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For all its well-intentioned attempts to recreate a small screen chivalric
epic, as well as please the early evening adventure viewer, Richard the
Lionheart added up to remarkably little in the way of swashbuckling
excitement.
It would seem that the attraction of such epic storytelling as the life of
Richard I (nicknamed 'Coeur de Lion') and his adventures during the Third
Crusade (1189-1192), the war with Sultan Saladin in the Holy Land, and his
capture by Duke Leopold of Austria on his return journey to England would have
inspired the producers of this series to charge it with more excitement and
character.
The series had all the components necessary for a spectacle - a romantic
hero, a varied and colourful milieu, one of the best adventure stories in
English history - but offered neither grandeur of conception nor any depth of
drama, even though everything seemed eminently in its right place. The scripts
were conventional and slow, lacking in tension and acting opportunities. Dermot
Walsh's King Richard was suitably bold but seemed as if he were forced to
portray some Machiavellian corporate executive facing much intrigue and plotting
against him.
Inspiration for the series appeared to be derived from Sir Walter Scott's
highly romanticised 1825 novel The Talisman rather than the real events and
people of the late 12th century. Magical moments were lost in the humdrum
plotting of the intrigues with usurper Prince John (Trader Faulkner in Iago-like
design), the initially reluctant marriage to Berengaria (Sheila Whittingham
conveying a modest royal presence), the Crusade to the Holy Land, the episode
with the Saracen physician, and the relationship between the love-struck Sir
Kenneth (Anton Rodgers) and the comradely sex-in-ice Lady Edith (Jennifer
Daniel). Only the presence of the faithful retainer Blondel (Iain Gregory) and
the devious Leopold of Austria (Francis de Wolfe bringing a welcome touch of
gloating greed to the righteous proceedings) saved the viewer from complete
tedium.
Nearing the end of its days as a prolific low-budget film and episode
factory, the Danzigers' company did, however, try to make its best of an already
declining television genre. While the period chain mail, broadswords, lances,
shields and sturdy steeds were all in evidence, the individual episode plots
were mechanical and all too loquacious. Capping it all, journeyman director
Ernest Morris - responsible for all 39 episodes in the series - exhibited no
controlling sense of style.
Tise Vahimagi
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