News article: Western Daily Press, 6 December 1972
Wednesday, 6 December 1972 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arthur_of_the_britonsKing Arthur at war with the mud
Camelot, legendary home of King Arthur, is beseiged again – by mud.
And the mud looks like winning where the fifth century Saxon failed.
Camelot is the stockaded encampment built in Woollard, near Bristol, for the new HTV series, Arthur Of The Britons, which begins network transmission tonight.
Trouble
The deluge that has flooded the West Country has raised the River Chew in Woollard to flood level. With it the waters have carried away the bridge built by the HTV film-makers and has left Camelot deep in mud and water.
Actor Oliver Tobias, who plays Arthur, told me yesterday: “We are in serious trouble. The mud is indescribable. Arthur may have beaten off the Saxons and the Picts, but he could not have won against conditions like this.”
HTV has filmed 23 episodes of the Arthur series, but the last one, due to be completed next week, may have to be postponed until the flood subsides.
The press is still insisting on referring to Arthur as “King”, and his camp as “Camelot”, though neither were given those titles in the series.
The floods referred to occurred over the previous weekend, 2 and 3 December 1972, and, judging by the state of the village at Woollard, the episode being filmed during and after the torrential rain must have been “The Swordsman.” Also, the girl in the picture, “Celtic maiden Elsa Smith”, was the actress who played “Esla”, in “The Swordsman.”
The footage from “Daughter of the King”, in which Arthur and Kai carry supplies across the flooded yard, must have been filmed soon after the flood.
Camelot, legendary home of King Arthur, is beseiged again – by mud.
And the mud looks like winning where the fifth century Saxon failed.
Camelot is the stockaded encampment built in Woollard, near Bristol, for the new HTV series, Arthur Of The Britons, which begins network transmission tonight.
Trouble
The deluge that has flooded the West Country has raised the River Chew in Woollard to flood level. With it the waters have carried away the bridge built by the HTV film-makers and has left Camelot deep in mud and water.
Actor Oliver Tobias, who plays Arthur, told me yesterday: “We are in serious trouble. The mud is indescribable. Arthur may have beaten off the Saxons and the Picts, but he could not have won against conditions like this.”
HTV has filmed 23 episodes of the Arthur series, but the last one, due to be completed next week, may have to be postponed until the flood subsides.
The press is still insisting on referring to Arthur as “King”, and his camp as “Camelot”, though neither were given those titles in the series.
The floods referred to occurred over the previous weekend, 2 and 3 December 1972, and, judging by the state of the village at Woollard, the episode being filmed during and after the torrential rain must have been “The Swordsman.” Also, the girl in the picture, “Celtic maiden Elsa Smith”, was the actress who played “Esla”, in “The Swordsman.”
The footage from “Daughter of the King”, in which Arthur and Kai carry supplies across the flooded yard, must have been filmed soon after the flood.