''King Arthur's Disasters'' is a British

animated series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

which first aired on

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

. Co-created by Paul Parkes and Will Ashurst, the series follows and depicts attempts by King Arthur, assisted by the wizard

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

, to woo the beautiful self-obsessed Princess

Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First me ...

. Due to the popularity of the show, it was picked up for a second series which began transmission on CITV from 6 November 2005. Both were executive-produced by Genevieve Dexter at cake entertainment ''King Arthur's Disasters'' was the highest-rated new CITV show during spring 2005. It regularly achieved an audience share of over 20% of children and it regularly won its time slot against

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

. In 2006 the show was nominated for a children's BAFTA for ''Best Animation''; however, it lost to ''

The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers ''The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers'' is a 2D Flash animated television series created by Dan Chambers, Mark Huckerby, and Nick Ostler. It was commissioned by CITV and Cartoon Network in the UK, S4C in Wales, YTV and VRAK.TV in Canada and is a ...

''. It airs on

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

in the UK.

Story

Princess Guinevere requests a certain object, animal, or being which she apparently desperately wants or truly has need of. Arthur accepts, in return for her agreed hand in marriage. Arthur, usually accompanied by Merlin, will set off on a quest which sometimes included other people to gain the item required. He is beset by numerous dangers before finally reaching his goal, however something will always ruin it or its effects and Guinevere will never be pleased, or if she is, soon after she will be displeased. The enemies to the king are his two rebellious knights, Sir Lancelot and Sir Martyn, who constantly quarrel between each other but share the king as a common enemy.

Characters

The show uses a stock series of characters drawn from the popular reception of the

Arthurian Legend The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Weste ...

, and whose most notable features demonstrate the influences of 20th century, rather than medieval incarnations of the knights. The main recurring characters are: *

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

(Rik Mayall), the eponymous king whose disasters provide the main plot motivation. *

(Morwenna Banks), the archetypal bored princess whom her creators describe as "the

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conr ...

of her generation". While having no intentions of actually marrying Arthur she uses her hold over him to will him into finding her the things she desires; water from the fountain of youth, a winter palace, a golden bear, and so on. In the later episodes, however, she really starts to love Arthur. Guinevere is so self-absorbed, sometimes she doesn't even notice Arthur's absence. *

(Matt Lucas), Arthur's only faithful servant, whose bumbling manner might hide a devious, brilliant mind... or might not. *

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

(

Phil Cornwell Philip Cornwell (born 5 October 1957) is an English actor, comedian, impressionist and writer. He is part of the '' Dead Ringers'' television and radio series, and was the voice of Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band Gorillaz. Cornwell has co- ...

), Arthur's first knight, who resembles nothing so much as a fusion of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

and

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...

. Holding a grudge since a childhood dispute, Lancelot seeks any occasion to rid himself of Arthur and usurp the vacant throne; a

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

which leads him to heartily encourage Arthur's more perilous quests, and recalls Steve Barron's Merlin (film) TV series, transferring the adultery theme to a more 'child-friendly' comic equivalent. * Lady 'M(Margret), is King Arthur's cunning older sister. She has claimed to live in France. (in the episode Glass Rose, King Arthur stayed at her castle in France) Unknown to Arthur, her brother she is also the famous Sir Margret who is liked by townsfolk. She does things for the benefit of the townsfolk as seen in Glass Rose. She has come to Arthur and Guinevere's rescues a couple of times in a few episodes as Sir Margret. She made her first appearance in the episode ''Glass Rose''. *

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is de ...

(Phil Cornwell), a cheery denizen of the forest who (along with his not so merry men) serves as an antagonist to Arthur since an encounter with the Singing Oak Tree and the ruse of a cunning pig... While technically speaking, the character is an anachronism (depending on which Arthurian source a viewer prefers), the inclusion of Robin Hood is not without precedent in Arthurian films, since

Nathan Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for '' How Green Was My Valley'' ...

's ''

Siege of the Saxons ''Siege of the Saxons'' is a 1963 British adventure film directed by Nathan H. Juran and released by Columbia Pictures. Starring Janette Scott and Ronald Lewis (actor), Ronald Lewis, the film is set in the time of King Arthur, but, as with many A ...

'' included a Robin-esque character, and the backdating of Robin places him within broadly the same time period as

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ...

, who was writing his Arthurian legends (late 12th Century). His voice was based on

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC ...

. * Sir Martyn, a deliberately

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

(or perhaps

anatopistic An anatopism (from the Ancient Greek , "against," and , "place") is something that is out of its proper place. The concept of anatopism is less widely familiar than that of anachronism, perhaps because much that is anatopic is also anachronistic. ...

) insertion into the legend, perhaps an homage to

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dy ...

whose

Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...

present a similarity with occidental medieval knights. * Splag, Arthur's only loyal knight, who is a stocky brute capable of only monosyllabic grunts. * Alan, Arthur's horse.

Episodes

Series 1 (2005)

Series 2 (2005)

International broadcasts

References

External links

King Arthur's Disasters home page
* {{TV series based on Arthurian legends 2000s British children's television series 2005 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings Television series based on Arthurian legend British children's animated adventure television series British children's animated comedy television series British flash animated television series Disney Channel original programming 2000s British animated television series