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arthur_of_the_britonsThe Neville family, Martin and Daphne, and their children, Perry, Tamzin and Sophie, were involved with a number of episodes of Arthur of the Britons.” Martin recalled that “Arthur of the Britons” was HTV's big production for 1972. Daphne, who worked as a newsreader and television presenter for HTV, had heard that the company was auditioning children for parts in the series, so her daughters auditioned.
Tamzin was cast as Elka in “The Gift of Life” and Sophie appeared as another Saxon child. Perry was given a small speaking role as one of the Wood People’s children in “The Wood People”, and Sophie also appeared as a Woodchild.
Arthur is Dead
Their involvement began much earlier, because the field in the village of Frampton Mansell, where the drowning of the Saxons in "Arthur is Dead" was filmed, was owned by Daphne and Martin Neville.
This tent - a unit base for the production - was erected in the field, “with a full English breakfast being served by location caterers from the back of a two-tone bus.”
When the Nevilles' field, naturally marshy, was chosen as a location, they had to dam two streams that flowed down from the woods to make it much wetter. The local road engineer Percy Baxter brought in diggers to make the holes for the Saxons to drown in; it took three days for the field to get sufficiently waterlogged for filming.
Here are Tamzin and Perry, and their sheepdog, with Percy Baxter, and some of the crew.
When the field was deemed wet enough, filming could commence. Sophie recalls, “While the lane below the wood that ran along the sides of our valley was closed to traffic, HTV ran cables and moved in with their lights, camera equipment and props amounting to bundles of swords, spears, shields and other weaponry.”
Here you can see the Gulliver’s Prop lorry as well as costume and make-up artists with their kit-bags attending to the actors and extras, including Roger Harding (left).
Sophie says “there would have been have been a large 2K light on this tripod. Here, the crew is setting up to record the battle between the Celts and Cerdig’s Saxons in the woods.”
Here we see Rupert Davies as Cerdig, waiting for the call to “Action!”
Sophie remembers that when Arthur pretended to retreat, leading his men downhill to lure the Saxon hordes to follow him, they found the hill very steep, and some of the actors “ended up tumbling down the bank.”
She says, “As the scene was difficult to replicate it was shot with two cameras, seen here set on wooden tripods. The result was exciting.”
Here is how the scene looked in colour.
And this is how the field, now set aside for conservation, appeared in 2014:
The Gift of Life
Tamzin Neville was 8 years old when she appeared in “The Gift of Life.” According to Sophie Neville, Oliver Tobias later introduced Tamzin as his co-star.
Sophie remembers going to watch the first scene, in which Arthur's village has been set ablaze by Saxon raiders, beng filmed. Here, Oliver Tobias as Arthur and Michael Gothard as Kai can just been seen standing outside the doors of the hall, as smoke billows around them.
Here we see Michael Gothard, Sean Fleming and Tamzin Neville, with Woodchester mansion in the background. Daphne recalls that Michael Gothard was very good with the children. Sophie agrees: “I am not sure whether Michael Gothard had worked with children before but he seemed able to cope.”
Sophie and Perry Neville watch Tamzin having her dirty face seen to by a make-up artist. Sophie says she was "fascinated in her costume, including her shoes which were made of hessian sacking."
Sophie remembers, “No one had asked Tamzin if she could ride. It was a good thing she was used to large horses and had a naughty pony of her own. They set off at speed and her hessian dress was not exactly ideal riding wear. Sean Fleming was excellent as her brother, and managed to cling on behind the saddle as they charged across the hills, which can’t have been easy.” Here, Tamzin keeps hold of "Kerig, the hideous doll whose head kept falling off"!
It's quite striking how close the cameras had to be, and how many people were standing right near – it must have been very difficult making sure the camera only saw what was supposed to be in the shot.
Sophie explains, "Nowadays, we have feeds from the camera to monitors, but up until the 1990s, a substantial number of people would need to watch from behind the camera making it quite difficult for actors to concentrate."
The hours can be very long and it can be chilly. There is often a lot of waiting around. Here, Michael Gothard takes advantage of such a break in proceedings, holding a mirror while his make-up is refreshed.
Sean Fleming as Krist and Tamzin Neville as Elka.
Here we see Daphne Neville, who played a Saxon woman extra, and acted as on-set chaperone, with Tamzin as Elka, Geoffrey Adams as Hald, and Sean Fleming as Krist.
This scene from "The Gift of Life" features Perry, Sophie, and Daphne Neville (far right).
Sophie recalls, "I appeared as the Saxon girl with blonde curly hair seen working in the fields with Heather Wright when the children returned to the Saxon village. While Heather was in lime green, I wore a gold-ish coloured top and plum skirt with no shoes. Appearing in “Arthur of the Britons” wasn’t very comfortable: we had to run barefoot across a field of thistles! You can see me hobbling across the end of the field. My other sister, Perry, was barefoot too. My mother, as a Saxon woman virtually carried her into the village after Tamzin and Sean."
Other recollections
"There were a number of weapons on set that intrigued us as children. We all wanted to learn how to use them. Oliver Tobias began to teach us sword fighting, however there was an accident on set which put a stop to this. One of the actors was having his boots sorted out by a wardrobe assistant when he casually swung his axe. Although it was just a blunt prop, with no edge to the blade, it went into her head, resulting in a four inch gash across her scalp. He was devastated. It was a complete accident. The wardrobe assistant recovered but it was a sobering incident and great care was taken when handling the props afterwards, even though they seemed blunt and harmless."
Informal photo of Sean Fleming, Tamzin and Sophie Neville, Jenny Fleming, Kerig the doll and Daphne Neville.
Thanks to Sophie Neville, Daphne Neville and Martin Neville.
Further details and photos from the filming of "The Gift of Life" can be found on Sophie's blog, here.
Tamzin was cast as Elka in “The Gift of Life” and Sophie appeared as another Saxon child. Perry was given a small speaking role as one of the Wood People’s children in “The Wood People”, and Sophie also appeared as a Woodchild.
Arthur is Dead
Their involvement began much earlier, because the field in the village of Frampton Mansell, where the drowning of the Saxons in "Arthur is Dead" was filmed, was owned by Daphne and Martin Neville.
This tent - a unit base for the production - was erected in the field, “with a full English breakfast being served by location caterers from the back of a two-tone bus.”
When the Nevilles' field, naturally marshy, was chosen as a location, they had to dam two streams that flowed down from the woods to make it much wetter. The local road engineer Percy Baxter brought in diggers to make the holes for the Saxons to drown in; it took three days for the field to get sufficiently waterlogged for filming.
Here are Tamzin and Perry, and their sheepdog, with Percy Baxter, and some of the crew.
When the field was deemed wet enough, filming could commence. Sophie recalls, “While the lane below the wood that ran along the sides of our valley was closed to traffic, HTV ran cables and moved in with their lights, camera equipment and props amounting to bundles of swords, spears, shields and other weaponry.”
Here you can see the Gulliver’s Prop lorry as well as costume and make-up artists with their kit-bags attending to the actors and extras, including Roger Harding (left).
Sophie says “there would have been have been a large 2K light on this tripod. Here, the crew is setting up to record the battle between the Celts and Cerdig’s Saxons in the woods.”
Here we see Rupert Davies as Cerdig, waiting for the call to “Action!”
Sophie remembers that when Arthur pretended to retreat, leading his men downhill to lure the Saxon hordes to follow him, they found the hill very steep, and some of the actors “ended up tumbling down the bank.”
She says, “As the scene was difficult to replicate it was shot with two cameras, seen here set on wooden tripods. The result was exciting.”
Here is how the scene looked in colour.
And this is how the field, now set aside for conservation, appeared in 2014:
The Gift of Life
Tamzin Neville was 8 years old when she appeared in “The Gift of Life.” According to Sophie Neville, Oliver Tobias later introduced Tamzin as his co-star.
Sophie remembers going to watch the first scene, in which Arthur's village has been set ablaze by Saxon raiders, beng filmed. Here, Oliver Tobias as Arthur and Michael Gothard as Kai can just been seen standing outside the doors of the hall, as smoke billows around them.
Here we see Michael Gothard, Sean Fleming and Tamzin Neville, with Woodchester mansion in the background. Daphne recalls that Michael Gothard was very good with the children. Sophie agrees: “I am not sure whether Michael Gothard had worked with children before but he seemed able to cope.”
Sophie and Perry Neville watch Tamzin having her dirty face seen to by a make-up artist. Sophie says she was "fascinated in her costume, including her shoes which were made of hessian sacking."
Sophie remembers, “No one had asked Tamzin if she could ride. It was a good thing she was used to large horses and had a naughty pony of her own. They set off at speed and her hessian dress was not exactly ideal riding wear. Sean Fleming was excellent as her brother, and managed to cling on behind the saddle as they charged across the hills, which can’t have been easy.” Here, Tamzin keeps hold of "Kerig, the hideous doll whose head kept falling off"!
It's quite striking how close the cameras had to be, and how many people were standing right near – it must have been very difficult making sure the camera only saw what was supposed to be in the shot.
Sophie explains, "Nowadays, we have feeds from the camera to monitors, but up until the 1990s, a substantial number of people would need to watch from behind the camera making it quite difficult for actors to concentrate."
The hours can be very long and it can be chilly. There is often a lot of waiting around. Here, Michael Gothard takes advantage of such a break in proceedings, holding a mirror while his make-up is refreshed.
Sean Fleming as Krist and Tamzin Neville as Elka.
Here we see Daphne Neville, who played a Saxon woman extra, and acted as on-set chaperone, with Tamzin as Elka, Geoffrey Adams as Hald, and Sean Fleming as Krist.
This scene from "The Gift of Life" features Perry, Sophie, and Daphne Neville (far right).
Sophie recalls, "I appeared as the Saxon girl with blonde curly hair seen working in the fields with Heather Wright when the children returned to the Saxon village. While Heather was in lime green, I wore a gold-ish coloured top and plum skirt with no shoes. Appearing in “Arthur of the Britons” wasn’t very comfortable: we had to run barefoot across a field of thistles! You can see me hobbling across the end of the field. My other sister, Perry, was barefoot too. My mother, as a Saxon woman virtually carried her into the village after Tamzin and Sean."
Other recollections
"There were a number of weapons on set that intrigued us as children. We all wanted to learn how to use them. Oliver Tobias began to teach us sword fighting, however there was an accident on set which put a stop to this. One of the actors was having his boots sorted out by a wardrobe assistant when he casually swung his axe. Although it was just a blunt prop, with no edge to the blade, it went into her head, resulting in a four inch gash across her scalp. He was devastated. It was a complete accident. The wardrobe assistant recovered but it was a sobering incident and great care was taken when handling the props afterwards, even though they seemed blunt and harmless."
Informal photo of Sean Fleming, Tamzin and Sophie Neville, Jenny Fleming, Kerig the doll and Daphne Neville.
Thanks to Sophie Neville, Daphne Neville and Martin Neville.
Further details and photos from the filming of "The Gift of Life" can be found on Sophie's blog, here.