Hornblower: Mutiny

2nd Lieutenant Bush (Paul McGann) was cast in the title role in contemporary Napoleonic Wars television series, Sharpe (1993) however, two weeks into filming of the first episode in Ukraine, McGann injured his knee playing football and was forced to withdraw. When production started again a month later, Sean Bean took over the role that made him famous.

When Captain Sawyer orders grog at high noon, he shouts "We'll splice the Main Brace!" which draws a cheer from his crew. Now the phrase "Splice the Main Brace" is a celebratory call before a drink; however, during the age of sail under its original meaning, the phrase was an order to undertake one of the most difficult tasks on-board ship involving splicing the principal line controlling the rotation of the main sail (anyone who desired to do it received an extra issue of rum). The task was long and arduous and critically important for the safety of the ship. Thus, when Captain Sawyer gave this order, his crew would have been looking at hours of work ahead of them with no reason to cheer.

Featured in The 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2001)