''Sword of Freedom'' was a 1958 drama adventure series for a family audience. Like several of its predecessors (most notably ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Epic film, epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and written by Norman Reilly Ra ...

''), it was produced by Sapphire Films for

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

and fitted into the same

swashbuckler A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, ...

genre as previous productions. It ran for 39 half-hour monochrome episodes.

Plot

Marco del Monte is a young Republican artist living in sixteenth century

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. The city is ruled by the tyrant Duke de Medici. Marco's girlfriend is Angelica, a beautiful former pickpocket. Sandro is Marco's friend and confidant. Machiavelli is the Duke's advisor, and Captain Rodrigo is the head of the Medici forces. The series depicts the struggles of the Republicans to combat the attempts of the Duke to strengthen his position and make himself a dictator.

Cast and characters

Edmund Purdom Edmund Cutlar Purdom (19 December 19261 January 2009)

as Marco del Monte * Adrienne Corri as Angelica * Roland Bartrop as Sandro * Martin Benson as the Duke de Medici * Kenneth Hyde as Machiavelli

Recurring characters

* Derek Sydney as Captain Rodrigo * Monica Stevenson as Francesca de Medici (De Medici's sister) *

Andrew Keir Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career ...

Edward Atienza as

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

Kevin Stoney Kevin Stoney (22 January 1921 – 22 January 2008) was a British actor. He was best known for his television roles, in which he became familiar for his "portrayal of establishment types". During the Second World War, Stoney served with the Roy ...

as Niccolo the innkeeper Guest stars included

Joan Plowright Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier (; 28 October 1929 – 16 January 2025), commonly known as Dame Joan Plowright, was an English actress whose career spanned over six decades. She received several accolades including two Golden Globe Awards, an ...

Peter Wyngarde Peter Paul Wyngarde (born Cyril Goldbert, 23 August 1927 – 15 January 2018) was a British actor. He was best known for portraying the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two television series: '' Department S'' (19 ...

, Charles Gray,

Paul Eddington Paul Clark Eddington (18 June 1927 – 4 November 1995) was an English actor who played Jerry Leadbetter in the television sitcom '' The Good Life'' (1975–1978) and politician Jim Hacker in the sitcom '' Yes Minister'' (1980–1984) and its ...

Brian Nissen Brian Nissen (20 October 1927 in London – 8 February 2001 in Salisbury, Wiltshire) was a British actor and television continuity announcer. Biography Nissen made an early appearance in Laurence Olivier's film of Shakespeare's ''Henry V'', and ...

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...

and

Roger Delgado Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto (1 March 1918 – 18 June 1973) was an English actor. He played many roles on television, radio and in films, and had "a long history of playing minor villains" before becoming ...

Episodes

Airdate is for ATV Midlands ITV regions varied date and order. Production order as the Network DVD. Filmed during 1957–1958. Production Nos 101, 117–139 at Walton Studios, Walton on Thames, England and 102–108 at Alliance Film Studios, Twickenham, EnglandTaken from each episode end titles

Series 1 (1958)

Series 2 (1960–1961)

Music

The theme music to ''Sword of Freedom'' was composed by Eric Spear, more famous for his theme for ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''.

DVD

Network released the series on a 5-disc region 2

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

set in June 2010.

References

External links

*
British Film Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sword Of Freedom 1958 British television series debuts 1961 British television series endings 1950s British drama television series 1960s British drama television series Television series by ITC Entertainment ITV television dramas Television shows set in Italy British adventure television series Black-and-white British television shows British English-language television shows Television shows set in Florence Swashbuckler television series