Arthur of the Britons

This call sheet was kindly donated to this archive by Peter Thornton, who was employed as Clapper/Loader – a role now known as 2nd Camera Assistant – for much of the series. The episode concerned is “The Slaves.”



The episodes were given alphabetical designations, and “The Slaves” was episode ‘F’, which indicates that it was the sixth episode to be filmed.

The call sheet is No.29, and is dated 1st August 1972, which was a Tuesday, so this would have been the second day of filming.

The scenes scheduled for this date were to be filmed at Black Rock, Cheddar, which at this most definitely “on location.”

Oliver Tobias (Arthur), Michael Gothard (Kai), and Jack Watson (Llud) were required in Make-up/Wardrobe at 07:30, to begin filming at 08:30. At 6:30, Oliver was picked up from Ben Ford’s stables in Stroud, where he was staying; Michael and Jack made their own arrangements.

They were to shoot scenes 11, 12, 15 and 16. In scenes 11 and 12, Arthur, Kai and Llud search for the trail left by the Saxons who kidnapped the group of Celts, including Arthur’s friend Col, the blacksmith, from the village where they lived. In scenes 15 and 16, we see them track the group to a quarry, and discuss what they see there – Celts being used as slaves.

At 07:00, a car collected David Prowse (Col) and Anthony Bailey (Rodolf) from the Unicorn Hotel ¹, where guest stars were commonly billeted. They were required in Make-up/Wardrobe at 08:15, to be ready to film at 09:15, along with the three principals.

A crowd of 45 was required, to represent Saxon guards and Celtic slaves. Some of these were also collected from the Unicorn Hotel, but by the Z Car bus, and more came from the HTV studios on the Unit Bus, all to be there by 07:30.

The scenes to be filmed from 09:15 were 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. These must logically have been the scenes where Kai – pretending to be an agent sent by Cerdig – brings “runaway slaves”, Arthur and Llud, to the slave master, Rodolf, and Arthur is taken up to the rock face and shackled there near to where Col is already working.

No “weather cover” scenes are listed, but there are only two scenes filmed in or near a small shed, so the day’s schedule was dependent on the weather remaining reasonably fine.

Catering for the cast and crew – about 110 people - was laid on, by George Cook (or Cooke) on location.

Among the props required are listed “grave to be set up and dressed plus twig cross.” This item is not seen in the episode. Perhaps it was realised that Rodolf wouldn’t have allowed the slaves time to bury or mourn their dead. Also listed are, “whip, hammer” and, rather hilariously, given the quarry location, “rocks”!

¹ Possibly The Unicorn Hotel, West Street, Somerton TA11 7PR England – this would have been about an hour away by car.

This call sheet was kindly donated to this archive by Peter Thornton, who was employed as Clapper/Loader – a role now known as 2nd Camera Assistant – for much of the series. The episode appears to have originally been titled “The Saxons Are Coming”, but the cast list confirms that the document pertains to “The Gift of Life.”



The episodes were given alphabetical designations, and “The Gift of Life” was episode ‘E’, which indicates that it was the fifth episode to be filmed.

The call sheet is No.25, and is dated 27th July 1972, which was a Thursday, so this would have been the fourth day of filming on this episode.

Filming was to take place at Woollard, which - at this point - is still considered to be “on location” – the main base being at Woodchester.

Geoffrey Adams (Hald) and Heather Wright (Hildred) were collected by car at 7:00, from the Unicorn Hotel ¹, where guest stars were commonly billeted. Michael Gothard (Kai) made his own arrangements. These three were required in Make-up/Wardrobe at 7:30. The children, Sean Fleming (Krist) and Tamzin Neville (Elka) had to be there by 08:00, presumably brought by their parents, Patrick Dromgoole (the Executive Producer) and Daphne Neville (chaperone and extra) respectively. All had to be ready to film at 8:30.

The only horse required was for Kai.

The scenes listed to be filmed in the morning are 17 and 19. Judging by the cast needed, these would be the scene where Kai and the children arrive at the woodland path near the village, and Kai encounters Hald for the first time, and the scene where Kai and the children walk down into the village, and are greeted by the women and children working in the fields. An hour seems quite a short time to have allowed for the shooting of both Kai’s arrival with the children, and their rapturous greeting by the village, but as Heather Wright is required on set at this time, it seems the only option. The content of Scene 18, which was to be missed out, is unclear. Possibly it is the shot of Hald coming out of the woods and announcing the return of the children.

The “crowd” was collected from HTV studios at 07:00, in a “Z car bus”. This was not directly related to the BBC series, "Z Cars"; Peter Thornton says, “I seem to remember that “Z Cars” was a taxi company that had the contract to ferry cast members between the set and the hotel.” In fact, there is still a company named “Z Cars” operating in Bristol. Assuming that they were being collected from HTV Television Centre at Pontcanna, Cardiff, these extras would have arrived at around 8:20 – possibly in time to be included in the scene of Kai’s arrival with the children.

Meanwhile, Stephan Chase (Horgren), Kenneth Bender (Ulrich) and Meic Stevens (the minstrel, here listed as "Mike Stephens") were to be collected from the Unicorn Hotel at 7:45, arrive in make-up/wardrobe at 8:30, and be ready to shoot at 9:30. Also required were some “Elders” to be collected in a cast minibus “per Andrew Wilson’s instructions.”

The scenes scheduled for filming from 08:30 were 20, 22 and 23. Scene 20 must have been the scene in which the return of the children is celebrated with a feast. Scene 21, not filmed at this point, would have been the one where Krist and Elka inadvertently give away Kai’s identity as Arthur’s lieutenant. Scenes 22 and 23 would have been the shock revelation of Kai’s identity, and then his hearing before the tribe’s Elders.

No “weather cover” scenes are listed, so presumably the forecast was for a fine day.
Catering for the cast and crew – about 95 people - was laid on by George Cook, all on location.

Among the props required are listed “practical flowers” and “practical fire” - which means real flowers and a working fire: “there is a requirement for a prop to be as it would in real life” according to Peter Thornton.

A telling note at the bottom of the page shows that “pick ups” - shots filmed after the bulk of an episode has been completed – from “Enemies and Lovers” and “The Challenge”, were to be filmed at the end of the week, on Saturday 29th July. From this we can gather that those episodes were C and D. An article in the Bristol Evening Post published 13th July refers to Oliver’s spear injury, incurred during “The Challenge”, as having occurred during the week beginning 10th July, making that one episode C. “Enemies and Lovers” must therefore have been episode D, the bulk of which must have been filmed during the week beginning 17th July.

¹ Possibly The Unicorn Hotel, West Street, Somerton TA11 7PR England – this would have been about an hour away by car.

² Oliver Tobias (Arthur) was not involved in the day’s filming – the filming schedule/call sheets having been arranged to give him time to recover from the head injury he suffered while filming “The Challenge.”

This poster was probably drawn up in July 1972, when filming had just got under way. It features an artist's impressions, possibly from photos, of scenes from "Arthur is Dead" and "The Challenge."


Poster courtesy of Paul Lewis.

Romance, legend, myth and misunderstanding veil the true story of ARTHUR, the man who roused all England to repel a barbaric invader. Behind the legend lies a freedom fighter, a leader of genius.

In “ARTHUR of the Britons”, HTV West, within whose borders ARTHUR built his own Camelot, have created a 24-part series on the life and battles of the hero ‘king’.

It is the dramatic story of desperate men and desperate times, an age of bloodshed, but an age also of a warrior who held dear the vision of a free, united and Christian kingdom.

The £500,000 series was filmed on West Country locations that once rang to the clash of Celtic and Saxon sword. Two stockaded encampments, one Celtic and one Saxon, were recreated in painstaking detail.

The writers who contribute are of international repute. They include: Terence Feeley, Robert Banks Stewart, David Osborn, David Pursall and Jack Seddon.

ARTHUR and his story belong to the so-called Dark Ages of English history that must remain partly veiled. This television series is the first realistic attempt to look behind that veil.

The text reiterates the premise of the show: Arthur as a wily war leader, trying to unite his people against invaders.

It is interesting to note that Arthur is referred to as "a warrior who held dear the vision of a free, united and Christian kingdom." But nowhere in the series does Arthur refer to his own religious faith, and though a white banner with a red cross is on display in Arthur's village, he never fights anyone simply because they are not Christians; indeed, his foster-father, Llud, believes in different deities, though we are not told which ones.

In "Arthur is Dead", a large book - which might well be a Bible - is seen in Arthur's room; later in the series he consults a monk, but about an agricultural rather than a spiritual problem, and later still, he takes issue with Rolf, for preaching Christian peace and love, causing some of the Celts to lay down their arms.

Perhaps it was thought that a Christian leader might hold greater appeal, but religious fervour just didn't fit with the character of the practical hero they had created in Arthur.

This photo is courtesy of camera operator, Roger Pearce, who says:

The colour shot is of the sequence in “The Challenge” when Arthur and Kai duel and go down a river bank: me, leaning on the dolly seat as the camera is pulled back up the bank for another take.

This photo is courtesy of camera operator, Roger Pearce, who says:

This shows another scrap, with me hand-holding the camera over Ollie’s shoulder.



This fight between Arthur and Kai was caused by Eithna, the "Daughter of the King."

Plot

The episode – and the series – starts with a race, between five Celts: Arthur, Kai, and three others. Arthur is in the lead when he is knocked from his horse by a tree branch, and Kai is immediately at his side. When the other riders catch up, Kai tells them to: “… tell the world, Arthur is dead.”

It seems that “Arthur of the Britons” is over before it has really begun. Arthur lies on a bier, covered in flowers, and surrounded by his people.

Meanwhile, four rival chiefs, Mark of Cornwall, Herward the Holy, Dirk the Crafty, and Ambrose, all start making their own preparations to try to take over Arthur’s territory, before Arthur is even cold.

Each man makes his move. But they are expected; one by one, they are caught by Arthur’s people and imprisoned in the longhouse, with a sombre-looking Kai guarding the door. They all think Kai has taken over from Arthur, and is going to kill them.

Then Arthur appears. The reason he has trapped them is not to kill them, but to try to form an alliance. He challenges them all to get a sword out from under a big boulder; whoever succeeds will be their leader. But it’s only when Arthur gets them all to push together, that the sword can be got out – and Arthur snatches it.

He wants them to join forces against the main threat to the Celts – the Saxon leader, Cerdig, who is taking over their lands, and cutting down the forests where they hunt. Arthur asks for half of each leader’s army to join him, and help push Cerdig out.

While they are arguing about it, a Celt sneaks out of Arthur’s camp, and goes to Cerdig, to tell the Saxons what Arthur is planning; Cerdig sets out to take on the new alliance before it can get started.

While Mark is fighting Arthur over the leadership, Cerdig’s forces show up, and – against Arthur’s advice – Mark and the others go to fight him. They are routed, and forced to fall back to Arthur’s village.

Only then does Arthur manage to get them to go along with his plan. He leads a small group of his men to confront Cerdig, but – after a short skirmish – he pretends he has been forced to retreat. Cerdig gives chase, and Arthur leads the Saxons into a swamp. Cerdig’s men don’t know the way through, and when they get bogged down, the Celts work together, and manage to kill most of them with spears. But Cerdig gets away, assuring Arthur that he will be back.

Having seen the wisdom of working with Arthur, both Ambrose and Herward agree to send him a quarter of their armies; Dirk refuses, and Mark just rides away with a look of disgust.

Then Arthur shows himself a bit of a spoilsport, by breaking up the victory feast early, in spite of Kai urging him to let the men enjoy themselves.

Finally, Arthur and Kai race again, for real this time, and once again Arthur gets what he wants by trickery.


Timeline

This episode – at least, the main part of it – was the first to be filmed; recording began at the end of June, 1972. However, judging purely by the colour of the leaves on the trees in the horse-racing scenes which bookend the episode, these particular scenes were filmed in autumn. In a letter Michael Gothard wrote to the daughter of one of his friends, he mentioned spending a lot of time in the saddle during the second half of November. Given that the few episodes which remained to be filmed by that time don't include much riding for Kai, Michael can only have been referring to these two scenes from "Arthur is Dead."


Dates first aired

UK: 6 December 1972
Germany: 29 July 1974


Viewing figures

On 11 January 1973, in a letter to "The Stage" from R.J. Simmons, Press Officer for HTV West, Simmons states that “Arthur is Dead” and “A Gift of Life” achieved no. 4 place in HTV’s top ten programmes.


Locations

The version of Arthur’s village seen in this episode had recently been built at Woodchester Park, near Stroud, in Gloucestershire, which belongs to the National Trust. More details of this location can be found here.

The ‘swamp’ where the Saxons were drowned was on land owned by the Neville family in the village of Frampton Mansell. According to Martin Neville, they dammed two streams, and then had to wait three days for the field to flood. Diggers were brought in to make the holes in which the Saxons drowned.



Picture courtesy of Sophie Neville

Cerdig’s camp is thought to have been in the Mendips.


Inside information

Of the filming, Director, Peter Sasdy says:

I was engaged to direct the opening episode of the series, with the understanding that, waiting for me there, was Arthur’s ‘village set’ already built. However, on arriving in Bristol and being taken to see this village set, all I’ve seen in the middle of the forest were a great number of trees with big chalk marks and numbers on them. "That’s where the village WILL BE BUILT!" I was informed. Not a good start...

After some panic, and bringing in outside crews – as always in the film industry, under pressure, working day and night for 7 days a week – more or less everything was ready to start the production on schedule.

I know I had very little time during pre-production, but I was happy with the casting of the main characters, and with the costumes; also I had a very good local Director of Photography Brian Morgan, and from London I brought my camera operator Anthony Richmond (for HTV to have a freelance operator working on a project was very unusual) – who is now a well established DOP in Hollywood.

Perhaps the fact that Arthur’s village wasn’t ready explains why filming did not begin until the end of June.

Oliver Tobias took pride in doing his own stunts; he sports a “Worldwide British Equity Registered Stuntman” sticker on the windshield of his Ducati. The scene where Arthur was shown being hit by a tree branch was one of very few where a stuntman was used instead. By the time the scene was filmed, Oliver had already suffered a serious head injury, while filming “The Challenge.” Presumably, the production team felt they couldn’t afford to take any more risks with the star, as the difficult stunt, known as a ‘flick-back’, was a particularly dangerous one.

According to cameraman Roger Pearce, the rock with which all the chiefs had such difficulty was made of painted cloth stretched over a wooden frame.


Cast notes

Michael Gothard had worked with Brian Blessed on two previous occasions: on the TV series, “The Further Adventures of the Musketeers” in 1967, and in the film, “The Last Valley” in 1971.

Cabot the Crafty, who hits Herward on the head, is played by folk singer Meic Stevens; near the end of the episode, he appears as Arthur’s minstrel.

Roger Forbes makes his first of two appearances, as a Celt Sentry.


Reworking the legend

The sword under the stone is a clear reference to the sword in the stone in Arthurian tradition. Arthur’s return from the ‘dead’ could also be seen as a reference to his expected return from Avalon.

Kai is modelled on the Sir Kay of Arthurian myth, “King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table.” According to Val Joyce, in Welsh poetry, Kai is known as "Kai Gwyn", meaning Kai the Fair, or White, so making him a blond Saxon was a stroke of genius. The legendary Sir Kay was exceptionally tall, and older than Arthur, so the casting of Michael Gothard, who was 6 foot three inches, and Oliver Tobias' senior by eight years, fits in well.

Llud is loosely based on Lludd Llaw Eraint, a legendary hero from Welsh mythology, and the source of king Lud from Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. He doesn't seem to have had any Arthurian connections.


'By the Gods!'

To help him move the stone, Herward, who appears to be a Druid, or at least to follow those teachings, invokes the Celtic gods, Maponos, a god of youth, Nodens, a deity associated with healing, the sea, hunting and dogs, and Barli – possibly a god of crops. Ambrose ridicules him, believing that Mithras, a Roman deity, and god of the legions, is the true god.

Herward claims the gods were against them when they failed to defeat Cerdig at their first try, and agrees to join together against Cerdig because “It is counselled by the gods.” Arthur ironically replies, “The gods are wiser than I thought.”

Arthur doesn’t mention his own religious beliefs, but he has a large book in his room – probably a Bible - and his banner, near the entrance to the village, is a red cross on a white background. We learn later on that Arthur was raised by the Romans, and that he knows how to read and write – two separate skills at the time, probably learned from a monk. As later seen, in “The Penitent Invader”, he has enough knowledge of the Christian faith to compare Mark of Cornwall to John the Baptist!


Dark Age Men

There are no female characters of interest at all in the first episode, and most of the men in this series are – not surprisingly – quite sexist. Many of their insults involve unfavourable comparisons with women. In this episode alone, we see the following:

Ambrose: [to his men] … We don’t want to slouch in like a lot of old half-women. March like the legions of Rome!

Mark: [to Kai] What are you waiting for? Kill us! We’re not women, that we have to prepare.

Mark: [to Dirk] … Let’s see how you get on! The muscles of a girl-child!

Mark: [to Arthur] Where were you when the battle was at its hottest? Skulking in the camp like a handmaiden!

Even Arthur resorts to this kind of name-calling, to aggravate Cerdig, asking him: “Have you come to fight, or talk all day like an old woman?”

For Arthur, brute force is a last resort. “I am trying to build an alliance based on sense and reason. If I fight now to prove myself, reason will have flown. I won’t be a leader, just a fighting stag.”

But both his friend, Kai, and his mentor, Llud are in agreement that – when challenged by Mark of Cornwall – he will have to fight, because, as Llud says, “there’s a time to fight with the mind, and a time to fight with the belly. And these men understand only the belly.”


The best laid plans …

Arthur’s ploy to trick the chiefs into thinking he is dead, and his camp vulnerable, as well as his plan to lead Cerdig’s men into a swamp, work well – but he’s disappointed to have made an enemy of the powerful chief, Mark of Cornwall.

The other chiefs’ plans all fail spectacularly. Even Dirk, who has the brains to use a lever, can’t shift the rock – but it was a good idea!


Great moments

The iconic scene at Arthur's "funeral", and Arthur’s miraculous recovery.



Arthur and Kai’s face-off over tactics.

Kai’s smile at the end of the episode, when he sees that Arthur has tricked him.




Quote/unquote

Cerdig talks Arthur up, setting the tone for the series: “Dangerous man, Arthur of the West. He thinks before he fights!”


Arthur’s wisdom

Arthur is a trickster. He doesn’t lie, but he’s not above stretching the truth or letting people believe what they want to, in order to manipulate them. When the chiefs complain, he tells them: “You tricked yourselves.” When Mark protests that Arthur got the sword with their help, Arthur turns this into a lesson: “And that’s how I’ll beat Cerdig. With your help. None of us can do it alone."


The burden and loneliness of command

They have a feast, to celebrate their victory over Cerdig, but Arthur feels he has to break it up early, saying: “Great victories are as dangerous as great defeats. Men get soft and sleepy. Our danger remains as great as ever it was.” These are violent times, and any respite is brief.

In the penultimate scene, Arthur goes to sit alone in his room, looking sombre. A lonely man, he relies on his lieutenants, Llud and Kai for advice, but the burden rests heavy upon his shoulders.


The hot-headed side-kick

In this first episode, Kai is depicted as hot-headed, and perhaps too ready to do violence, which fits in with how Sir Kay is shown in later interpretation of the Arthurian legend: as a bullying boor.

Kai resembles the Saxon enemy more than he does his fellow Celts, but no explanation is given for this, and his ties with Llud are not explained.


'A man on a horse is worth ten on foot.'

Right from the beginning, it is clear that both Oliver Tobias and Michael Gothard can really ride. According to Oliver Tobias, he and Michael Gothard had a joint audition, which consisted of nothing more than riding four different horses to the top of the hill, and back down again, together, and as fast as possible.

According to the writers of "Arthur of the Britons", or the historians consulting on the show, the Celts had a great advantage over the Saxons, in that the Saxons don't use horses, in battle or otherwise.¹ Cavalry fighting is one of the Romans’ warfare tactics: a legacy of which Arthur makes full use in some of the later episodes. But in “Arthur is Dead”, most of the riding seems to be for fun.

Arthur mainly rides one of two white (or “grey”) horses, whose real names were "Bernie", and "Skyline." During both races in this episode, he is seen riding Bernie.

At the start of each race, Kai is sitting on a black horse with a star, short strip and snip, who was given the name "Merlin" by the stable-master, and who was his main mount for the series. However, during the actual races, he is riding a bay horse with a star, "Blackstar"², while one of the other Celts is mounted on Merlin. Presumably, Merlin was too slow to lead the race, or else Blackstar preferred to be out in front.



There are also two very white horses in the race, "Arctic" and "Acrobat". “Acrobat” has a very fancy bridle, and appears to have been specially trained for stunts. Halfway through the race, when the stunt rider jiggles the reins, the horse rears on cue, and the stunt rider falls off, before re-mounting to continue the race.

Neither Acrobat nor Arctic are seen again in the series. These race scenes were filmed much later than the rest of the episode, possibly in the Blackdown Hills. Perhaps these particular horses were stabled nearby.

Mark of Cornwall rides a big dapple grey, whose real name was "Jim", and Dirk rides a small flaxen chestnut, "Blondie."

Also seen in this episode, in Arthur's village, are a bald-faced bay, "Outlander", and Llud's chestnut, "Curly."

See also: The Equine Stars of "Arthur of the Britons" and The horses of "Arthur of the Britons": quick reference ID pictures.


'That is bloody dangerous!'³

There is a lot of very fast riding in this episode. During the first race, one stuntman comes off a horse after it rears, and another rider comes off when his horse falls. This second rider is not shown getting up, or afterwards, so he may have been injured.

A stuntman performs the flick-back stunt, in which Arthur hits his head on a tree, comes off the horse backwards, and lands on the ground flat, on his back. When someone has to fall from a horse, a pit is dug and re-filled, so that the ground where they are supposed to fall is softer to land on.

There are a lot of weapons used in the episode. When the Celt leaders refuse to discuss an alliance without their weapons, Kai is all for killing them, but Arthur says “If you need swords to feel like men …” and insists that Kai return them.

The “sword under the boulder” is the weapon Arthur uses throughout the series. In this episode, he also fights Mark with a club.

Llud uses what we later learn is his metal hand to block Mark, but no mention is made of this ‘handicap.’

We see Kai holding his trademark axe, though he doesn’t fight with it; he and the other Celts kill the Saxons with spears.

Cerdig and the other Saxons usually fight with axes – but theirs are smaller than Kai’s! Some of them also have swords.


Dressed to kill?

Arthur wears something known as ‘ring armour’, but the design seems to have been a too-literal interpretation of medieval artwork; such armour would not have provided much protection.



While lying in state, Arthur is wears a facial mask like the one found at Sutton Hoo: a Saxon artefact - based on Roman predecessors. Wealthy Celts may have used them too.

Kai is wearing the same tunic as when he played Hansen in “The Last Valley” in 1971. This tunic re-appears in Tenpole Tudor's video for "Wunderbar"!

You can usually tell the Saxons from everyone else, because they wear sheepskins, but Cerdig's lady friend has a nice Sixties dress.



Ambrose dresses as a Roman; Herward as a holy man.




On the table

Mark of Cornwall tears a strip off a roasting pig, while his followers bring him a dead stag for later.

A single spring onion graces the table, while Arthur wrangles the chiefs. No wonder they're not very co-operative, if that's all they've been offered to eat!



Cerdig shares what appears to be meat with a female companion. He also has some loaves, and a bowl of apples and strawberries.

The Celts’ feast after the battle doesn’t look very impressive – bread and meat. Mead is the drink of choice.


Extra! Extra!

Students from Bristol University feature strongly in this episode.


Honourable mention

This goes to the goat who chews impassively throughout Arthur and Mark of Cornwall's posturing. Also, to the villagers who can be seen getting on with their lives in the background while their leaders bicker.




What’s going on here?

For most of the first race, Arthur is wearing a tan tunic over his ring armour jacket, but there is a short period when he is seen only wearing the ring armour, which he wears throughout the second race.



During the race, one of the white horses, Arctic, falls, unseating its rider, who is all in brown. But we do not see either this horse or the rider get up. Instead, we see the stunt rider with the blue scarf, mounting Acrobat.





Perhaps this fall was unscheduled, and the horse or rider hurt, because neither of them appear at Arthur's "death" scene under the tree.



At the beginning of the causeway to Arthur's village, two gruesome heads stand sentinel - what looks like a ram, and possibly a horse or dragon.



Dr Carole Biggam says, “it's clear that someone thought they were Celtic superstitions. … it looks as if someone was thinking of the Celtic head cult but that was all about human heads and is mostly evidenced from the Iron Age and Roman period. I suspect someone just thought it looked grim and mysterious. Below the heads, there seems to be some textiles which imply little bodies, which is even more imaginative.” … a Celtic “Sooty and Sweep”!

Lynn Davy observes, “The one on the right has always put me in mind of the Oseberg Viking longship figurehead.

Arthur is seen on a funeral pyre, but no one sets light to it. Was the whole village in on the scheme?

What was that big heavy rock doing in the middle of Arthur’s village in the first place? Also, the hilt of the sword initially seems to be pointing away from Arthur, yet he manages to reach it quite easily.

Arthur tells the chiefs, “Cerdig was at Ilchester last night, not a day’s march from here.” It seems he is quite a bit less than a day’s march away, because the spy manages to make the journey there, and Cerdig then makes the return trip to Arthur’s territory, in the time it takes for the Celtic chiefs to compare the size of their weapons.

Despite the fact that Saxons are not supposed to be horsemen, three or four horses can be seen milling around behind Cerdig at his encampment. Possibly the same horses that were also at Mark of Cornwall's earlier!



For someone who lives by the sword, Arthur doesn't treat his weapon with much respect, often holding it by the blade, and even putting it back in its sheath while it is still covered in blood.



Arthur and Kai agree to run their second race on the same route as the first - but we don't see them going up the muddy bank on the second run.


Music

As Arthur’s minstrel, folk artist Meic Stevens sings:

Then strode bold Arthur up to Cerdig …
... The Saxons fell upon us, like the rain upon the ground;
But the great Lord of the Forest bade the quagmire suck them down.
When Arthur fought the foe.

He is playing a mandolin, made to look like a crwth.



The 34 tracks of incidental music, beautifully written and orchestrated for the series by Paul Lewis, were used judiciously throughout the series; the soundtrack was never obtrusive, but always a subtle enhancement to any scene where it was used. The whole suite of music is now available on CD.

Some of the music tracks used in this episode were:
Track 3, Celtic Horns: after Kai has said “tell the world – Arthur is dead."
Elmer Bernstein’s theme
Track 5, To Battle: when Ambrose is marching on Arthur’s village.
Track 6, Infiltration and Treachery: when Arthur’s man goes off to instigate Cerdig’s attack.
Track 12, Duel: used during battle scenes.
Track 14, Chase! and track 8, Skirmish and Rout: when Arthur and Kai race at the end.


Cast

Arthur ……………... Oliver Tobias
Kai .….….….….…... Michael Gothard
Llud ………………... Jack Watson
Cerdig ……………... Rupert Davies
Mark of Cornwall ….. Brian Blessed
Dirk the Crafty …….. Donald Burton
Herward the Holy….. Michael Graham Cox
Ambrose …………... Norman Bird
Cabot, Minstrel ……. Meic Stevens
Spy ………………... Tom Chadbon
Sentry ….….….….… Roger Forbes


Crew

Director ……………. Peter Sasdy
Writer ……………… Terence Feely
Executive Producer .... Patrick Dromgoole
Producer ………….… Peter Miller
Associate Producer … John Peverall
Production Manager ... Keith Evans
Post-production ……. Barry Peters
Incidental music ……. Paul Lewis
Theme music ………. Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography ….... Bob Edwards
Camera Operator …... Roger Pearce
Film Editing ………... Don Llewellyn
Sound recordist ……. Mike Davey
Dubbing Mixer …….. John Cross
Art Direction ….…… Doug James
Assistant Director ….. Simon Hinkley
Production Assistant .. Ann Rees
Costume Design …… Audrey MacLeod
Make-up ….….…….. Christine Penwarden
Fight Arranger ……... Peter Brayham

¹ According to Dr Carole Biggam, it used to be believed by historians that the Anglo-Saxons didn’t use horses in battle – they always fought on foot, but this is not now the prevailing view. This belief gave rise to the extended view that horses and Saxons didn’t go together but that isn’t true as is shown by (many) words for horses, place-names indicating stud-farms, wills, and laws.

² For ease of reference, most of the horses seen in the series have been given names for the purpose of this archive.

³ One of Director, Sid Hayers’ catch-phrases.

This early piece of artwork was preserved by the series' composer, Paul Lewis. It appears to have been produced before filming began, though clearly the main characters had been cast. Also, it had already been decided that Arthur should ride a white horse, and the font used in the series had been designed.

Arthur is seen carrying a shield of a type he only uses in the first episode - a round shield with a boss, which he later identifies as being of Saxon design. Also, we never see a Saxon longboat as shown in the poster - in full sail - in the series.

The picture of Kai - with a stubbly beard, which he doesn't wear in "Arthur of the Britons" - must have been drawn from stills of Michael Gothard playing Hansen in "The Last Valley", with which the producers were familiar.


Michael Gothard as Hansen

The artwork also appears to have been used as a cover for a publicity folder. These are the folded over edges, with the details they evidently considered most important at the time.



The contact information shows the international interest in this series.