All the episodes are great but the final one packs a series of emotional punches so powerful it is still hard work to watch. The stress of doing this while surrounded by pirates finally snaps in a very powerful scene where out of earshot Jack screams 'I'm not a criminal !!' while smashing everything he can find. Unrealistic you might think, but intentional. Jack has his life threatened at every turn yet never speaks roughly to anyone else, or acts in a morally questionable way. At its heart Jack Holborn is a morality tale, the message being keep your humanity whatever the situation. Not surprising - back in the day I felt queasy watching it. Patrick Bach looks as if he really did want to be sick in that scene, rather than it being just an act.

For example, they didn't shrink from showing us close-ups of Judge Sheringham's injuries.

Even back as a 13 year old I appreciated the intelligent way the film makers treated the audience. Plus of course a superb music score by Christian Bruhn. Glorious performances by the adults, Monte Markam as Solomon Trumpet being the best of a great cast. Contrast with the Hornblower films where everything is implausibly clean. You can literally smell the dirt, grime and salt water. Anyone who thinks being an actor is glamorous should watch the shipboard scenes. Viewing the DVD 30 years later on a wide screen TV there is so much more there that I missed first time round. Back then I concentrated on Patrick Bach's extraordinary performance as Jack, to this day it's impossible to see anyone else achieving what he did.

I remember watching this on TV in 1984, being the same age then as the principal character.

It's easy to forget just how old this series is. It's a bit cheesy that most things turn out fine and too many things happen coincidental, the swordfights between the pirates and the crew of the Charming Molly don't look that convincing than they did back when I was a kid (Braveheart and Lord of the Rings set a new standart in hack'n'slash on the screen) but what the heck, it's still awesome and gets the full 10 points from me for nostalgic reason. Even without cgi they filmed on many locations that perfectly fit in the looks of the 18th century, clothing, uniforms and tools make the illusion perfect. Many shots made on sea, beautiful ships, solid made model works, good actors, it got all it takes and I still think it's not only for kids. It impressed me a lot when I was a kid, watching it again now brings up some memories and I still have to say that for a mini series from the 80s it is a great one. I haven't seen them in years though as I was afraid I could damage the tapes but gladly the series was released on DVD now and I could watch it in a much better quality then I used to. I first saw this series about 20 years ago, about 1984 I think, my parents taped them for my brother and me and I still own the old tapes.

Jack holborn leon garfield