William Golding's classic sea trilogy, charting a young aristocrat's rite of passage, comes to life in a spectacular adaptation: br br It's 1812 and Edmund Talbot (Benedict Cumberbatch) is travelling on board a decrepit wooden warship. He is on his way to Australia to take up a Government post secured for him by his rich and influential godfather. br br The bulk of the story is set on board the ship on the high seas towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It is a diverse, complex and haunting trilogy of William Golding's novels, Rites of Passage, Close Quarters and Fire Down Below.