Longitude - John Harrison's chronometers

Reverend Maskalyne had been appointed Astronomer Royal, and as such was now a member of the Longitude Board, despite the conflict of interest this caused. His final interference in the Longitude Prize came when he changed the reporting criteria for the test of H4, ensuring that although it had in fact passed the test on the voyage, the report to the board stated that it had failed.

Furious, Harrison's son wrote to King George III who granted them an audience. It is recorded that he was less than pleased with the way Parliament and the Board of Longitude had handled the entire affair.

At the King's insistence, John Harrison got his prize. He was eighty one.

Harrison died three years later, but his Chronometers were used by historic figures such as James Cook, and rapidly replaced astral navigation as the method of determining location at sea. The original Chronometers were found in the 1920's still in the museum, in delapidated condition, by a watchmaker called Rupert Gould who restored them to running condition.

All Harrison's devices can be seen at the Royal Observatory, now part of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.

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Dava Sobel's book propelled John Harrison's work back into the public eye. Winner of the Whitbread prize, it was converted into the miniseries starring Jeremy Irons and Micheal Gambon.

The series juxtaposes the story of John Harrison (Micheal Gambon) with the story of Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons) the man who rediscovered his watches, neglected and damaged, in the basement of the observatory and restored them. Somewhat dramatised for television, not all the incidents shown actually occurred, and real-life incidents were conflated, but it is unusually accurate for a period drama.

Winner of three Bafta's, and a record breaking eight nominations, this is a gripping piece of drama.