Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Theatrical pirate docudrama has sex, violence, and history.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Lost Pirate Kingdom
What's the Story?
Narrated by Derek Jacobi, THE LOST PIRATE KINGDOM is a docudrama about the real-life pirates who sailed during the third period of the Golden Age of Piracy. It's 1715, and the War of Spanish Succession has ended, leaving Anglo-American sailors and privateers once hired to capture and loot ships on behalf of the British now unemployed. In order to survive, ex-privateers like Henry Jennings (Mark Gillis), Charles Vane (Tom Padley), Samuel Bellamy (Evan Milton), and Benjamin Hornigold (Sam Callis) sail the waters of the Triangular Trade routes between the Caribbean, England, and West Africa, to rob Spanish ships (and shipwrecks) without official Crown protection. Also among the pirates of this period are Edward Thatch, aka "Blackbeard" (James Oliver Wheatley), and Anne Bonny (Mia Tomlinson), who partnered with Captain Jack Rackham (Jack Waldouck), popularly known as Calico Jack. With the help of actor dramatizations, and interviews with historians and experts, the series offers factual details about these pirates' lives and deaths, and the political and cultural climate in which they operated for more than a decade.
Is It Any Good?
Half informative, half entertaining, this series offers a lively interpretation of the roughly 12-year reign of piracy throughout the Caribbean islands following the War of Spanish Succession. From the plundering and stealing of ships carrying gold, jewels, and slaves to the creation of a Pirate Republic in the Bahamian village of Nassau, it reveals how postwar politics and economics, the slave trade, and natural phenomena all combined to play a role in the massive increase in piracy in the region at that time. Adding to this are humorous, and often ruthlessly violent, actor performances that create a theatrical picture of what the pirates' lives and deaths would have been like.
Many of the pirates featured here are recognizable thanks to centuries of pirate folklore and media renditions of this era. However, The Lost Pirate Kingdom focuses only on the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, which spanned from the 1650s through the 1730s. In doing so, it leaves out some of history's greatest, but less talked about, pirate activities, including the Anglo-French Buccaneers, and the members of what is known as "The Pirate Round," when pirates sailed around the world attacking ships traveling to and from what is now the Middle and Far East. Nonetheless, what stories it does tell are captivating, and worth tuning into.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the history of piracy around the world. Did you know that Vikings were some of the world's earliest pirates? How do pirates continue their work today, given all the technology we have to stop this type of behavior?
The Lost Pirate Kingdom focuses on a period of pirate history made popular by books and media for centuries. Does it challenge how popular culture has characterized the pirates who were active in this period? Would it be equally entertaining if it focused on a different, lesser-known period of pirate history?
TV Details
- Premiere date : March 15, 2021
- Cast : Derek Jacobi , Mark Gillis , Sam Callis
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 22, 2022
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate