''The Legend of William Tell'' is a 16-part television fantasy/drama series produced in 1998 by Cloud 9 Productions in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The basic premise of the series — a crossbow-wielding rebel defies a corrupt governor — and the name of the title character were adopted from the

traditional story Traditional stories, or stories about traditions, differ from both fiction and nonfiction in that the importance of transmitting the story's worldview is generally understood to transcend an immediate need to establish its categorization as imagi ...

, but the series was set in a

fantasy world A fantasy world is a world created for/from fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and, sometimes, either a historical or futuristic theme. Some wor ...

and featured supernatural themes. Described by executive producer Raymond Thompson as "''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' on the planet Earth", this is a fantasy saga of bravery, magic, myth and romance. William Tell is the youthful leader of a band of young, ‘brat pack' outlaws, forever hunted by the forces of darkness, led by Xax and Kreel, who have usurped power in their homeland. The series of self-contained stories follows Will's quest to restore young Princess Vara to her rightful place on the royal throne and defeat Xax and Kreel's forces — and by doing so, bring back peace and order to the Kingdom of Kale. There is action and adventure along the way, magic, creatures, mystery, intrigue — but also much human drama and interplay among Will's rebel band who must support each other in their quest. The group encounter a diverse range of people and situations on their journey — some help the resistance movement, others are cohorts of Xax and Kreel. Filmed on location throughout New Zealand, the series makes use of natural scenery and has high production values. ''The Legend of William Tell'' also aired in Sri Lanka National Television with Sinhala subtitles and on

Vietnam Television Vietnam Television ( vi, Đài Truyền hình Việt Nam), or VTV, is the national television broadcaster of Vietnam. As the state broadcaster under the direction of the government of Vietnam, VTV is tasked with "propagating the views of the ...

(18:00

VTV3 VTV3 is a Vietnamese television channel operated and owned by government-owned Vietnam Television. Launched on 31 March 1996 as the country's first sports and entertainment integrated channel, its programs contained sporting events and entertain ...

) with Vietnamese voicing.

Cast

Kieren Hutchison Kieren Robert Hutchison (born 9 October 1974) is a New Zealand actor. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand. Career Hutchison is best known for playing the roles of Jonathon McKenna in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'', Andy Hargrov ...

as William Tell *

Andrew Binns Andrew Robertt is a New Zealand born actor. His work covers a diverse range of characters across multiple genres. He studied arts and sciences at The University of Auckland, and horticulture and business management at trade school. In his earlie ...

as Xax *

Nathaniel Lees Nathaniel Lees is a New Zealand theatre actor and director and film actor of Samoan descent, best known for film roles in ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and for starring in ''You ...

as Leon *Katrina Browne as Aruna *

Ray Henwood Charles Raymond Henwood (15 January 1937 – 26 August 2019) was a Welsh-born New Zealand actor. He was married to district court judge Carolyn Henwood, and was the father of New Zealand comedian Dai Henwood. Born in Swansea, Wales, on 15 ...

as Kreel * Sharon Tyrell as Kalem *

Beth Allen Elizabeth Grace Nell Allen (born 28 May 1984) is a New Zealand actress. She has been acting since an early age and has appeared in several small productions and commercials since 1993. Her first major television role was in Cloud 9's '' The Le ...

as Princess Vara *

Drew Neemia Drew Ne'emia (born 28 May 1985) is a New Zealand television presenter and director. In 2022, he announced that his last name is Ne'emia, not Neemia, as had been previously used. Early life Ne'emia attended Hutt International Boys' School. Car ...

as Drogo

Episodes

Season 1 (1998–1999)

References

External links

* * New Zealand drama television series 1990s New Zealand television series 1998 New Zealand television series debuts 1999 New Zealand television series endings Cultural depictions of William Tell New Zealand fantasy television series Television shows set in Switzerland {{NewZealand-tv-prog-stub