Rent Camelot: Series 1 (2011)
3.3 of 5 from 74 ratings
8h 15min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Britain is steeped in war and deception when a young and reckless Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower), unknown son and heir to the murdered king, is installed to the throne. His enemies, including Arthur's ruthless half-sister Morgan (Eva Green), are quick to declare war and the young king has to defend his kingdom with only one supporter on his side: the mysterious sorcerer Merlin (Joseph Fiennes).
- Actors:
- Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower, Tamsin Egerton, Peter Mooney, Philip Winchester, Eva Green, Diarmaid Murtagh, Clive Standen, Claire Forlani, Jamie Downey, Chipo Chung, Sinéad Cusack, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Ed Cosgrove, Sean Pertwee, James Purefoy, Dara Devaney, George McMahon, Caoimhe O'Malley, Sebastian Koch
- Directors:
- Ciaran Donnelly, Jeremy Podeswa, Stefan Schwartz
- Writers:
- Chris Chibnall, Michael Hirst
- Studio:
- Entertainment In Video
- Genres:
- British TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi & Fantasy
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Reviews (1) of Camelot: Series 1
Sub-standard, schmaltzy, Misfiring Mills-and-Boon-style Romance on King Arthur - Camelot: Series 1 review by PV
I almost gave this 2 stars as it is sometimes so bad - but settled on 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. JUST.
The problems are many: firstly, some roles are miscast, esp posh boy model Jamie Campbell Bower as King Arthur which I never believed; the female characters look so similar too, esp Morgan and Igrese; the whole thing is like a Mills and Boon cheap romance at times; but then it is also like a children's TV drama shown at 5pm Saturdays - which it could be, were it not for the gratuitous shots of buttocks and breasts throughout; the soundtrack is overbearing and adds nothing.
I see it is from STARZ and not Netflix/Amazon, and the quality is thus low, despite the best efforts of Joseph Fiennes who is a convincing Merlin.
It is worse than THE LAST KINGDOM but not as bad as BRITANNIA maybe.
It is nowhere near the league of the brilliant VIKINGS which Michael Hirst who co-created/produced/wrote this went on to make, or TUDORS which he did before this.
It plays fats and loose with the ancient British King Arthur legend, but as it;'s semi-mythical, I suppose it's not fixed and can be tampered with. That is not the problem.
I think one issue is that longterm BBC writer Chris Chibnall is involved - SO we have the usual BBC pc TV drama tropes - lots of 'strong independent' characters talking like girlpower mouthpieces, plus the usual ethic representations though fortunately this was made before the nonsense of colourblind casting.
Chibnall is responsible for turning Dr Who into the pc woke mess it is now, and the same achingly preachy pc lectures are here too., Some episodes are so bad I almost turned off (3) and I'd award them 2 or 1 star.
They obviously intended to have a second series, but the reviews and ratings were probably too bad for it. For that, at least, we should be grateful.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
Camelot: Series 1 review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso
Following on the heels of on trend shows like Merlin and Game of Thrones Channel Four’s Camelot is a sword and sorcery fantasy drama about the rise of King Arthur.
The stories are familiar to most of us and each of the legends makes an appearance in the series, from the sword in the stone to Merlin himself. Yet for some unaccountable reason Camelot manages to turn stories full of the ingredients of a fantasy epic into an amateurship, overdramatic and overwhelmingly dull piece of television.
The earliest episodes are the weakest and around the half way mark the show begins to find its feet, but all that is completely washed out by the infantile performances and weak script. The makers of Camelot have somehow managed to take an ancient and timeless story and ruin it by filling it with ill cast and youthful actors and a script so full of modern idioms that it would not seem out of place in student soap Hollyoaks.
Yet throughout the show strives to be adult, filling its minutes with sex, bloodshed and gore, all of which seem a completely juvenile attempt to give the show an edge.
On the surface Camelot was full of promise; it had all it required to be a remarkable fantasy drama but it has turned out to be nothing more than a poor mans Game of Thrones, which has begun filming it’s second series, unlike Camelot which will not be granted the same pleasure.