Longitude (2000)

Andrew Scott: John Campbell

Quotes 

• Lieutenant John Campbell : I thought only of one thing: a piece of twisted brass spinning. There, look. Look at its little heart still beating. I thought to myself, this'll never happen again. There'll be a machine to tell us where we are. I swore that if I lived, I'd come and find you.

  John Harrison : John, when they were dying, who did your men curse for their misfortune?

  Lieutenant John Campbell : Their God, or their admiral; when you're a foot, there's little difference.

  John Harrison : And if they'd a clock, and the clock didn't work, and the men still died... who would they curse then? When you're young, you think everything's possible. But as you grow older, you discover that it isn't.

  Lieutenant John Campbell : Well then, don't grow older, Mr. Harrison.

• Lieutenant John Campbell : I sailed in the company of 961 men, sir. 203 returned to England. Of the 760 who died, only 48 were killed by enemy action.

  John Harrison : And the rest?

  Lieutenant John Campbell : Disease. Despair. We were lost: weeks on end without sight of land, fresh food, water... Although much of the time we were within 6 hours' sailing of Juan Fernandez; but we mistook our position... didn't know it. I saw more men die than any Roman emperor. Men who you'll remember, and who remembered you: John Sprague; Lieutenant Draper; the messboys, Ned and Sed, didn't even make 14. We all heard about the Orford and how your machine performed, as we sailed hopelessly on, heaving man after man over the side.

• John Harrison : I'm afraid you must excuse me, but I should go back on deck. The air in here is...

  John Campbell : Poisonous? You'll get used to it. Most people don't notice it after the first couple of years.

• Lieutenant John Campbell : Gentlemen, Captain Cook is carrying a copy of Mr. Harrison's timekeeper made by Mr. Kendall, and the, um, astronomical tables of the Rev. Maskelyn. His full report will not be available until his return, but I am able to read you this extract from his log: "It would not be doing justice to Mr. Harrison and Mr. Kendall if I did not own that we have received very great assistance from this useful and valuable timepiece. The watch was used to predict the landfall of St. Helena within three miles."

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : This is not evidence, but anecdote!