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Aimed purely at a conventional juvenile audience, with its chivalric knights
in gleaming armour, though missing the sweep, grandeur and self-belief of a
really good small screen spectacle, The Adventures of Sir Lancelot followed the
old formulary pattern of one action scene to every one interior in regular
alternation.
Arriving at just the right time for the new TV cycle of filmed costume
adventures, the series proved, initially at least, to be a welcome addition.
Arthurian mythology was an overdue subject for action-adventure television, and
in Sapphire's attempt at plotting Sir Thomas Malory's 15th century fables of
chivalry, quest and challenge, the series met the required textbook
elements.
William Russell played the steely Sir Lancelot du Lac with dashing endeavour,
but with absolutely no fidelity to period look or sense. Jane Hylton was a most
charming and sensible Queen Guinevere, and Ronald Leigh-Hunt performed the noble
King Arthur with the presence of a tactful corporate magnate. Veteran actor
Cyril Smith's Merlin, an endearing but fleeting figure, came closer to the
Disney notion (Sword in the Stone via T.H. White) than the enigmatic medieval 'time lord' character of popular mythology.
As an episodic adventure yarn with no particular story arc to project it
(such as a specific quest or challenge), the series heaved its way through
various duels with warrior knights and opportune rescues of distressed damsels,
with the occasional ingredient of wizardry thrown in for good measure.
More a sedate cliffhanger serial escapade than a full-blooded, uninhibited
Arthurian romance, the production was, however, graced with 14 splendid-looking
episodes filmed in sumptuously rich colour (by cinematographers Ernest Palmer
and Brendan J. Stafford), which went some way to enhancing the lukewarm accounts
of the Viking raiders of 'The Lesser Breed', the mystical theme of 'Witches
Brew', and the distaff desperadoes of 'The Missing Princess'.
Statutory, but nevertheless good-humoured and moderately exciting tales in
the dastardly days of King Arthur, the series rarely made the most of its
mythical storytelling opportunities in a television period when both the
interest and the purpose was for something extraordinary.
Tise Vahimagi
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1. King Arthur and Merlin (2:32)
Peter Proud: BECTU Interview Part 2 (1987)
