The
lowdown: 'William Tell' was broadcast on ITV between 5
September 1958 and 15 June 1959, and starred Conrad
Phillips in the title role.
This action-adventure series is based on the Swiss legend, and sees William
Tell rebel against
the Austrian army, which
has invaded the state of Uri. The occupying forces are led by a military
governor, Landburgher
Gessler (Willoughby Goddard),
a fat and greedy man who infuriarates the locals by imposing very high
taxes without any
regard for their welfare.
Many of the episodes feature Tell and his comrades in the resistance trying
to outwit Gessler and
his men, while another frequently-used
plot device is Gessler's attempts to bring Tell to justice. Despite a low
budget and
limited action, the series
remains very entertaining today, and is fondly remembered by those who
watched it when they
were young. Viewers can
also see a number of British actors who went on to much bigger roles in
which they became
famous, including Michael
Caine, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasance, John Le Mesurier, Wilfred Bramble
and Kenneth
Cope. Surprisingly for a
TV show of the time, all 39 episodes of this series have survived and are
available on DVD.
The
episode: 'The Black Brothers' was the 32nd episode, and
was first broadcast on 27 April 1959. William Tell visits
Granny Rossi (Eileen Way,
who played Karela in The Creature from the Pit) to collect some arms that
were to be used to
fight the Austrians, but
learns that they have been stolen by a gang of local bandits, the Black
brothers, who killed all of
the men of the village in
the raid and plan to profit by selling the swords and crossbows to the
Swiss resistance. Rossi is
angered by Tell's plan to
seek a trade with the brothers, but he realises that there is no choice
because they need the
weapons. Tell soon meets
the Black brothers, who are led by Luigi (Roger Delgado), who agrees to
sell the arms to the
resistance but demands to
keep Tell as a hostage until the weapons are delivered. Luigi of course
intends to doublecross
Tell by handing him over
to the Austrians. Meanwhile, one of the brothers proves that there is no
honour among thieves by
stealing the gold and killing
one of his brothers in the process. Tell is blamed for the death and Luigi
swears vengeance,
leading to a fight to the
death between Tell and Luigi. Tell returns to Granny Rossi and gives her
the money for the arms.
Who
connections: Aside from Patrick
Troughton, a number of actors who later appeared in Doctor Who had guest
roles
in
'William Tell', including Frazer Hines, Roger Delgado, Deborah Watling,
Jack Watling (Professor Travers in the two Yeti
stories),
Kevin Stoney (best known as Tobias Vaughan in The Invasion, Derren Nesbitt
(Tegana in Marco Polo), Glyn Owen
(Rohm-Dutt
in The Power of Kroll), and Roy Purcell (president of the High Council
of Gallifrey in The Three Doctors).
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