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I suppose it was predictable, as there have been other sequels to Dava Sobel’s 1995 book, which was successful beyond what were probably her best expectations.  A 2000 TV mini-series featured two great actors, Michael Gambon as John Harrison (Gambon unfortunately died last year), and Jeremy Irons as Rupert Gould, the man who restored Harrison’s marine chronometers and wrote a book about them. I’ve seen it; the performances of Gambon and Irons are, as expected, splendid. This mini-series follows the book’s depiction of Nevil Maskelyne (and the lunar distances method) as Harrison’s nemesis. It goes beyond the “rule” quoted by Sobel: “a story that hails a hero must also hiss at a villain”:  Maskelyne is portrayed as a prig, and a theoretician who is all thumbs when attempting to take a sun sight with a marine quadrant.

A play by Arnold Wesker, also titled ‘Longitude’, which I haven’t read or seen, was first produced posthumously in London in 2002. And now there is a musical with lyrics by Kaz Moloney, and music by her, William Godfree, and David Moloney. The show is scheduled to open at the off-West-End theater Upstairs at the Gatehouse, in Highgate, London, next June. A preview may be seen here:
https://www.longitudethemusical.com/videos.
I’m not sure that the musical will repeat the unexpected success of Sobel’s book, but at least I hope that a happy few in the audience will be inspired to take up celestial navigation.

Best, Rafael