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1977 British children's TV series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
King of the Castle is a British children's television fantasy drama serial made by HTV for ITV in 1977.[1][2]
| King of the Castle | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Genre | Fantasy Drama Children's |
| Written by | Bob Baker Dave Martin |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | HTV West |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 8 May – 19 June 1977 |
Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, the series is a surreal tale centred on a lonely young boy, Roland Wright, who lives unhappily in a council flat with his father Ron and stepmother June. Escaping from a gang of local bullies in a malfunctioning lift, Roland finds himself transported to a strange fantasy environment where people and places are twisted variations of those he sees in his real life.[1]
King of the Castle was one of HTV's most ambitious productions. HTV spent £300,000 on production (a large sum for a children's programme) and the producers spent nine months auditioning 200 actors to play the part of Roland.[1]
Originally, King of the Castle had been intended to air in the children's television slot. However, ITV's Network Planning Committee deemed the programme "too scary" for children to watch alone. King of the Castle was delayed for four months. It was eventually broadcast in the "Sunday teatime slot", for programmes for parents and children to watch together.[1]
Philip Da Costa starred as Roland, while other prominent roles were played by Talfryn Thomas, Fulton Mackay, Milton Johns and Angela Richards.[1]
The Guinness Book of Classic British TV noted that King of the Castle was one of several prominent ITV telefantasy series for younger viewers in this period (along with The Ghosts of Motley Hall, Sky, Children of the Stones and Raven).[2] The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama said about King of the Castle: "it is clearly a highly intelligent and particularly sinister story...King of the Castle is a one of a kind and children's television hasn't seen the like of it since."[1]
In 2016, Bob Baker wrote an novelisation of King of the Castle, which was published by Fantom Publishing.
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