The Boat That Rocked, Richard Curtis and Tony Benn

Richard Curtis has a new film out. The Boat That Rocked deals with the pirate radio stations of the 1960s.

I don't know much about it, but as The Boat That Rocked is a Richard Curtis film it will star Hugh Grant, an American woman and somebody with an obvious physical disability. There will be a race across London, followed by a happy ending.

An article in the Guardian gives the historical background to the film. The pirate radio stations were hated by government, and the minister who forced them to close was Labour's postmaster general Anthony Wedgwood Benn.

As the DJ Johnnie Walker says:

"He's morphed into everybody's favourite wise uncle ... But back then he was this wild-eyed, maniacal, fearsome, controlling character. If you see any footage of him being interviewed, he looks like he's on speed."

Does Richard Curtis show this in the film?

Of course not. Attacking Tony Benn would be social death in the circles Curtis moves in. So he tells the Guardian:

"When I tried to write a more Labour thing it didn't work," Curtis admits. "It didn't make sense in story terms, so I ended up moving back towards a more authoritarian figure with a moustache."

Still, the article does mention one of the more colourful Liberal candidates of the 1950s: Oliver Smedley. Read more his raid on Shivering Sands fort at The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame.