late 1980’s he has concentrated on historical subjects (Catherine The Great; Kings In Grass Castles; Paradise Found; A Bear Named Winnie; La Belle Otero ), classic adaptations (Great Expectations; The Old Curiosity Shop; David Copperfield; Kidnapped) and Biblical epics (In The Beginning; Mary Mother of Jesus; The Gospel of John). He started writing for the American market in 1987 with The Disney Channel’s thirteen-hour swashbuckler Return To Treasure Island.
He has published three other novels, including his child of shame, the airport bookstall blockbuster Bullion (1982). He has also published numerous children’s books.
His TV documentary Mrs Livingstone, I Presume won the Silver Award at the New York International Film and TV Festival. His feature adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Danny, Champion Of The World was nominated for an ACE in the writing category and won the award for Childrens’ Programming 9+, picking up five more awards in various festivals and countries. His Waltz Through The Hills picked up numerous awards, including the 1988 Australian Pater Award. As writer, he was
Nominated for an Emmy in 1998-99 for The Island On Bird Street and the movie itself won Best Picture in its category. His critically acclaimed mini series Victoria & Albert was nominated for Best Mini Series at Banff in 2002. His Gospel of John won the Templeton Foundation Epiphany Award in 2003. In 2005 he was nominated for a Gemini Award for A Bear Named Winnie.
In 1978 he published the best-selling Voyage In The Beagle, an account of the re-enactment of Darwin’s famous voyage in which he served as a crew member of the replica ship that featured in the BBC series The Voyage of Charles Darwin. Darwin resurfaced in his 2008 movie Darwin’s Darkest Hour.
His current projects include a feature on Mao Zedong, China Skies, a stage musical based on David Copperfield, an opera based on The Epic of Gilgamesh, a feature set in Australia, To The Bitter End, and a feature adaptation of Dante’s Inferno.
He is married and lives in Hampstead. His only son was killed in a car crash in France in 2005.
For a full list of screen credits go to:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0326089/
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 22, 2023
In July 1977 a replica of HMS Beagle was chartered by the BBC for the filming of The Voyage of Charles Darwin and her mission was none less than to re-enact Darwin's voyage in tropical Brazil, Tierra del Fuego and the Galapagos Islands, some of the most remote and spectacular landscapes of the world. It follows, of course, the voyage of the Beagle captained by Fitzroy in 1831 - a voyage on which a youthful Charles Darwin took up the role of naturalist. Fitzroy's five year voyage was on a mission to survey and chart the South American coastline and take time measurements.
Author John Goldsmith was appointed to the Beagle as the chronicler of the process, and although he joined for a part of he expedition only (joining in Salvador, Brazil and departing in Ancud, Chile) he does a commendable job.
It is not a particularly serious book. It pokes fun and the crew, captain and especially the author, it shares the goings on behind the scene, the voyage of the ship, the misadventures on shore and the tangle with authorities.
Goldsmith is an author of fiction (although I have never read him before) and has no nautical background - which is obvious and he refers to his previous experience as 'having demolished a valuable rowing-eight when acting as coxwain, (he) became suddenly incapable of remembering which tiller-rope you pulled to go left or right, and steered into a granite bridge'.
The crew were almost all amateurs, and volunteers. They all played the part of extra's in the period drama, and were a fairly amusing bunch, who remarkably all seemed to get on well with each other, although alcohol played a large part in that.
There is some good description of the work to covert the boat Marquis built in Valencia in 1917, and refitted and used in such period dramas as The Onedin Line and Poldark (the 1975 version) before the refit to match up with Beagle, which was carried out is a rush and therefore never completed to a standard required - engines in particular giving trouble at various times.
There is also good description of the places visited (in the journey before Goldsmith joined he provides a good outline, particularly of St Paul's Rocks (now called Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, Brazil), which I had never heard of, but comprised at that time of an uninhabited collection of islands, now a Brazilian naval base), which of course, was a stop on the original Beagle journey.
But for the largest part, the narrative covers the day to day goings-on onboard the ship, the crew, the weather, the interactions, the dramas of the voyage. The filming is covered only fairly briefly and primarily when Goldsmith was involved directly (as an extra), and is really just a collection of amusing anecdotes appended to the voyage route. There is a very brief summary of the remained of the Beagle's journey from the point Goldsmith left the ship, but it is a paragraph or two in length only, so primarily covering Brazil, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego and Chile.
An easy quick read, some average quality black and while photographs, some nice pen and ink drawings of the ship and helpful maps throughout.
3.5 stars, rounded down.
Author John Goldsmith was appointed to the Beagle as the chronicler of the process, and although he joined for a part of he expedition only (joining in Salvador, Brazil and departing in Ancud, Chile) he does a commendable job.
It is not a particularly serious book. It pokes fun and the crew, captain and especially the author, it shares the goings on behind the scene, the voyage of the ship, the misadventures on shore and the tangle with authorities.
Goldsmith is an author of fiction (although I have never read him before) and has no nautical background - which is obvious and he refers to his previous experience as 'having demolished a valuable rowing-eight when acting as coxwain, (he) became suddenly incapable of remembering which tiller-rope you pulled to go left or right, and steered into a granite bridge'.
The crew were almost all amateurs, and volunteers. They all played the part of extra's in the period drama, and were a fairly amusing bunch, who remarkably all seemed to get on well with each other, although alcohol played a large part in that.
There is some good description of the work to covert the boat Marquis built in Valencia in 1917, and refitted and used in such period dramas as The Onedin Line and Poldark (the 1975 version) before the refit to match up with Beagle, which was carried out is a rush and therefore never completed to a standard required - engines in particular giving trouble at various times.
There is also good description of the places visited (in the journey before Goldsmith joined he provides a good outline, particularly of St Paul's Rocks (now called Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, Brazil), which I had never heard of, but comprised at that time of an uninhabited collection of islands, now a Brazilian naval base), which of course, was a stop on the original Beagle journey.
But for the largest part, the narrative covers the day to day goings-on onboard the ship, the crew, the weather, the interactions, the dramas of the voyage. The filming is covered only fairly briefly and primarily when Goldsmith was involved directly (as an extra), and is really just a collection of amusing anecdotes appended to the voyage route. There is a very brief summary of the remained of the Beagle's journey from the point Goldsmith left the ship, but it is a paragraph or two in length only, so primarily covering Brazil, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego and Chile.
An easy quick read, some average quality black and while photographs, some nice pen and ink drawings of the ship and helpful maps throughout.
3.5 stars, rounded down.
Displaying 1 of 1 review