Arts feature: The Guardian, 22 July 2002
Monday, 22 July 2002 06:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arthur_of_the_britonsFrom an article by Stuart Jeffries: "You've had your Camelot."
"British TV viewers of a certain age will recall Arthur of the Britons, for example, the early 70s series that for them defined King Arthur. Few take this series seriously, but they should.
True, it is easy to deride Oliver Tobias (who played Arthur) as the unthinking pre-pubescent girl's tea-time crumpet. Click on the Oliver Tobias fan website and you'll be confronted by this quote from a certain Nicola: "I was nine when I first saw Arthur of the Britons. I can remember those dashes home from school to watch it!"
But this was in fact a radical televisual reconstruction of the Arthurian legend. Gone were Guinevere, Camelot, the Round Table, Merlin, chivalrous knights and wan ladies - all that stuff that had become insipid thanks to centuries of medievalist taming of the legend and sexless Pre-Raphaelite Arthurian paintings …
Instead, ruggedly good-looking Tobias played a 6th-century Welsh warrior who, with his army of Celts, took on foreign foes who were invading from the east. This Arthur's aim was to unite the native tribes of Britain against the Saxon invaders. He was, then, the avatar of King Alfred the Great, vanquisher of Vikings and uniter of England. At the same time this multi-talented Arthur got schoolgirl viewers hot and bothered too. What a guy!"
The full article is here
"British TV viewers of a certain age will recall Arthur of the Britons, for example, the early 70s series that for them defined King Arthur. Few take this series seriously, but they should.
True, it is easy to deride Oliver Tobias (who played Arthur) as the unthinking pre-pubescent girl's tea-time crumpet. Click on the Oliver Tobias fan website and you'll be confronted by this quote from a certain Nicola: "I was nine when I first saw Arthur of the Britons. I can remember those dashes home from school to watch it!"
But this was in fact a radical televisual reconstruction of the Arthurian legend. Gone were Guinevere, Camelot, the Round Table, Merlin, chivalrous knights and wan ladies - all that stuff that had become insipid thanks to centuries of medievalist taming of the legend and sexless Pre-Raphaelite Arthurian paintings …
Instead, ruggedly good-looking Tobias played a 6th-century Welsh warrior who, with his army of Celts, took on foreign foes who were invading from the east. This Arthur's aim was to unite the native tribes of Britain against the Saxon invaders. He was, then, the avatar of King Alfred the Great, vanquisher of Vikings and uniter of England. At the same time this multi-talented Arthur got schoolgirl viewers hot and bothered too. What a guy!"
The full article is here