The Boat That Rocked - Plot

Plot

In 1966, numerous pirate radio stations broadcast to the United Kingdom from ships anchored in international waters, specialising in rock and pop music that is not played on BBC Radio. Seventeen year-old Carl (Tom Sturridge), recently expelled from school, is sent to stay with his godfather Quentin (Bill Nighy), who runs the station "Radio Rock" anchored in the North Sea. The eclectic crew of disc jockeys and staffers, led by brash American DJ "The Count" (Philip Seymour Hoffman), quickly accept Carl as one of their own. "Doctor" Dave (Nick Frost) attempts to help him lose his virginity, but the plan goes awry and results in embarrassment for Carl.

In London, government minister Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) resolves to shut down pirate radio stations due to their commercialism and low morals, instructing his subordinate Twatt (Jack Davenport) to find legal loopholes that will serve this end. They attempt to cut off the stations' revenue by prohibiting British businesses from advertising on unlicensed radio stations. Quentin counters this by bringing massively popular DJ Gavin Kavanagh (Rhys Ifans) out of retirement and onto Radio Rock, enticing his advertisers to work around the law by paying their bills from abroad. Gavin's popularity creates a rivalry between himself and The Count.

On his eighteenth birthday Carl is introduced to Quentin's niece Marianne (Talulah Riley) and falls instantly in love with her, but is heartbroken when she is seduced by Doctor Dave. (Marianne does return to the boat later to make up with him and make love to him, and is united with him at the end of the movie.) Carl's roommate "Thick" Kevin (Tom Brooke) observes that the sex, drug, and alcohol-filled atmosphere of Radio Rock is clearly no place for Carl to get on the straight-and-narrow. He theorises that the real reason Carl's mother sent him there is that his father—whom Carl has never met—is someone on the ship, with Quentin being the likeliest suspect.

DJ "Simple" Simon Swafford (Chris O'Dowd) marries Elenore (January Jones) in an onboard ceremony, but soon learns that she only married him as a means to live on the ship and be with Gavin, with whom she is infatuated. The Count challenges Gavin to a game of chicken in defence of Simon's honour: The two DJs climb one of the ship's radio masts in a clash of egos, reconciling after they are both injured by jumping into the ocean below. Marianne returns and apologizes to Carl for sleeping with Doctor Dave, and she and Carl have sex. When Carl's mother Charlotte (Emma Thompson) visits for Christmas, she denies his suspicion that Quentin is his father. As she departs, Carl passes on a cryptic message from reclusive late-night DJ "Smooth" Bob Silver (Ralph Brown), leading to the unexpected revelation that Bob is actually his father.

Meanwhile, Dormandy's mission to ban pirate radio advances when Twatt comes across news of a fishing boat whose distress call was blocked by Radio Rock's powerful signal. Twatt proposes the creation of the Marine Offences Act, which will make pirate radio stations illegal on the grounds that they endanger other vessels. Despite public opinion being heavily in support of the pirate stations, the Act passes unanimously through Parliament and takes effect at midnight on 1 January 1967. The Radio Rock crew choose to defy the law and continue to broadcast, firing up the ship's engine so that they may avoid arrest by relocating. The ageing vessel cannot take the strain, however: the engine explodes and the ship begins to sink. The DJs broadcast their position in hope of aid, but Dormandy refuses to send rescue boats. Carl rescues the oblivious Bob from his cabin while The Count vows to continue broadcasting as long as possible.

With inoperable lifeboats, all gather on the prow as the ship begins to go down. They are rescued by dozens of fans, who heard about their broadcast predicament, and motored out in fleet of small boats to save them; Carl himself is rescued by Marianne. The Radio Rock ship disappears beneath the sea, with The Count emerging from the sinking vessel at the last moment. Though pirate radio in Britain comes to an end, the music lives on, with rock and pop becoming increasingly popular in subsequent decades, broadcast over hundreds of 'legal' stations around the world.