Richard the Lionheart (TV series)

Richard the Lionheart was a British ITV television series which ran from 1961 to 1963, aimed at younger audiences.[1]

Richard the Lionheart
Also known as	Riccardo Cuor di Leone (Italy) Richard Löwenherz (West Germany)
Genre	Adventure Family History
Written by	Stanley Miller Paul Tabori David Nicholl Mark Grantham
Directed by	Ernest Morris
Starring	Dermot Walsh Robin Hunter Alan Haywood Iain Gregory Sheila Whittingham Trader Faulkner
Opening theme	"Richard the Lionheart"
Ending theme	"Richard the Lionheart"
Composer	Bill Le Sage
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	39 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Edward J. Danziger Harry Lee Danziger
Producer	Brian Taylor (associate producer)
Cinematography	Walter J. Harvey
Editors	Peter Pitt John S. Smith
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Danziger Productions Ltd.
Release
Original network	Independent Television (ITV) (UK)
Original release	20 November 1961 (1961-11-20) – 14 October 1965 (1965-10-14)

It began with the death of King Henry II, and put forward the traditional view of King Richard the Lionheart as a hero, and his brother Prince John (played by Trader Faulkner) as the villain.

Richard was played by Irish actor Dermot Walsh who said, "he was not always all one would like to see as a man. We have concentrated on his good side." Richard was perhaps a product of his time. A man brimful of contradictions. A brilliant general, but a poor ruler. A sensitive poet and singer.[2]

The producers claimed that the series was based on fact as far as possible; though as little was known of Richard's personal life, "we have taken some liberties here and there," according to associate producer Brian Taylor in a TV Times article indicating the start of the series.[3]

Other regular characters in the series included Sir Gilbert (Robin Hunter), Sir Geoffrey (Alan Haywood), Blondel (Iain Gregory), Leopold of Austria (Francis de Wolff) and Queen Berengaria (Sheila Whittingham).

According to BFI Screenonline "despite the treadmill efforts of the production... this routine swashbuckler, presenting an atmosphere of knightly conduct versus villainous skulduggery, was saved from total tedium by the presence of recurring players Trader Faulkner, a sneering Prince John, and Francis de Wolfe as the delightfully monstrous Leopold of Austria."[4]

A single DVD was released by Stratx Digital Media on 6 June 2016. Although all episodes are thought to survive, the DVD contains only five episodes: "Long Live The King", "School For a King", "Crown In Danger", "The Pirate King" and "The Challenge". The picture quality for the most part is watchable, but the sound at times is flawed.