Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) (Film4, 9pm) OLD-school thrills. Peter Weir’s swashbuckling adventure, adapted from Patrick O’Brian’s novels, is a proper swashbuckler . Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and the 197 crew of the HMS Surprise are ordered to intercept the French Privateer Acheron and “sink, burn or take her as a prize”. The first altercation between the two vessels leaves Aubrey’s ship badly damaged and many crew injured. Aubrey heads for the Galapagos Islands to replenish supplies while the ship’s doctor, Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), tries his best to minimise the casualties. Russell Crowe famously took to Twitter to defend the film’s merits when someone dared to criticise it.