Episodes

  • Episode 234 - Desolation Island (Part 2)

    Episode 234 - Desolation Island (Part 2)
    Jun 28 2026
     Jack and Stephen get some help from their friends, Stephen navigates the highs and lows of London street life, and we discover what's been happening to Diana Villiers. To cap it all, Stephen and Jack are persuaded that the best place for them is at sea.
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • Episode 233 - Desolation Island (Part 1)

    Episode 233 - Desolation Island (Part 1)
    Jun 14 2026
    Desolation Island opens with bucolic absurdity - we’ve got Jack Aubrey on ‘Fiddler’s Green’, Stephen dissecting a fresh cadaver's hands before dinner, a catastrophic get-rich-quick scheme, and Jane Austen-style fibbing from almost everyone. Grab a glass of port and mind your poke—we're getting the band back together.
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Episode 232 - The Mauritius Command (Final Part)

    Episode 232 - The Mauritius Command (Final Part)
    May 31 2026
    The pieces fall into place for the final stages of the invasion of Mauritius - we find out how that’s all going to play out! Plus resolution for Stephen, a boiled baby for Tom Pullings, grief and anger for McAdam, un-earned glory for Admiral Bertie, and a delightful piece of news from home for Jack Aubrey.
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Episode 231 - The Mauritius Command (Part 9)

    Episode 231 - The Mauritius Command (Part 9)
    May 17 2026
    After flexing his brain surgery skills, Stephen is off to subvert the catholics of Mauritius, but gets a nasty dunking. Jack Aubrey has a chance to take on Commodore Hamelin on equal terms.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Episode 230 - The Mauritius Command (Part 8)

    Episode 230 - The Mauritius Command (Part 8)
    May 3 2026
    They're all at it: Jack Aubrey summons his resilience, Tom Pullings summons himself, and fate summons a familiar captain back to the waters off Mauritius. We’re going to have cat-and-mouse pursuits, false dawns, anti-climaxes and yet another blood-soaked action at sea, with a hidden clue as to the fate awaiting one of our main characters.
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    50 mins
  • Episode 229 - The Mauritius Command (Part 7)

    Episode 229 - The Mauritius Command (Part 7)
    Apr 19 2026
    We step into O'Brian's re-telling of the Battle of Grand Port, the only major French naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars, and one of the most devastating, catastrophic reversals in the entire Aubrey-Maturin canon. For one of our characters in particular, it’s going to be a life-changing event.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Episode 228 - Antonia Senior Interview

    Episode 228 - Antonia Senior Interview
    Apr 5 2026

    We're taking a break from The Mauritius Command to bring you a guest interview with Antonia Senior. Antonia is a book critic at The Times, as well as a writer, podcaster and journalist. But before she was any of those things, she was a Patrick O’Brian fan, and we had a great time talking to her about historical fiction, what makes O'Brian such a standout, and which other authors come close. With a little chat about espionage on the side!

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    51 mins
  • Episode 227 - The Mauritius Command (Part 6)

    Episode 227 - The Mauritius Command (Part 6)
    Mar 22 2026
    After the hurricane, we meet human frailty, dockyard corruption, rain-soaked letters from home, and an unborn porcupine. Our heroes debate the value of a human life, with a Tory and a Radical managing not to fall out. Finally, as the invasion of La Réunion begins, lives are saved by the Voltairean Stephen Maturin.
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    1 hr and 14 mins