In 1814 Edmund Talbot embarks from England for Australia, but nothing has prepared him for the squalor of his first-class accommodations on the aging, converted man-of-war that will be his home at sea for the next nine months.

In 1814 Edmund Talbot (Benedict Cumberbatch) embarks from England for Australia to assume a post in the colonial government under the patronage of his influential godfather. But nothing has prepared him for the squalor of his first-class accommodations on the aging, converted man-of-war that will be his home at sea for the next nine months. Also traveling first class are Mr. Prettiman (Sam Neill), a radical whom Edmund is to watch closely; Miss Granham (Victoria Hamilton), an impoverished member of the gentry, forced to become a governess; Mr. Brocklebank (Richard McCabe, The Constant Gardener ), a debauched artist living in a ménage àtrois with his purported wife and daughter; and Parson Colley (Daniel Evans, "The Virgin Queen"), a friendless cleric, who quickly becomes an object of ridicule among the passengers and crew. The plot hinges on a mysterious incident when Colley attempts to proselytize the sailors, becomes drunk and takes to his cabin in an excess of shame. (MAST #, , 2100-2230)