If there is terror on the high seas, it isn't because of enthusiastic but dreadfully inept Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant). Along with his ragtag crew, he's scouring the oceans for plunder that will help him win the coveted Pirate of the Year Award but after encountering nudists, lepers and ghosts, he's close to giving up.
In a final attempt, he stumbles upon a ship carrying scientist Charles Darwin (David Tennant), who the crew quickly kidnap. They're still low on booty, so when Darwin recognises The Pirate Captain's podgy parrot as actually being the close-to-extinct dodo, he easily persuades his captor to bring the bird back to London with promises of untold riches.
However, back in the capital, pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) rules Britannia, and if she catches on that the group - disguised as Girl Guides - are actually swashbucklers, they'll be lucky to make it out of the city alive.
Nick Park's long-time collaborator Lord does a fine job in this Aardman production shorn of the company's star creator. The jolly story contains all the company's trademark wit and playfulness which, added to a top voice cast headed by Grant, proves yet again that in this medium the stopmotion masters rule the waves.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! is a Film programme that first aired in 2012 and has been classified a U certificate.
