Pirate Radio depicts a Rock radio show that takes to the seas in order to avoid the British governments attempts at censorship in the 60’s. The “Radio Rock” station and its eccentric DJ’s broadcast rock and pop music to the United Kingdom whilst anchored in the North Sea as the government desperately tries to shut them down. The movie starts when seventeen year old Carl, who was expelled from school, is sent to stay with his Godfather, Quentin, who runs the station.
In London, a government minister, Alistir Dormandy, resolves to shut down the station because of its lack of morals and commercialism. He enlists his subordinate Twatt to find legal loopholes in order to shut down the station. They first attempt to cut off the stations revenue by prohibiting businesses from advertising on unlicensed radio stations, and in rebuttal Quentin brings in popular American DJ Gavin Kavanagh out of retirement, causing advertisers to work around the law by paying bills from abroad.
When Carl turns 18, on his birthday Quentin introduces him to his niece Marianne and he instantly falls in love with her but is heartbroken when she is seduced by Doctor Dave, one of the radio’s DJ’s. Carl’s roommate “Thick” Kevin observes that the environment on the Rock Radio ship is not the place for Carl to get back on track after being expelled from school and so theorizes that his mother sent him there to find his father who must be on the boat and most obviously Quentin. Marianne later returns and apologizes to Carl. Carl’s mother Charlotte visits for Christmas and denies that Quentin is his father but as she leaves Carl passes on a message from DJ “smooth” Bob Silver that leads to Carl finding out Bob is his father.
Dormandy’s mission to eliminate rock radio advances when Twatt discovers news of a fishing boat whose distress call was blocked by Radio Rock’s signal. Twatt proposes the Marine Offenses Act, which makes pirate radio stations illegal because they endanger other vessels. The Act takes effect at midnight on January 1st but Radio Rock chooses to defy the law and continue broadcasting, firing up the ships engine to avoid being arrested. However the old engine cannot take the strain, explodes and the ship begins to sink. The DJ’s broadcast their location in hopes of being rescued but Dormandy refuses to send rescue boats. The crew gathers on the prow as the ship sinks, and before they go completely under they are rescued by dozens of fans who heard their broadcast. The Radio Rock ship disappears into to sea with pirate radio coming to an end.
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