Pirate Tales

Ahoy, matey! Be that Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, serenader of baby boomers? Aye, and the angry young man has traded in his legendary swinging mike for a set of pirate's duds, as he assumes the identity of 17th century pirate William Dampier. Combining dramatic re-enactments with graphics, overlaid narration, and host Daltrey's bridging segments, Pirate Tales, originally shown on Turner, offers plenty of tales of peg legs, parrots, and pieces of eight, as it traces the histories of such famous and infamous pirates as Sir William Drake (whom you wouldn't think of as a pirate, but technically he was), Sir John Hawkins, the Irish lady pirate Graneuille (who impressed Queen Elizabeth, even as she robbed the Queen's country), Captain Kidd, and Bartholomew Roberts (who, alert Guiness, captured 400 ships). A bloody fun journey through the cutthroat history of pirates. Recommended. Aud: J, H, P. (R. Pitman)