Arthur of the Britons

This call sheet was kindly donated to this archive by Barbara Hatherall, who was an extra on 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.35, and is dated 9 August 1972, which was a Wednesday, so this would have been the third day of filming.

Filming took place at Woollard.

Jack Watson and Fred Wedlock had their own transport, and Clive Revill was collected from the Unicorn Hotel ¹ at 07:00. Along with Roy Carne, they were required in make-up at 7:30 for an 8:30 start.

Firstly, Jack Watson (Llud), Clive Revill (Rolf), and Roy Carne (Blacksmith) were scheduled to film scenes 35, 36, 36a, 37 and 38 - which had evidently not been completed the day before, when first listed. This is where Rolf walks on hot coals, and Llud is called away by a Messenger, then Rolf sets out to raid a fictional caravan carrying tribute to Arthur.

Also required in make-up at 7:30 for an 8:30 start were folk singer Fred Wedlock (Rolf’s Minstrel), Peter Derbyshire (Herward’s Messenger), Sean McCauley and Ben Ford (Llud’s companions), along with 24 extras (12 Celtic men, 8 Celtic women and 4 Celtic children).

The scenes involving these actors were 9, 9a, 30, 12, 32 and 32a. Given that a large roast boar is listed among the props, these must have been the banquet scenes, featuring Fred Wedlock, playing a dulcimer covered in animal skins. The scenes in Rolf’s bedroom were also on the schedule, as the blacksmith, and Herward’s messenger, who appear in those scenes, are required for the shoot, as well as beds, a candle, and Rolf’s spiked hide shirt.

Horses were required for Llud, Rolf, and Llud’s messenger, for the completion of other scenes from the previous day.

Breakfast, lunch and afternoon break for the cast and crew – about 75 to 80 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.

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.”

Plot

The episode starts with a fight in the woods, between two cousins, Garet and Gawain, who are continuing a long-standing feud between their fathers, over an inheritance.

When Arthur interrupts them, Garet admits, “It all starts from nothing.” He and Gawain don’t really hate each other – they just get carried away.

But Garet and Gawain are the leaders of their villages, and Arthur had charged them with keeping the Saxons to the North at bay - not fighting each other. Mightily displeased, Arthur banishes them both to Gaul. Each cousin offers to go there alone, to stop the fighting, then they squabble again, over who should have the right to make this sacrifice! Finally they work together, taking Arthur, Kai and Llud by surprise, pushing them off their horses, and escaping.

When Arthur and Kai give chase, Kai suggests a bet: Arthur’s dagger against Kai’s new spear, that Kai is the first to catch one of the brothers.

Arthur ambushes and catches Garet with minimal effort, while Kai rides after Gawain, and takes him prisoner. Both miscreants react with good-natured acceptance, and – this time – their hands are tied, to stop them getting away again.

Now Kai wants to know who won the bet. Suspecting that the answer will cause trouble, Llud is reluctant to tell him, but Kai won’t let it rest, and Llud has to admit that Arthur won by a narrow margin.

Kai resents giving up his new spear, but resents Arthur even more for refusing to accept it. Kai launches it over their heads; Arthur observes that he must be tired, then throws his own spear, which lands a little further away.

They ignore Llud's efforts to get them moving on, and challenge each other for both distance and accuracy, in spear throwing. Their exchanges become more barbed, and the contest, more hazardous.

Amused at first, Garet and Gawain give each other increasingly puzzled looks, perhaps wondering why they are the ones tied up. Llud is also worried, but Arthur laughs off his concerns – “It’s just a game, Llud” – while Kai continues to rise to Arthur’s baiting.

Arthur and Kai then test out each other’s shield arms, then joust, then belabour each other with their spears. Arthur knocks Kai’s spear from his hand; Kai draws his axe. Arthur throws away his spear and draws his sword. They fight again, until they break each other’s shields. Then they simply ride at each other, their weapons crashing together.

Arthur cuts Kai’s stirrup, unhorsing him. Arthur dismounts, and they continue fighting, sword against axe. Kai disarms Arthur. Arthur runs to get one of Garet and Gawain’s confiscated weapons – a short sword – and Kai throws his axe away and asks for the other, to make the contest more even.

Both wounded, they fight on until both are disarmed. Then they throttle each other, and – locked together – roll down a bank into a stream, and struggle in the mud and water.

As Llud and the two cousins look on in dismay, Arthur picks up Kai’s axe, and brings the blade down into the mud, where Kai’s head lay a split second before. Kai gets to his feet, pulls a knife from his belt, and stares at Arthur.

The sight of Kai’s axe embedded in the mud finally brings Arthur to his senses, and they both stand down, then help each other climb up the bank.

Llud unties Garet and Gawain. Their banishment is rescinded.


Timeline

In “The Gift of Life”, both Krist’s enquiry about a wound on Kai’s neck, given to him by Arthur, and the reference by Ulrich’s minstrel to Arthur and Kai’s great fights, suggest that the events in “The Challenge” were supposed to have occurred before those in “The Gift of Life.”

So despite being aired after “The Gift of Life” in the UK, “The Challenge” seems to have been intended to be shown first. It appears before “The Gift of Life” in the “Arthur of the Britons” annual-format book by Terence Feely, in a German book loosely based on the series, “Konig Arthur”, and on the German DVD set.

But an injury suffered by Oliver Tobias while filming “The Challenge” caused a delay in completing the episode. An article in the Bristol Evening Post published 13 July refers to this incident as having occurred the night before, which indicates that "The Challenge" was being filmed during the week beginning 11 July.

As cameraman Roger Pearce acknowledges, they changed the schedule so as to keep filming, so most of both "Enemies and Lovers" and "The Gift of Life" - neither of which made too many demands on Oliver Tobias - were filmed before the completion of "The Challenge", to allow Oliver time to recover.

There is a telling note at the bottom of call sheet no. 25 showing that "pick ups" - shots filmed after the bulk of an episode has been completed - from both "Enemies and Lovers" and "The Challenge" were to be filmed on Saturday 29 July. From this, we can safely conclude that those episodes were filmed prior to "The Gift of Life."

The keeper of this archive speculates that the "pick-ups" scheduled for 29 July might have been shots of Arthur and Kai riding along a track near the banks of the River Chew; similar shots were used in both "The Challenge" and "Enemies and Lovers."

Suggested shooting order so far

Arthur is Dead
Daughter of the King
The Challenge


Broadcast problems

On 11 January 1973, a letter from R.J. Simmons, Press Officer for HTV West, was published in The Stage.

Simmons was responding to a complaint that episode 3 of “Arthur of the Britons”, "The Challenge", broadcast on 20 December 1972, was difficult to understand. Simmons explained that this was because a Post Office fault caused the loss of sound during the first 8 minutes, resulting in the loss of much vital dialogue. According to the letter, several companies showed that episode again later.


Locations

Cameraman Roger Pearce confirmed that the scenes where the protagonists ride through the bracken were filmed in the Mendips. The rest of the episode was filmed in Compton Dando, at this location.


Inside information

Oliver Tobias is justifiably proud of having done all but one of his own stunts for the series, and sports a “Worldwide British Equity Registered Stuntman” sticker on the windscreen of his Ducati.

While filming stunts for “The Challenge”, he suffered a serious injury. At a meeting with fans in 2010, he said: “Christ I’m lucky to be here – I nearly died during filming.”

For the sequence where Arthur had to use his shield to parry spears, they had a champion javelin thrower from Bristol University standing beside the camera, hurling them at him. Camera 2nd assistant Peter Thornton remembers: "The spear was thrown by one of the extras, a neighbour of ours at the time, Ken Holmes, who represented England in the Commonwealth Games. He competed in the javelin!"

Oliver thought he was young and athletic enough to jump out of the way in time, but on one occasion, he didn’t make it: a spear glanced off the inside of his shield instead of the outside, and hit him on the back of the head.

“When it hit me, it was like a ship running aground.”

He remembers Michael holding his head in his lap while they were waiting for the ambulance, and waking up in Bristol Infirmary, thinking he’d died and gone to heaven, and that the very pretty nurse bending over him with a gold cross dangling from her neck was an angel. He remembers being out of action for a fortnight with concussion.

“You feel terrible and can’t focus on anything.”

Producer, Patrick Dromgoole was very worried about the injury to his star:

“Oliver's spear injury terrified the life out of us, and might have been quite serious although he tended to play it down and got out of hospital and back to work as fast as he possibly could.”

Cameraman Roger Pearce was rather more sanguine:

“I have a vague memory of Ollie being injured. I think it was late afternoon and the result of a spear being thrown; it would not have been metal but a solid rubber tipped one. But with the weight of the wooden shaft behind it, it could still wound. I seem to remember Ollie was taken off by ambulance to be checked over and there may have been a few stitches to boot! Was filming halted? No, just rearrange the call sheet and press on!”

When filming the fight in the stream, Roger recalls that they rolled down the bank a couple of times to practice, but they couldn’t get their costumes wet, or it would have been all over.

Oliver remembered that they were extremely cold by the time they finished filming the fight. In the scene following the fight, where they ride off on their separate ways, Arthur is wearing different breeches. Oliver said this was because ‘we washed our clothes, and I refused to get on a horse with a wet gusset!’


Cast notes

Both Ken Hutchison (Gawain) and Nicky Henson have long careers in TV and film.


Re-working the legend

In Arthurian legend, Gawain is one of the greatest knights of the Round Table. His brothers, Gareth and Mordred, are also knights. When Lancelot accidentally kills Gareth, the recriminations and political machinations that follow precipitate the break-up of Arthur’s Round Table, and Arthur’s death in battle with Mordred.

In “The Challenge”, Garet and Gawain’s dispute precipitates the struggle between Arthur and Kai, which prompts Gawain’s fearful speculation, “It’s to the death …” to which Llud responds, “If what you say is true, then it’s more than the death of one man. It’ll destroy the other. It will destroy this land”: echoes of “The King and the Land are one.”


Family ties

This episode introduces a recurring theme of familial rivalry, in the persons of cousins, Garet and Gawain, whose quarrel goes back generations.

The relationship between Arthur, Kai and Llud has still not been explained, but we hear Llud say: “I trained you both for battle”, letting us know that Llud’s mentoring role in their lives is long-standing. Then, as their contest intensifies, Llud says, “had to come – now they must fight it out.”

This tells us that Llud has seen them grow up together, and been aware of the rivalry bubbling under the surface for a long time; that Arthur and Kai have often fought before, probably with varying degrees of seriousness, ranging from play, through practice, to quite serious quarrels.

Arthur, the younger and more slightly built of the two², has probably been on the losing side of fights with Kai for most of his life - and he hasn’t liked it. This explains why Llud thinks it “had to come.”

Their importance to each other is hinted at when Llud answers Gawain’s “It’s to the death …” with “If what you say is true, then it’s more than the death of one man. It’ll destroy the other.”


Dark Age Men

The whole 25 minute episode is a feast of macho posturing. The competition to catch Garet and Gawain starts innocently enough, but Kai is a little too anxious to learn who caught his man first, and gets annoyed when Arthur claims that his victory was because he knew Gareth and Gawain’s minds: tantamount to saying, “It wasn’t fair on you – I used my superior intellect.”

Then when Kai beats Arthur for distance with the spear-throwing contest, Arthur moves the goalposts: “It’s accuracy that counts.”

Having beaten Kai at hitting the target, he then goes out of his way to insult Kai’s defensive capabilities:
Kai: So you have a better shield arm too, have you?
Arthur: I did not say that … To state the obvious is a tedious pastime.

As the contest continues, it is Kai who keeps the coolest head, while Arthur seams desperate to win at all costs; during the jousting, when Kai wounds him, drawing blood, he is clearly furious.

Though Arthur gives up the advantage of his spear, apparently for the sake of fairness, later, when he has cut Kai’s stirrup, pitching him from his horse, he says: “I wouldn’t want you to say that my horse beat you.”

Then Kai, with his axe, sends Arthur’s sword flying off out of reach; at this point, with no weapon in his hand, Arthur should have admitted defeat, and – if he was in his right mind – he would have. But he runs to fetch a short sword. He seems to want to keep fighting until he has beaten Kai in as many ways as he can; until Kai acknowledges him the better warrior.

Now, Kai gives up his axe, in exchange for another short sword, because he can see that there is no point trying to call a halt to the fight; Arthur will not be satisfied until he has won. And it isn’t until Arthur nearly splits Kai’s head open, and Kai gets to his feet and pulls a knife from his belt – which he could have done any time while they were fighting hand-to hand – that Arthur comes to his senses.


The best laid plans …

Not tying Garet and Gawain up right from the start wasn’t one of Arthur’s best moves. As a result, Garet and Gawain’s escape plan, made up on the fly, works like a dream.

The smug look Arthur gives Garet and Gawain at the end almost hints that his fight with Kai was a deliberate attempt to teach the Garet and Gawain a lesson; to show them how they look from the outside. If so, they took the charade much too far!

And the plan to send Garet and Gawain to Gaul … well, that didn’t really work out.


Great moments

Here are just a few of the many in this episode.



The beginning of Arthur and Kai's disagreement.



The little flick Kai gives Arthur’s hand at 10.25 to try to get him to calm down.



Kai, standing at bay (at 16:02) with only an axe, against Arthur’s spear:





The moment Arthur comes to his senses and throws the axe away, and the way they help each other back up the bank afterwards.


Quote/Unquote

Arthur: You’re a broken shield at my back.

Gawain: All those who are close by blood ties have their differences. Only holy men and cowards agree all the time.

Kai: I was pinning frogs’ legs before I could talk.
Arthur: It must have been irksome – not being able to tell anyone about it.

Arthur: I wouldn’t want you to say that my horse beat you.
Kai: Your horse would have a better chance.

Gawain: It’s to the death …
Llud: If what you say is true, then it’s more than the death of one man. It’ll destroy the other. It will destroy this land.


Arthur’s wisdom

In "Arthur is Dead", Arthur himself said: “If I fight now to prove myself, reason will have flown.” Reason certainly embarks on a long migration in this episode! Arthur seems to forget that just because he is the leader, he doesn’t necessarily have to be the strongest or most skillful fighter; as a result, he allows himself to get so caught up in the contest that he almost kills his best friend.


The burden of command

The worry about having to keep his people safe, and sort out these squabbles between his underlings, must put Arthur under a lot of pressure. Llud reminds Arthur and Kai: “This is no feast day. We have work ahead of us” – but perhaps that is part of the problem. And as Arthur puts it: “Young men must have their sport.”


The hot-headed sidekick …

… seems less hot-headed than Arthur, on this occasion.


A wager’s a wager

Wagering is part of normal life for Arthur and Kai – as in their race at the end of “Arthur is Dead”, and their knife-throwing for who fetches supplies, in “Daughter of the King.” But for some reason, the wager over who catches his miscreant first leads to trouble. Arthur must have known that his rejection of Kai's spear would lead to trouble.


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

This week, Arthur is seen doing the same unconventional dismount as Kai did in “Daughter of the King”, swinging his right leg over his horse’s neck, so he doesn’t have to take his eyes off Garet and Gawain.

At a meeting in 2010, Oliver Tobias told of how, in one scene from “The Challenge”, Skyline (the horse that he was riding at the time), who hadn’t been trained to cope with the loud clanking noise made by the two spears dangling from either side of the saddle, was spooked, and bolted. It was running for ages in a blind panic. Oliver tried steering it towards a tree, but that didn’t slow it down, and he was thinking of throwing himself off, but he eventually managed to get it under control again. Throughout most of the rest of the episode, Arthur is seen riding his other white horse, Bernie.

Kai once again rides the dark horse with a wide irregular blaze, "Trooper" - who seems to cope with all kinds of irregular activities during the series. Llud rides his usual chestnut, Curly; Gawain rides the small flaxen chestnut, Blondie, and Garet rides a large dapple grey horse with a pink snip, "Pinkie".

See this post for further details of the horses of "Arthur of the Britons."


'That is bloody dangerous!'

There is a lot of stunt work in this episode, and some of it was evidently quite dangerous, given the aforementioned injury to Oliver Tobias. Everyone except Gawain falls off their horse; Kai falls off twice! The lack of any kind of head protection is, as ever, taken for granted.

To open the episode, Garet and Gawain go at it hammer and tongs, and as for Arthur and Kai: there aren’t many weapons they don’t make use of. They fight with spears, swords, shields, and short swords; Kai fights with his axe for the first time, and Arthur also uses it, nearly splitting Kai’s skull. At the end, Kai pulls a knife to defend himself.

As well as the fights, there is the scene where Kai rides after Gawain, at a gallop, holding his spear over his head with both hands, and launches the spear. This must have required great strength and balance.


Dressed to kill?

Arthur is wearing the same brown tunic with light brown trim that he wore for part of “Daughter of the King”, with a white shirt underneath. Kai wears a suede lace-up shirt. His studded tunic can be seen stowed behind his saddle, but – despite the fact that he spends much of the episode fighting – he doesn’t put it on. Llud wears a suede jerkin, with a white shirt.

'By the Gods!'

There is little reference to religion in this episode, apart from Garet’s opening line, “God! I’ll kill you!”

Arthur’s shield has a cross on it.


Honourable mention

The horses ridden by Arthur and Kai during their battle have to be mentioned here, for bravery and trust in their riders, who were swinging axes and swords around their heads.



Garet and Gawain provide great comic relief.


What’s going on here?

While Arthur berates Garet and Gawain in the woods, we see a reaction shot of Llud which was clearly taken out in the open. The shot was stolen from the scene where Arthur and Kai are about to throw spears at each other.



When Kai first launches his spear, Arthur observes that he must be tired, then throws his own spear. Everyone, including Kai, seems to acknowledge Arthur’s throw as the longest, but if you take into account the positions from which each man threw his spear, Kai’s clearly traveled further than Arthur’s.

The bits of sheepskin binding meant to blunt the points of Arthur and Kai’s spears look entirely ineffective.



Arthur claims to have been taught the short sword by the Romans, and Kai retorts that he’s killed Romans with it. Both these statements appear anachronistic, as the Romans officially left Britain before they were born. It’s possible they are referring to former Romans who had become naturalised, or to Britons like Ambrose, who still emulated the Roman ways.




Music

Paul Lewis revealed that for the scene where Arthur and Kai fight in the stream, one of the editors reversed the tape and played a music cue backwards. “It was a long sequence of sustained string tremolos punctuated by drumbeats, rising in pitch and intensity to a big climax. There was a fight in the mud which got slower and slower until the combatants dropped from exhaustion, so Editor Alex Kirby played the music backwards so that it gradually sagged away to nothing! So resourceful, and the joke is I never noticed! So much grunting, clashing of weapons and muddy splodgy sounds!”

The reversed track seems to be “Battle on Horseback.” In total, the tracks of incidental music used in this episode, were:

Track 12, Duel: Garet and Gawain fight in the woods.
Track 34, Title theme (bridge): riding through the bracken.
Track 14, Chase!: Arthur and Kai chase Gawain and Garet.
Track 26, Evil Stirs: tensions mount between Arthur and Kai.
Track 11, Desolation and Despair: Arthur insults Kai’s defensive abilities.
Track 9, Muttering and Plotting: Arthur and Kai throw spears at each other, and joust.
Track 10, Battle on Horseback/Bitter Victory: they fight on horseback.
Track 12, Duel: they fight on foot, with short swords.
Track 10, Battle on Horseback (reversed): they roll down the bank and fight in the stream.
Track 23, Arrival of Arthur: the two groups go their separate ways.

The whole suite of music, written by Paul Lewis, is available on CD.


Cast

Arthur ……………... Oliver Tobias
Kai .….….….….…... Michael Gothard
Llud ………………... Jack Watson
Garet ………………. Nicky Henson
Gawain ………….… Ken Hutchison

Crew

Executive Producer ... Patrick Dromgoole
Producer …………… Peter Miller
Director ……………. Sidney Hayers
Story ………………. Terence Feely
Associate Producer … John Peverall
Production Manager ... Keith Evans
Action Arranger ……. Peter Brayham
Post-production ……. Barry Peters
Cameraman ………... Tony Impey
Camera Operator …... Roger Pearce
Film Editing ………... David Williams
Sound recordist ……. Bob Stokes
Dubbing Mixer …….. John Cross
Art Direction ….…… Doug James
Assistant Director ….. Simon Hinkley
Production Assistant .. Maggie Hayes
Wardrobe ……..……. Audrey MacLeod
Make-up ….….…….. Christine Penwarden
Incidental music ……. Paul Lewis
Theme music ………. Elmer Bernstein

¹ Ken Holmes competed in the javelin at the 1970 Commonwealth Games – he actually represented Wales, and came 7th, with a throw of 68.62 metres.

² Michael Gothard is older than Oliver Tobias by eight years, and in Arthurian legend, Sir Kay is generally said to be older than Arthur.