The Adventures of William Tell
| The Adventures of William Tell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | 'William Tell' |
| Starring |
Conrad Phillips Jennifer Jayne Richard Rogers Willoughby Goddard |
| Theme music composer | William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini |
| Opening theme | Lyrics by Harold Purcell, sung by David Whitfield |
| Ending theme | Lyrics by Harold Purcell, sung by David Whitfield |
| Composer(s) |
Albert Elms Sydney John Kay |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 39 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ralph Smart |
| Producer(s) | Leslie Arliss |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Distributor | ITC Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Picture format | 35 mm film 4:3 Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 15 September 1958 – 15 June 1959 |
The Adventures of William Tell is a British swashbuckler adventure series, first broadcast on the ITV network in 1958, and produced by ITC Entertainment. In the United States, the episodes aired on the syndicated NTA Film Network in 1958–1959.
The series was produced by Ralph Smart, who wrote a number of stories for the series and also produced Danger Man. The show was made at the National Studios in Elstree.
The outdoor scenes were filmed around the mountains and lakes of Snowdonia in the UK. The film base and make-up were at a small farm in Cwm-Y-Glo in Snowdonia. This is beside Llyn Padarn, a lake which can be seen in many shots (as can cars on the A4086 road on the opposite side of the lake!). The crew used to walk up the mountain from their base as there was no vehicle access, and brought work for at least three yearly shoots to a tiny corner of North Wales before tourism took off.
An accident early occurred to the star, Conrad Phillips, during filming in Snowdonia. He was asked to keep stepping back until he stepped off a 12-foot drop, injuring his knee – which led to his retirement from acting. Phillips had to wear support bandages during filming but sometimes forgot, causing him to struggle with some action scenes.
Daily rushes were viewed at the only cinema in the area, at Llanberis, which was taken over from 8.00 until noon every morning. The film was taken to Soho in London for developing and the rushes returned to Llanberris by 8.30 next morning.
Although all three series had location scenes, the third was more studio based and location scenes were mostly taken from unused and reused stock shots from the first and second series. A smaller crew went to Wales for this series and more money was saved by shooting without synchronised sound. In the days of enforced demarcation, this saved several technicians' wages.
Though in some ways the same as The Adventures of Robin Hood, a brave bowman fighting against a tyrant, this was a harder show with crossbow bolts killing people and Tell fighting hand-to-hand, which often resulted in the death of the bad guy. Unlike the courtly Sheriff of Nottingham, Gessler was a pig of a man, unshaven, often eating or drinking without manners and throwing his metaphorical as well as literal weight around. The series was re-run well into the 1960s.
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