Arthur of the Britons

Sunday 16 October (I)

Went down at 9-ish, got a tea, and went and sat with Oliver. He spoke about his experiences at East 15 Acting School. He said that he met lots of different kinds of people – including a good-looking young man who was a “collector” for the Krays. The Krays paid his drama school fees, as a gift.

He also spoke about a role he had [in ITV series, "The Knock"] as a gay heroin addict who had killed his boyfriend, and had to dump the body out of a boat, into a lake. He said it was hard to dump a body from a boat without falling in yourself, and also noted what an odd profession acting was. “What did you do today?” “I dumped my boyfriend’s body in a lake.”

The weather today was glorious! The group had all assembled by around 10 am., so we set off in convoy, with Steve’s car leading, and Oliver’s Chevrolet second, so that the others could all see which way the head of the column was going. Oliver pointed out views of Glastonbury Tor as we went past.

Chatted in the car about other conventions. Oliver said he’d made thousands at Autographica – you just sit at a table signing and at the end, take away a whole lot of money, but it “made me feel slightly grubby.” He was sitting near a whole group of Bond girls. Minor stars of big films can make a basic living, of around £12,000, from doing a few per year. I told him that I heard that James Marsters, who played Spike in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, once signed so many autographs that his hand bled. Oliver said, “More fool, him!”

He also mentioned Joan Collins again, and how unpleasant she was to other women. He said she was completely different to her sister Jackie, who is lovely. He’d worked with her to help promote her books.

We arrived at the Compton Inn at around 11:30, and met up with Michael Gothard’s adopted sister, Wendy, who was waiting for us, with her border terrier, George. Everyone was fascinated to meet her. She said she couldn’t believe that Michael would have been 83 this year.

Wendy showed people an example of her school homework. She’d been asked to write about a member of her family, and had written about Michael.

Write About A Member of My Family.

My brother is called Michael. We adapted him, but he has kept his surname which is "Gothard.”
He does lovely things with me.
We go to the library, then he buys me a cake and he has coffee.
He takes me to the British Museum and the one in Priry Park.
We go swimming and to our beach hut. He doesn't like water-skiing, but we go horse riding.
I ride "Mystery", Michael rides "Cadenza.”
Sometimes he comes with me to get the milk.
We read together a lot. I like it when my brother reads to me. He is reading "Of Mice and Men.” I like "Lennie.”
My brother is older than me, so he is my big brother.
I love his bedroom, there are lovely things in it and sometimes I am allowed to take his coffee to him in the morning.
He makes me do my prep.
He has to go away to work and I am sad when he is not at home.
I am lucky to have my brother and I love him very much.

She said she wanted everyone to know what a wonderful man he was.

We all walked the short distance to the bridge over the River Chew, and went through a gate onto the long grassy track along which Oliver and Michael had often galloped.





He clearly recognised it, and soon got his bearings.



We arrived at the muddy bank, and the slope behind it which was used so often, and most notably in “The Challenge.”





Beside the Chew at this point was the long sloping hillside on which a lot of the action in "The Challenge" took place.



There follows a series of transcripts of videos taken by Jelly, while at this location:

OT: It opens up a bit more at the top … I was just wondering where that … my horse had bolted. It must have been from there … [points] I remember I had the spears on the side, there was a conversation, and I cantered off, and then the horse got spooked by … 'cause I had to use my second horse, who got spooked by the shield that was on its side and the spears, so every time it [galloping noise and motion] this thing went, “Boom! Boom!” on the back and the horse went on and on, and I just remember racing down this valley, and then there was a telegraph pole, and I thought, ‘alright, well, I’ll just steer it towards the telegraph, he’ll see that and stop.

Well, it didn’t, and by this time, you know, pshew … the tears were coming out of the sides, pshew [mimes tears streaming along the side of his face] it gets fast, you know? And the horse is going rew, rew, rew [mimes] down this valley, then I saw the ditch - was more open – and ‘I’ll just steer it towards the ditch, it’s not gonna go in there’ and it went straight in, and then I pulled it right ’cause somebody said “just stick your left foot forward and lock the rein in the left” [mimes the action] and pull with the right, pull its neck around” and I was going round and round and round in circles like that until I finally managed to stop … I was like that [mimes exhaustion] I was … it was sheer terror.



I tell you, those things are very powerful things, horses, when they lose the plot – it just lost the plot – and I thought I – but this, my point of the story is this. This is where I should have been warned. We were into this violent film where we took it … [mimes fierce fighting] there. Then here, just on that slope over there – we had the spear scene, and, um … it wasn’t Michael, Michael was opposite me, throwing the spear, and this is where … I want to tell you that story, Wendy [Michael’s adopted sister approaches] … He … this went on, it was fine, you know it was completely insane because you don’t do that so the camera would be say, where James is there, and I would be standing … this was over … we can go there [walks away] that slope … [inaudible] … must have been that we filmed that beginning somewhere on a bank here and … because this was the run down here, with this horse, ‘cause it went quite a long way, it was long enough, you know, to really get a [inaudible] on, which … we filmed that dialogue just up here, and then …

JG: I think it might have been up there [points]

OT: It might well have been there, in that clearing there.

Wendy: I’m guessing Arthur and Kai, they had a big falling out.

OT: No, no it started as a game … [inaudible] …It may have been … conversation … and it may have been … this might have been more open when I steered the horse towards that bank there, and then I went on down the valley, and I think just beyond there, there’s the telegraph pole which I steered it towards … Is this where the bank goes down?

JG: Yes.

OT: So this is where we filmed the … I’m sure this is where we filmed, here.

JG: you definitely came lolloping down, like, laughing and making jokes at each other, but very –

OT: I probably would have gone that way, and if it wouldn’t … decided not to stop, pulled it that way, and on down, ‘cause I remember seeing the village on the right when I started to pull it round, but this is … um … I share this with you, well, this is very traumatic for me; I was here, somewhere and erm … the camera was over there, and then they started, this er, champion started throwing a spear at me, and I’d ward it off – “Voom, Voom” [mimes] like this, you know, it’d come over the top, and 6 feet long with a plastic tip and it was towards … yeah … then I got tired, and it went “Dong!” and it went into the back of my head, and I … it … oh, I felt like a ship that had … it went right down my spine, and I sat down here, and, er … looked around and I thought I was … I was going, and the last thing I remember was Michael holding my head like that [mimes], me looking up at him saying, “Olly! You alright?” you know? And then I woke up at Bristol Infirmary after a coma … It was quite serious, because I was very badly injured, and I had … er … you know, concussion.

JG: There must have been a lot a lot of blood as well; it must have been very alarming for everyone.

OT: Would have been horrible.

Wendy: Any form of “Health and Safety” didn’t really exist …

OT: But they don’t … you don’t … there’s no pain … but I felt like … “I’m dead” … I kind of remember that sort of … I took one last look around that … sort of … I had a … death experience here – that’s the truth, and er … that’s the truth, and er …. That’s why I tell you how gentle a man Michael was.

Wendy: He was lovely … he was. Unless you didn’t do your homework!

OT: So that was … that’s here. And also, the … those Roman swords were here yeah, and that horse went down because there’s the telegraph pole, now I remember, so that’s the sort of experience we had.

JG: Llud was telling you off up there somewhere.

OT: Might well have been the start of the trouble, was this … [points] Did you see that? This is definitely where that took place. And the spears took place up there, banging around with the spears …. But you can see the terrain is not flat and worked out. It’s … um… if you are, you know, if you start racing down there with a horse, the terrain is, you know, undulous; there’s pot-holes, there’s … it undulates, it’s not … we were … might have been foolish, but we were very brave, Michael and me.

Wendy: Absolutely. I mean, if you’re cantering or galloping down a hill, that … particularly if the horse decides to have away with you.

OT: And it’s all, yeah, downhill’s always the thing, and you don’t test that before … often we would do test runs with the horses; always teach a horse the track – the way you’re gonna go, we always did that, because we became very good horsemen, and Michael became a good horseman during –

Wendy: He was very good, yeah he was.

OT: And then, er, yeah … but mistakes happen. So I had this warning when that thing went off there …

JG: So that was the same day …

OT: And I … just didn’t see it. I didn’t see the danger, I was stupid, and then that was definitely a warning from God, and then of course it went on, and then I ended up in … severely concussed, and basically, I’ve never been the same!

…

OT: … gold … gold cross swinging over my head, and like that, and I’m looking up at this beautiful blonde angel … looking up quite close, and it’s this Irish nurse saying, “Oliver, Oliver, are you alright?” I thought I was in heaven … [laughter] Yes, so … and then it was very nasty. I don’t know if any of you have ever had, or treated, bad concussion, but that is …

JD: Yeah, it can last a while, as well.

OT: You can’t … finish a thought; you can’t sleep; you’re always in between the sleep … trying to go to sleep … you wake up … you can’t finish … a thought. It’s real horror time, it went on for … quite a while, and then, er … yeah, three weeks that took, I was back on a horse!

JG: Did that make it hard to learn your lines?

OT: Not really. Once it all clicks slowly back into place, it’s alright, um … but it was horrendous, it’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. I mean, you break bones, and things like that, I’ve had all that, but that’s … that’s … no, no, I don’t recommend it. [inaudible] It went through three layers of my skull, I was lucky it didn’t go and touch the … well, whatever is inside there, and er … they stitched it up.
When I had short back and sides, ‘cause I’ve … my son’s made me join this er … World War II re-enactment regiment, so I became an American major in World War II, and they took me to the barbers to make me get a short back and sides, and this huge scar appeared on the back of my head, he said, “Man! Daddy, that’s cool!"

[Laughter]

…

Oliver whistles like the Buzzard which flies overhead; the buzzard replies!

OT: Nice spot, isn’t it?

JG: I guess there’s more areas you might have been up there …

OT: I’ll probably have a good think about it, and then when we watch it …

OT: Now looking at it, it’s not a bad place to die in …

JG: Well, don’t go doing that today because we’ve still got a long way to go, yet!

CV: Did they call your parents?

OT: Probably not.

JG: I don’t suppose you had information about your next-of-kin on you …?

OT: No … I had a girlfriend … that was about it. My parents, you know … my mother was working somewhere …

…

JG: So you’d shot all the fighting –

OT: Yeah … I think so … yeah …

JG: - before the spears.

OT: It was towards the end of the day … you know, and you get tired.

JG: Yeah.

OT …and er, yeah, and then they shot … I think they changed things, and they shot Michael’s episode, you know, with the … yeah, they –

JG: … shot a couple of episodes with you … too much –

OT: … and, er … top-and-tailed with me.

JG: Then you rode away that way, and Garet and Gawain rode away that way.

OT: Yeah, pretty much … Ah! The scene with the … them …

JG: Yeah.

OT: I’ll show you where that was … now you remind me.

JG: I really like those guys, ‘cause of the way they –

OT: Wonderful actors.

JG: The way they were –

OT: What was his name?

JG: I can’t remember their actual names … just the way they were looking at each other, as if, “we thought we were crazy” sort of thing.

OT: Yes … yes …

JG: When you came up that bank –

OT: Ken … Ken …

JG: - with Kai.

OT: Yes.

JG: Were you thinking to try and fool Garet and Gawain that you’d intended it all as a lesson to them?

OT: Well … I mean … I … it isn’t what I feel, it’s how it was.

…



We walked up the slope nearly to the top.



While we were near one of the clumps of bushes, Oliver pointed out the tree into which they had thrown spears during the early stage of the conflict.



Fans had wondered for a long time about whether this tree was at a different location, but no! There it was!



I scrambled down to it to check it out, up close!



Someone (Steve!) may have asked whether anyone had a spear …



We looked at the terrain, which Oliver said would have been much more open 50 years ago – with fewer trees along the edge of the river. Also, a large house nearby had been built since filming.



We went back down to the muddy bank:

OT: Hey, this might have been … fifty years, it’s probably … washed out even more.



I looked for the split tree root which was in the original episode, and had still been visible last time we’d been there. I thought maybe it had grass growing on it, so I scrambled down the bank to have a look, but when I got close, the mud became very slippery, and I slid down and down, almost into the water! So I gingerly came back up.



…

[My phone alarm went off]

OT: Joya …

JG: I’ve gotta take my pill.

OT: Yeah, you’d better now take a pill to calm yourself down! This is all too much! Are you taking some ancient Druidic mushrooms?

JG: Yes, that’s exactly what it is! With herbs and moss!

OT: ‘erbs.

JG: Moss and fungus.

OT: Mushrooms!

…

Too soon, we had to trundle back to the Compton Inn, for our 12:15 lunch booking.

On the walk back, Martin asked Oliver whether they had to deliver the lines exactly as they were written on “Arthur of the Britons.” He replied that it wasn't always required on a lot of things he'd done, including “Arthur of the Britons”, where you could vary the lines slightly as long as they delivered the same message. A notable exception was “Luke's Kingdom”, where someone - he said the writer, but Martin also thinks he said 'Peter' someone (Peter Weir was the Director) - was heavily involved in other aspects of the project, and you couldn't get away with telling him that the script could be varied.

The first page of this feature in the children's magazine "Look-in" from the week ending 2 December 1972 sets the stage for the re-telling of the Legend of King Arthur in a much more realistic way than it had ever been told before.

The captions are not entirely accurate. Kai is wholly Saxon by birth, but Celtic by upbringing and loyalties. In the scene shown top left, from "The Challenge", Kai is not trying to overthrow Arthur. The two of them have just had a squabble that got out of hand.

The scene shown top right is interesting, in that the photo from "The Gift of Life" is taken from a different angle to the film used in the episode. Also, Arthur appears to be running with the child, whereas in the episode, he picks it up, the film is cut, and we see a rider approach, then it cuts back to Arthur giving the child to its mother as Kai runs past. Any film of Kai dismounting, and them running with the child, was left out of the final edit.



The top picture in the article below shows Kai and Llud launching spears at the Saxons in "Arthur is Dead." The picture below is captioned 'Goda, played by Hilary Dwyer' but actually shows Eithna, played by Madeleine Hinde.



Text:

As the story opens, we see the Celtic chiefs struggling, one by one, to move a great boulder. Beneath it lies a sword, and great honour awaits the first man to lift that sword above his head. But all the chiefs fail – and then the young warrior called Arthur steps forward. He shows them how to move the boulder by pushing together – but as the surprised men recover from their effort, they realize that Arthur has snatched up the sword and now holds it aloft.

Arthur has established his right to become war-leader of the Celts. At the same time, he has taught his men two important lessons. First, that unity is strength. And second, that victory goes to the man who thinks and plans rather than to the strongest.

Dream of a united Britain

But although Arthur becomes leader of Celtic resistance to the Saxon invaders of Britain, he needs all his wisdom and bravery to keep his place. His men are only too ready to fight among themselves. And of his two lieutenants, only the veteran warrior Llud is completely reliable. The other, Kai, is part-Saxon, a violent and head-strong young man who sometimes sees Arthur’s careful planning as a sign of weakness. But with these men, Arthur strives to bring about his dream of a united Britain.

“Arthur of the Britons” is based on what historians, rather than imaginative writers, can tell us about Arthur. In fact, we know very little. But what we do know is that a man called Arthur once existed, and that his deeds were so great that he was to be remembered for centuries as a mighty leader. From about A.D. 1200 onward, when the stories of Arthur were first written down, the legends of ‘King Arthur’ took on the more colourful form in which we read them today.

It is these legends, no more true than fairy-tales, that HTV’s “Arthur of the Britons” strips away – to show us the real man who lies behind him.

Gerry Cullen, an American, already working in TV production, who took the opportunity to work as an extra on "Arthur of the Britons", offered these insights to the filming of the series.

By a series of total coincidences, I was running low on money in Bristol when I heard that Harlech TV was having open casting sessions, to find extras for "Arthur of the Britons." I was hired, and worked until the end of the series. I remember often being there six days a week.

Extras were only used when they need villagers to “fill in” of course, but I was very lucky; I seemed to get most work, probably because I looked the most scruffy. Each morning I would ask the make-up lady to put more of the dirt makeup on me because it was obvious that this series wanted a more authentic look for that time period. So, I got many days of work in the morning calls while many of the other male extras got less work because they came in with nice hairdos.

I always thought the Brits were the best filmmakers. Having already worked in TV in production in New York and had a degree in film-making this was a great gift to watch and learn from them.

When I came in, I was told they were making some changes (I don’t know what they were) and the series was half done. When I watched the DVDs, I saw that I was in some of “Season Two” and not in any of “Season One.”



In this scene from "Rowena", Gerry is the person in the middle, standing next to Arthur.

For me, it was paid graduate school. The demanding schedule called for rotating directors, so I was able to observe their different styles and methods, and how they interacted with the actors. Most of the talk that I had access to was about blocking, director/DP discussions on camera placement, and lighting. I also got to see some of the very good character actors who bolstered the roster. That experience gave me solid confidence throughout my modest career as a camera production person.

The set was always very calm and orderly; very professional. It seemed to me that they were trying to keep to filming one episode per week, so there was a lot of pressure to hit the short deadlines for a quick turn-around; the actors and crew had a lot to do to make a half hour weekly action show. We worked long days; the extras would meet early, often about dawn, or before, at HTV Bristol, and usually come back late in the day, sometimes in the dark. The filming was extremely well organized and all the crew and actors created a friendly, but always moving forward, atmosphere.

Shooting wasn’t always in sequence; there was definitely some overlap between one episode and another. I remember hearing sometimes that a B crew was shooting cutaways and other footage at different locations, to help keep things moving.

Since it was all 16 mm film back then, all the good takes would have to be developed, and the dailies would have to be looked over. Film editing was very time consuming back then; the editor was dealing with many, many, short clips of film that would need to be physically spliced together, then the music mixed in the audio department, and titles added in the lab. I would guess a month at least from shoot week to air. If I remember rightly, it was airing during production, but I didn’t have a TV, and I only saw one broadcast episode while I was there.

Back then it was a big deal to have Arthur in the more primitive environment, rather than the glossy concept of shining armour and big gleaming castles and such.

I remember two main buildings, and some smaller ones to make the village for the Celts. The make-up area was in a tent; wardrobe was in there too. The Celts main building was often converted back and forth between sleeping quarters and also used for inside banquets. The series won some awards for the location set designs and costumes. The food was real, but no alcohol; the wine was grape juice. As I recall the boars were real but don't remember anyone eating them. I was a strict vegetarian for the about 5 years back then so I didn't pay to much attention to them even though I sat right near them in some scenes!

Speaking of the dining tent, the food was great but what I found intriguing was the afternoon tea break, where everyone had banana sandwiches; I had never heard of such a thing but they were very good.

With regard to stunts – from what I observed it was always Oliver and Michael doing everything; I don't recall any stuntmen standing in for either of them. When there was a group of riders I believe some of those were stuntmen. Oliver and Michael always did their own riding, and they both were very good at it.

Extras would get an additional £2 per day if they were involved in any stunts, or got pummelled. They probably don’t allow that today – too many lawyers – but it was fun then. In one episode, “The Marriage Feast”, a scene called for Mark of Cornwall (Brian Blessed) to storm off, mad because Arthur had just embarrassed him. It must have been my turn that day, as the director picked me to be thrown over Brian Blessed’s shoulder as he rampaged through the village, knocking people out of his way. We did at least 5 takes where Blessed literally threw me over his shoulder and into the air; he was a strong guy. Lucky for me, I studied jiu-jitsu in high school, so I knew how to land in hard falls, but it was still somewhat rough. I was disappointed when I watched the DVD; the take they used was the only one where he did not do that; instead, they used the one take where he just throws me down.



I was involved in inside banquet scenes in two different shows. One was “The Marriage Feast”; I am sitting next to Brian Blessed, on his right. You can only see me in a quick wide shot at 14:45, and some back and forth over the shoulder shots in that scene, one is at 16:15.



In the other, I sit next to Arthur in a scene where Arthur and an opposing group, I cannot remember which one, decided to make a treaty and be peaceful with each other, so they hold a feast to celebrate.¹

While Arthur and the leaders of the opposing group are inside at the banquet, some of the villagers from both sides have a knife throwing contest at a target. There is an accidental death when a knife misses the target and kills one of the villagers, and things get tense. A messenger rushes into the banquet to tell everyone, and things get tense. I remember that one well. It was shot of course out of sequence. In the filming of it, first the outdoor scene was shot, in that shot I am standing near the target when the man next to me gets killed by the stray knife. Later the banquet scene is shot and the messenger comes in and tells Arthur what happened, when he does everyone gets tense and I was told by the director to slowly start pulling out my knife as if a fight was about to happen. Normally I wouldn’t say anything to the director but I thought I better tell him I was in the previous outside shot and he might have a continuity problem if I was noticeable. But he wasn’t worried so he probably had plenty of coverage. ²

At an outside feast in “Rowena” at 19:48 I am sitting down in front of the table and throw wine at a villager, who falls down.



In "Some Saxon Women" I am in quite a few shots but more interestingly there are good shots of the young woman that Michael Gothard was seeing. She is most easily seen in the scene starting at 7:00 where the two men look over the Saxon women who are chained up. In the shot where the two men stop and shake hands “to make the deal” was Michael’s girlfriend; she was German, and had a young child.



On set, Oliver was always the quietest of the three main actors, and was always very courteous to everyone. He was the youngest, and – as the lead – he had the biggest responsibility. While waiting, he seemed to keep it very serious. He was perfect for the role of Arthur, and he did a great job, even though he was not that experienced.

Jack Watson was the most laid back. Having previously worked on TV productions in New York, I already knew never to bother the actors; always wait until spoken to, and stay on business unless someone else brings up a topic, because they need their space to think about their lines, and get into the character, but while waiting for his part, Jack would often stand on the side among the extras, chatting amiably. He usually had fewer lines to deliver than the others, so I would think that made it easier to be relaxed, plus he had the most experience.

The most serious I ever saw him was on the occasion when, in a nice manner, he scolded me. It was very cold on some of the early mornings, so I had gone to a second-hand shop and bought the warmest overcoat I could find: a long dark blue wool coat, that only cost three pounds.

While we were watching a scene being prepared, Jack, who was standing next to me, said, “Are you a medic?” I answered, “No. What makes you think I would be?”

He explained that I was wearing a Navy medic’s coat; it still had the patch on it.

I told him I didn’t know what it meant, I just bought it because I was trying to keep warm.

He wasn’t mad or anything; he was just very worried that if there was an emergency, it would cause confusion. I couldn’t imagine anyone would think I was a medic, since – other than the coat – my clothes were those of an impoverished medieval Celt, but I realized later that he was a WW2 Navy man, so I could understand his concern.

Michael Gothard was probably the most physical actor. Even standing still, the man seemed to be moving. I noticed that whenever he was in a scene that was being shot, the energy on the set went up; I think he was the sort of actor who made everyone rise up without their even realizing it. Somehow, Michael began talking with me, and found out I had just been travelling about Europe, much as he did some years earlier. During that period, we hit the pubs a few times.

Whoever cast this series really knew what they were doing. The contrast between Oliver and Michael made for good interplay between the two. Oliver was sturdy, emanated inner strength, and kept his cards close, while Michael was lanky, had his energy “out there”, and was often edgy.

It was my impression that the three lead actors liked each other very much.

It is amazing how popular and long-lasting Arthur of the Britons has been. Many of the Brits and Aussies that I have known here in the US remember the show very fondly and vividly. It is an incredible testament to everyone involved.

¹ “The Treaty.”

² This indoor scene, where a messenger comes in to tell the assembled chiefs about the death, does not appear in the episode as shown on TV; the footage must have been discarded.

A still from "The Slaves", featuring Oliver Tobias as Arthur, Jack Watson as Llud, and Anthony Bailey as Rodolf.

This article appeared on page 3, about halfway down on the right, on Thursday 17 August 1972.

Stunt is a hair-raiser

Stuntman, Peter Brayham lost an £80 long blonde Saxon wig in the River Chew, in Woollard, near Pensford, yesterday.

He was fighting with Bath actor Jack Watson in a scene from HTV’s £500,000 Arthur series, which is being filmed on location throughout the West.


There are very few scenes in which Jack Watson, as Llud, is seen fighting in or near water, and in none of those is he fighting a Saxon.

In “The Penitent Invader”, which was filmed during early August, he fights some Picts by the side of the River Chew, but their wigs are curly black ones.

In “Go Warily”, he fights the giant Brosk (played by Dave Prowse), who is not a Saxon, and who, in any case, is wearing a helmet, not a wig. The episode is thought to have been filmed in September, and so post-dates this article.

In “Rolf the Penitent”, Brian Blessed, playing Mark of Cornwall, throws a Saxon wearing a long blond wig into the River Chew, but this particular episode is thought to have been filmed in early October.

Given the date of the article, it seems most likely that the loss of a blond wig – if it happened at all - occurred during the filming of "In Common Cause", during which a stuntman, doubling for Michael Gothard, jumps into Woodborough Mill Dam, while wearing such a wig. However, the dam is not very big, so if his wig had fallen off, it should have easily been retrieved.

A cynical person might suspect that this article was a complete work of fiction, devised as a way of keeping the project in the news, or perhaps simply to fill a couple of column inches on a slow news day during the silly season!

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 Penitent Invader.”



“The Penitent Invader” was episode ‘G’ - the seventh episode to be filmed.

The call sheet is No.34, and is dated 8 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 Woollard.

Jack Watson (Llud), Clive Revill (Rolf), Roy Carne (Blacksmith), Sean McCauley (Llud’s Messenger), and Hedley Goodall (Abbot Morpeth), along with 25 extras (12 Celtic men, 8 Celtic women and 5 Celtic children) were required in Make-up/Wardrobe at 07:30, to begin filming at 08:30. Jack Watson had his own transport, and Clive Revill was collected from the Unicorn Hotel ¹ at 07:00.

Scenes 10 and 10a, with Llud, Rolf and the Abbot, for which filming began the day before, were to be completed.

New scenes scheduled to be filmed were 8, 11, 13, 25, 33, 35, 36, 36a, 37 and 38.

Props listed include “practical” (ie. real) fire, blacksmiths’ tools, whip, rope for tying, burning logs and “chaffe to throw on fire.”

Horses were required for Llud, Rolf, and Llud’s messenger, with an additional three “for carts”, and – somewhat confusingly – 3 donkeys. The intended use of these donkeys is unknown – nowhere in the episode do we see more than one (baby) donkey.

From this, we can conclude that among the scenes to be filmed were the one where Rolf shows Llud to the village forge; the scene where Llud give Rolf the shirt with spikes on the inside; the scene in which Rolf is publicly flogged, and the scene in which Llud is called away by a Messenger, just before Rolf walks on hot coals – and then sets out to raid a fictional caravan carrying tribute to Arthur.

The weather prospects must have been uncertain, as Fred Wedlock (Minstrel) was on standby, in case indoor banquet scenes 9, 9a, 30, 32 and 32a were to be filmed instead.

Breakfast, lunch and afternoon break for the cast and crew – about 70 to 75 people - was laid on, by George Cook (or Cooke) on location.

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 concerned is “The Penitent Invader.”



“The Penitent Invader” was episode ‘G’ - the seventh episode to be filmed.

The call sheet is No.33, and is dated 7 August 1972, which was a Monday, so this would have been the first day of filming.

The scenes scheduled for this date were to be filmed at Woollard.

The first scene to be filmed involved extras only. Barbara Hatherall and her husband, Gabrielle Doody, and three as yet unidentified extras, two of them horsemen, were required in Make-up/Wardrobe at 07:30, to begin filming at 08:30. The scenes being filmed were 14, 15, 16 and 24. These were the scenes in which we see a jeweller at his work, a maiden relaxing on the river bank, and a couple of men tending two horses, and then the jeweller being tended by his wife following an attack by Rolf.

Jack Watson (Llud) and Clive Revill (Rolf) were required in Make-up/Wardrobe at 08:30, to begin filming at 09:30. Jack Watson had his own transport, and Clive Revill was collected from the Unicorn Hotel ¹ at 08:00.

They were to shoot “pick ups” - minor shots to be added to the scenes already filmed – the parts where we see Llud and Rolf viewing the various temptations as they ride past. They also had to film scenes 17, 23, 18, 22, 19, 20 and 21 – scenes in which Rolf and Llud stop to rest, Llud falls asleep, then wakes and finds Rolf missing, then retraces his steps and finds the evidence of Rolf’s attacks on the maiden, the horsemen and the jeweller and his wife.

At 12:30, Hedley Goodall (Abbot Morpeth) was required in Make-up/Wardrobe to be ready to film at 14:30. That allowed two hours to get him ready; perhaps as this was the first day of filming, they needed extra time for a suitable costume to be found and fitted.

Jack Watson and Clive Revill were also required, to film scenes 10 and 10a – the scenes where Llud goes to speak to the Abbott, Rolf’s “scourger” - and relive him of his burdensome duties. One of the prop requirements was “Lots of baby animals”, presumably so that Rolf could demonstrate his villainy by abusing them! In the end, only a baby donkey was involved, tied up outside the Abbot’s hut, for Rolf to give a villainous shove with his foot.

The weather prospects must have been uncertain, as Fred Wedlock (Minstrel) was on standby, in case indoor banquet scenes were to be filmed instead of those scheduled for the morning. A crowd for these scenes was to be rounded up if needed!

Breakfast, lunch and afternoon break for the cast and crew – about 65 people - was laid on, by George Cook (or Cooke) on location.

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 concerned is “The Slaves.”



“The Slaves” was episode ‘F’ - the sixth episode to be filmed.

The call sheet is No.30, and is dated 2nd August 1972, which was a Wednesday, so this would have been the third day of filming.

The scenes scheduled for this date were to be filmed on location at Cheddar.

Jack Watson (Llud), Deborah Watling (Thuna), Adrian Cairns (Heardred) and Jackie Cooper (Ensel) were required in Make-up/Wardrobe at 07:30, to begin filming at 08:30, so at 6:30, a car collected Deborah Watling from the Unicorn Hotel ¹, where guest stars were commonly billeted. Jack, Adrian and Jackie must have made their own arrangements.

They were to shoot scenes 50, 51 and 52. These must have been the scenes where Ensel, the genuine new supervisor sent by Cerdig, arrives at the site; Thuna tells Heardred she never trusted Kai, calls Llud over, and subtly warns him of the danger. She then distracts Ensel. Heardred takes the opportunity to complain to Ensel about the difficulties of his task.

At 06:45, Oliver Tobias (Arthur) was picked up from Ben Ford’s stables in Stroud, and at 07:15, a car collected David Prowse (Col) and Anthony Bailey (Rodolf) from the Unicorn Hotel. Michael Gothard (Kai) was also required, and all were to be in Make-up/Wardrobe at 08:15, to be ready to film at 09:15, along with the actors already on set.

A crowd of 45 was required, to represent Saxon guards and Celtic slaves. Some of these were collected from the HTV studios in the Z Car Bus, at 06:30.

The scenes to be filmed from 09:15 were 23, 26, 27, 31, 33, 35, 36, 38, 44, 45, 46 and 49. These probably included the scene where Arthur is taken up to the rock-face and chained up, most of the shots of the slaves working the quarry, the scene where Col collapses and Arthur defends him from Rodolf, then attacks Rodolf, forcing Kai to take charge of Arthur’s punishment, and possibly the scenes where Arthur is dragged away from the punishment site, and Kai gets everyone back to work.

Props required are the tools needed by the slaves, a horn – to be blown to signal meal times – and a theodolite - one of the tools of Heardred’s trade.

The weapons needed for the rebellion are not listed among the props, and neither is there any mention of “practical food”, or “bowls of wet cotton wool” (the slaves’ “food”) so neither the scenes in the small arsenal, the big fight at the end, nor any of the scenes where the slaves or their masters are eating lunch, were filmed on this date.

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

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

A still from "Daughter of the King", featuring Jack Watson as Llud, and Iain Cuthbertson as Bavick.