Extracts: Swashbucklers by James Chapman
Wednesday, 1 July 2015 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arthur_of_the_britonsIn his excellent book, “Swashbucklers”, James Chapman devotes a section of Chapter 3, “Revisionist revivals”, to Arthur of the Britons. Placing the series in its context with regard to broadcasting history, he describes HTV’s Arthur of the Britons and Southern Television’s The Black Arrow as “the first new British costume adventure series since Sir Francis Drake in 1961” and claims that “a generation on from the first costume adventure cycle of the 1950s, the genre was ripe for reinterpretation.”
Costume drama is considerably more appealing when seen in colour, so the time was right: “the switch to colour broadcasting, and technological developments that facilitated a greater amount of location shooting …” in particular “a new type of 16-millimetre Eastman film stock which offered sharper colour resolution and reduced grain” led to “a significant change in the visual style of the swashbuckler.”
This coincided with “the restructuring of the ITV network following the allocation of new franchises in the late 1960s [which] brought new contractors into play”. In addition, “changes in broadcasting policy in relation to the levy paid by ITV contractors on their advertising revenues” meant that in 1971-72 “the ITV companies had to pay less to the Treasury than they had expected: instead the funds were to be invested in production.”
Chapman sees HTV’s budget of £500,000 for Arthur of the Britons - considered a huge investment at the time – as “part of a strategy to establish itself alongside bigger rivals such as ATV and the new London Weekend Television consortium.” He observes that “Arthur of the Britons was HTV's first drama series to be shown across the whole ITV network. HTV made a strategic decision to focus on children's drama by producing content suitable for weekdays between the end of school hours and the early evening news.”
The result was what Chapman describes as a “golden age”, and a “lineage of bold and progressive children’s drama”, with Arthur of the Britons leading the charge.
He explains the involvement of co-production partners, Heritage Enterprises of New York and Taurus Films of Munich: “HTV was too small an outfit to mount such an ambitious undertaking itself.” He describes Heritage Enterprises as “a distributor of dubbed European genre product” who were responsible for the release of King Arthur the Young Warlord, a much abridged feature film of series in the USA in 1975. The involvement of Taurus Films, a West German producer “explains the casting of German actress Gila von Weitershausen as Jutish princess Rowena.”
Chapman quotes HTV’s Programme Controller Patrick Dromgoole: ‘The large number of countries represented [at a 1973 television sales fair] is evidence of the increasing interest among buyers overseas in the programmes being created, and is evidence also of our own developing interest in the overseas market.’
Indeed, Arthur of the Britons was not just shown in West Germany and the USA, but Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, various South American countries, and Australia. This success of HTV’s landmark series “opened the company’s eyes to the possibilities of the international market.”
Chapman believes that the commissioning of the theme tune from Elmer Bernstein was “an indication of the series’ ambition”, and that “Arthur of the Britons can be seen as part of a revival of the Arthurian legend inspired by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical Camelot”…
He sees the casting of Oliver Tobias – fresh from his role in “'tribal love-rock' musical Hair,” as part of the “counter-cultural associations that characterised the Arthurian revival.” He says, “Tobias and his co-star Michael Gothard wear their hair like 1970s pop stars.” In fact, Tobias had, in 1964, toured with his own rock band, and Gothard was frequently likened to Mick Jagger.
Chapman points out that “Arthur of the Britons was “the first adventure series with a genuinely youthful protagonist rather than a mature thirty- or even forty-something leading man”, as well as the first “to present its hero explicitly as an object of male beauty.”
He believes that Arthur of the Britons’ popularity “was probably due as much to Tobias as to its realistic violence. Here was a hero who appealed equally to males and females: boys would enjoy the robust action sequences - Tobias and Gothard perform many of their own stunts, and are both highly proficient in sword-fighting and horsemanship - while for adolescent girls Tobias became a romantic pin-up to rank alongside such seventies icons as David Cassidy and David Essex.”
It should be pointed out that fans were probably about evenly split with regard to their preference for either Tobias’ Arthur or Gothard’s Kai!
Arthur of the Britons is described as “a largely satisfying revisionist interpretation of the Arthurian legend” set in the early fifth century, after the Romans had left the Celts to their own devices, and “shorn of all the myth and chivalric trappings acquired over the centuries.”
In looking at Arthur's connection to the Romans, Chapman refers to “The Challenge”, in which Arthur reminds Kai that he “owes his fighting prowess to Roman training” - “You forget – the Romans taught me the short sword” and Kai responds, “I’ve killed Romans with it.” However, Chapman incorrectly attributes the quotation in “The Girl from Rome” – “I fear we have no chariots. The Romans used them all, running from our spears” to Arthur; it was Kai that said this to Benedicta.
But Arthur’s main concern, as Chapman points out, is not any past dealings with the Romans, but his efforts to “forge a ‘Celtic alliance’ as a bulwark against the Saxons.”
Chapman goes on to discuss the “recurring themes which sit somewhat uneasily alongside one another” in Arthur of the Britons:
“Throughout the series there is a tension between the desire for peace and the need for robust self-defence. Arthur is cast in the role of peace-maker: he alone has the vision to unite the rival factions among the Celts and to promote their peaceful co-existence with the Saxons.
The narrative of conflict resolution is a standard device of juvenile fiction of course … but in Arthur of the Britons it is undercut by an unusual insistence on fighting prowess and military skill … In the absence of any central authority it is necessary to be able to fight to protect one's land and family.
Arthur of the Britons, then, presents a world-view in which violence may be legitimate and necessary. It is not preferred for resolving disputes, but may be justified in self-defence.”
Chapman also refers to the tone of the series:
“Arthur of the Britons may have been positioned as children's entertainment … but some of its content is remarkably adult in tone. The brutality of the Dark Ages is much in evidence … There are passing references to the rape of female prisoners that seem somewhat inappropriate for a children's drama series. There are also references to sexual experience that would never have been allowed in a series like The Adventures of Sir Lancelot …”
He continues:
“There is even an implicit suggestion of homo-eroticism in 'The Slaves' wherein Arthur, trying to rescue prisoners from a Saxon slave labour camp, is captured, stripped and flogged. The fact that he is flogged by his adopted brother and best friend Kai - who, as a Saxon himself, is able to impersonate one of the guards - layers a more complex dimension onto the act. Kai … seems to enjoy it: ‘How do you flog a man publicly and stay the whip?’”1
In summing up, Chapman calls Arthur of the Britons “a landmark in the history of the television adventure series. It was the first to be shot entirely on location, and the first to represent the barbarism and brutality of its period in unflinching detail. It marked the emergence of a new style of more realistic and full-blooded swashbucklers that would lead ultimately to Robin of Sherwood”, and “put the British-made costume adventure series back on the map.”
"Swashbucklers - The costume adventure series" by James Chapman was published in 2015 by Manchester University Press. It covers costume drama from the 1950s to 2014.
1 While some fans have interpreted Arthur’s relationship with Kai as homo-erotic, Chapman’s choice of this scene to demonstrate this is not the best. Far from enjoying having to flog Arthur to sustain their cover story, and keep them both alive, Kai is clearly tormented by the ordeal, and would have felt that way, regardless of any possibly romantic or sexual feelings. However, their verbal exchange as Arthur is laid out to be flogged – Kai’s apologetic: “Arthur … it’s the only way I could save you” and Arthur’s understanding: “I know” could leave their relationship open to a homo-erotic interpretation. Some more obvious episodes Chapman could have chosen to demonstrate this potential are “Daughter of the King”, “Enemies and Lovers”, and “The Duel.” But however one chooses to view the relationship, it seems likely that the intention of the creators was more along the lines of a “bromance” than a ground-breaking gay love story on 1970s tea-time TV.
Costume drama is considerably more appealing when seen in colour, so the time was right: “the switch to colour broadcasting, and technological developments that facilitated a greater amount of location shooting …” in particular “a new type of 16-millimetre Eastman film stock which offered sharper colour resolution and reduced grain” led to “a significant change in the visual style of the swashbuckler.”
This coincided with “the restructuring of the ITV network following the allocation of new franchises in the late 1960s [which] brought new contractors into play”. In addition, “changes in broadcasting policy in relation to the levy paid by ITV contractors on their advertising revenues” meant that in 1971-72 “the ITV companies had to pay less to the Treasury than they had expected: instead the funds were to be invested in production.”
Chapman sees HTV’s budget of £500,000 for Arthur of the Britons - considered a huge investment at the time – as “part of a strategy to establish itself alongside bigger rivals such as ATV and the new London Weekend Television consortium.” He observes that “Arthur of the Britons was HTV's first drama series to be shown across the whole ITV network. HTV made a strategic decision to focus on children's drama by producing content suitable for weekdays between the end of school hours and the early evening news.”
The result was what Chapman describes as a “golden age”, and a “lineage of bold and progressive children’s drama”, with Arthur of the Britons leading the charge.
He explains the involvement of co-production partners, Heritage Enterprises of New York and Taurus Films of Munich: “HTV was too small an outfit to mount such an ambitious undertaking itself.” He describes Heritage Enterprises as “a distributor of dubbed European genre product” who were responsible for the release of King Arthur the Young Warlord, a much abridged feature film of series in the USA in 1975. The involvement of Taurus Films, a West German producer “explains the casting of German actress Gila von Weitershausen as Jutish princess Rowena.”
Chapman quotes HTV’s Programme Controller Patrick Dromgoole: ‘The large number of countries represented [at a 1973 television sales fair] is evidence of the increasing interest among buyers overseas in the programmes being created, and is evidence also of our own developing interest in the overseas market.’
Indeed, Arthur of the Britons was not just shown in West Germany and the USA, but Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, various South American countries, and Australia. This success of HTV’s landmark series “opened the company’s eyes to the possibilities of the international market.”
Chapman believes that the commissioning of the theme tune from Elmer Bernstein was “an indication of the series’ ambition”, and that “Arthur of the Britons can be seen as part of a revival of the Arthurian legend inspired by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical Camelot”…
He sees the casting of Oliver Tobias – fresh from his role in “'tribal love-rock' musical Hair,” as part of the “counter-cultural associations that characterised the Arthurian revival.” He says, “Tobias and his co-star Michael Gothard wear their hair like 1970s pop stars.” In fact, Tobias had, in 1964, toured with his own rock band, and Gothard was frequently likened to Mick Jagger.
Chapman points out that “Arthur of the Britons was “the first adventure series with a genuinely youthful protagonist rather than a mature thirty- or even forty-something leading man”, as well as the first “to present its hero explicitly as an object of male beauty.”
He believes that Arthur of the Britons’ popularity “was probably due as much to Tobias as to its realistic violence. Here was a hero who appealed equally to males and females: boys would enjoy the robust action sequences - Tobias and Gothard perform many of their own stunts, and are both highly proficient in sword-fighting and horsemanship - while for adolescent girls Tobias became a romantic pin-up to rank alongside such seventies icons as David Cassidy and David Essex.”
It should be pointed out that fans were probably about evenly split with regard to their preference for either Tobias’ Arthur or Gothard’s Kai!
Arthur of the Britons is described as “a largely satisfying revisionist interpretation of the Arthurian legend” set in the early fifth century, after the Romans had left the Celts to their own devices, and “shorn of all the myth and chivalric trappings acquired over the centuries.”
In looking at Arthur's connection to the Romans, Chapman refers to “The Challenge”, in which Arthur reminds Kai that he “owes his fighting prowess to Roman training” - “You forget – the Romans taught me the short sword” and Kai responds, “I’ve killed Romans with it.” However, Chapman incorrectly attributes the quotation in “The Girl from Rome” – “I fear we have no chariots. The Romans used them all, running from our spears” to Arthur; it was Kai that said this to Benedicta.
But Arthur’s main concern, as Chapman points out, is not any past dealings with the Romans, but his efforts to “forge a ‘Celtic alliance’ as a bulwark against the Saxons.”
Chapman goes on to discuss the “recurring themes which sit somewhat uneasily alongside one another” in Arthur of the Britons:
“Throughout the series there is a tension between the desire for peace and the need for robust self-defence. Arthur is cast in the role of peace-maker: he alone has the vision to unite the rival factions among the Celts and to promote their peaceful co-existence with the Saxons.
The narrative of conflict resolution is a standard device of juvenile fiction of course … but in Arthur of the Britons it is undercut by an unusual insistence on fighting prowess and military skill … In the absence of any central authority it is necessary to be able to fight to protect one's land and family.
Arthur of the Britons, then, presents a world-view in which violence may be legitimate and necessary. It is not preferred for resolving disputes, but may be justified in self-defence.”
Chapman also refers to the tone of the series:
“Arthur of the Britons may have been positioned as children's entertainment … but some of its content is remarkably adult in tone. The brutality of the Dark Ages is much in evidence … There are passing references to the rape of female prisoners that seem somewhat inappropriate for a children's drama series. There are also references to sexual experience that would never have been allowed in a series like The Adventures of Sir Lancelot …”
He continues:
“There is even an implicit suggestion of homo-eroticism in 'The Slaves' wherein Arthur, trying to rescue prisoners from a Saxon slave labour camp, is captured, stripped and flogged. The fact that he is flogged by his adopted brother and best friend Kai - who, as a Saxon himself, is able to impersonate one of the guards - layers a more complex dimension onto the act. Kai … seems to enjoy it: ‘How do you flog a man publicly and stay the whip?’”1
In summing up, Chapman calls Arthur of the Britons “a landmark in the history of the television adventure series. It was the first to be shot entirely on location, and the first to represent the barbarism and brutality of its period in unflinching detail. It marked the emergence of a new style of more realistic and full-blooded swashbucklers that would lead ultimately to Robin of Sherwood”, and “put the British-made costume adventure series back on the map.”
"Swashbucklers - The costume adventure series" by James Chapman was published in 2015 by Manchester University Press. It covers costume drama from the 1950s to 2014.
1 While some fans have interpreted Arthur’s relationship with Kai as homo-erotic, Chapman’s choice of this scene to demonstrate this is not the best. Far from enjoying having to flog Arthur to sustain their cover story, and keep them both alive, Kai is clearly tormented by the ordeal, and would have felt that way, regardless of any possibly romantic or sexual feelings. However, their verbal exchange as Arthur is laid out to be flogged – Kai’s apologetic: “Arthur … it’s the only way I could save you” and Arthur’s understanding: “I know” could leave their relationship open to a homo-erotic interpretation. Some more obvious episodes Chapman could have chosen to demonstrate this potential are “Daughter of the King”, “Enemies and Lovers”, and “The Duel.” But however one chooses to view the relationship, it seems likely that the intention of the creators was more along the lines of a “bromance” than a ground-breaking gay love story on 1970s tea-time TV.