Black Sails hangs a tale in the Dock
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History was brought to life for Amazon Prime as a row of pirates could were seen swinging in gibbets along the infamous Execution Dock on the river Thames, the site of the most famous pirate hangings on record.
The scene was the first of its kind to occur on the docks since the 1800s, when renowned brigand Captain Kidd and hundreds of his fellow marauders, thieves and plunderers were captured and executed. The fearsome swashbucklers, the first to be seen by the current residents of the UK’s most famous pirate town, were hung along the history-steeped waterfront.
The scene marks the launch of epic pirate drama Black Sails on Amazon Prime Instant Video, the UK’s largest TV and movie subscription streaming service and the only place members can watch the critically acclaimed show in the UK.
Executive produced by cinema legend Michael Bay (Transformers, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon), Black Sails is set 20 years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. The fast-paced pirate epic follows Captain Flint and his men as they fight for the survival in the Bahamas in a ruthless dog-eat-dog world of marauders and criminals. A haven for thieves and pirates, betrayal is rife, and wits are a weapon for survival.
Starring Toby Stephens (Die Another Day, The Machine), Jessica Parker Kennedy (90210), Tom Hopper (Merlin, Doctor Who), Zach McGowan (Shameless), and Clara Paget (One Day, Johnny English Reborn), Black Sails delves into the darkest side of pirate life, rooting itself in murder, theft and lawlessness.
Following the stunt, members of Prime Instant Video can immerse themselves in the gritty and exotic world of the 18th century high-seas drama with all eight episodes of Black Sails available to stream at launch.
“Execution Dock was the site of some of the most famous pirate executions in history, and the town still retains a lot of its links with buccaneer activity with pub names and architecture a reminder of its pirate past” said Angus Konstam, one of the world’s leading pirate historians. “The beach of the river Thames with the moss-covered timbers will not have changed much from when real pirate hangings took place, so it was amazing to bring that part of history to life once more for the local people of Wapping to witness. The last pirates to be hung here were two men named George Davis and William Watts, charged with piracy and executed at the end of 1830.’
Mischief PR was commissioned to generate PR from the stunt with the Evening Standard and The Telegraph amongst many publications to take up the story.
