''King of the Castle'' is a British children's

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

fantasy drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

serial made by HTV for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in 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. Philip Da Costa starred as Roland, while other prominent roles were played by

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and

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Episode guide

# TX: 8 May 1977 (17:45) - ''Roland Wright has just moved into a new block of flats which has a broken lift and a dangerous staircase. Being bright and intelligent, he is a natural victim for the Ripper, leader of the gang who haunts the stairways...'' # TX: 15 May 1977 (17:45) - ''Roland wakes up to find himself in the strange world of the Castle, where he meets Vein, the keeper of the keys.'' # TX: 22 May 1977 (17:45) - ''Fleeing from Hawkspur and Ergon, Roland is confronted by the Warrior. Narrowly escaping, he meets the Lady - a glamorous, self-styled clairvoyant.'' # TX: 29 May 1977 (17:45) - ''Roland is captured by a castle guard and sent to the kitchens as a skivvy. He plans to escape, but is betrayed and trapped in the Castle.'' # TX: 5 June 1977 (17:00) - ''Roland attempts to argue his case in front of the Lord, and after some difficulty, he gets through the ante-chamber to face the Warrior...'' # TX: 12 June 1977 (17:00) - ''Roland decides to make numerous changes before he escapes, but everyone is plotting against him...'' # TX: 19 June 1977 (17:00) - ''Roland is put on trial, where all the witnesses are hostile. Then he meets his old enemy, Ripper, for a final confrontation.'' * Episodes 1 and 2 directed by Peter Hammond, Episodes 3, 5 & 7 directed by Terry Harding, Episodes 4 & 6 directed by Leonard White. * Episodes were 30 minutes in duration, including advertisements. * For the sword fight between Roland and the Warrior in Episode 5, John V. Clarke of the

British Kendo Association The British Kendo Association was founded in 1964 as a non-profit making organisation to foster and develop the practise and spirit of Kendo, Iaido and Jōdō along traditional lines with the objectives of: * Organising and regulating the Kend ...

was brought in to act as fight adviser — for which he received an on-screen credit on the closing titles.

DVD release

* The complete series was released by Network DVD exclusively through their online website on 8 June 2009. Since Episode 3 no longer exists in the archives in any format, the version represented on the DVD release is sourced from an off-air VHS videocassette recording.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King Of The Castle 1970s British children's television series 1977 British television series debuts 1977 British television series endings ITV children's television shows Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows Television shows produced by Harlech Television (HTV)