Herman Melville's classic tale of adventure on the high seas. In this last episode Ishmael comes to the end of the story of what he witnessed as a young man, a story that has haunted him ever since. Captain Ahab, himself now rarely sleeping or eating, ignores the need of the crew for rest and presses on in his obsessive quest for the white whale. After The Pequod is battered by a ferocious typhoon, first mate Starbuck is presented with an opportunity to prevent what seems an inevitable tragedy. To succeed he must overcome his milder nature and steel his nerve. But, in the end, it is Ahab's will that is the stronger, and it seems that nothing can prevent the boiling, wrenching climax, as the maddened whale turns on the ship.

Adapted by Stef Penney, winner of the Costa Award for Best First Novel and overall Costa Best Novel Award in 2007 with her first novel The Tenderness of Wolves.

Cast:

Ishmael ..... Trevor White
Young Ishmael ..... PJ Brennan
Captain Ahab ..... Garrick Hagon
Peter Coffin ..... Howell Evans
Queequeg ..... Sani Muliaumaseali'i
Captain Boomer ..... Mark Meadows
Captain Mayhew ..... Dorian Thomas
Starbuck/Gabriel ..... Richard Laing
Stubb ..... Simon Lee Phillips
Archy ..... Adam Redmayne
Daggoo ..... Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Specially composed music by Stuart Gordon.

Produced and Directed at BBC/Cymru Wales by Kate McAll. Show less