Sword of Freedom | |
---|---|
Created by | Hannah Weinstein |
Starring |
Edmund Purdom Adrienne Corri Roland Bartrop |
Theme music composer | Eric Spear |
Composer(s) | Eric Spear |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 39 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Hannah Weinstein |
Producer(s) | Sidney Cole |
Cinematography | Ken Hodges Michael Reed |
Running time | 25mins |
Production company(s) | Sapphire Films |
Distributor | ITC Entertainment |
Release | |
Original network | ITV |
Picture format | 4:3 35 mm film B/W |
Audio format | Mono |
Original release | 21 February 1958 | – 21 March 1961
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), it was produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and fitted into the same swashbuckler genre as previous productions. It ran for 39 half-hour monochrome episodes.
Marco del Monte is a young Republican artist living in sixteenth century Renaissance 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.
Guest stars included Joan Plowright Peter Wyngarde, Charles Gray, Paul Eddington, Brian Nissen, Patrick Troughton, Kenneth Williams and Roger Delgado.
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, England
The theme music to Sword of Freedom was composed by Eric Spear, more famous for his haunting theme for Coronation Street.
Network DVD released the series on a 5-disc region 2 set in June 2010.