Sword of Freedom
Encyclopedia
Sword of Freedom was a 1958 drama adventure series for a family audience. Like several of its predecessors (most notably The Adventures of Robin Hood
), it was produced by Sapphire Films
for ITC Entertainment
and fitted into the same swashbuckler
genre as previous productions. It ran for 39 half-hour monochrome episodes.
Florence
. The city is ruled by the tyrant, the Duke of de Medici. Marco's girlfriend is Angelica, a beautiful former pickpocket. Sandro is Marco's friend and confidant. Machiavelli is the Duke's advisor, and Captain Rodrigo is the head of the de Medici's forces. The series depicts the struggles of the Republicans to combat the attempts of the Duke to strengthen his position and make himself a dictator.
Guest stars included Joan Plowright
Peter Wyngarde
, Charles Gray
, Paul Eddington
, Brian Nissen
, Patrick Troughton
, Kenneth Williams
and Roger Delgado
.
regions varied date and order. Production order as the Network DVD
Filmed during 1957-1958. Production Nos 101, 117-139 at Walton Studios, Walton on Thames, England and 102-108 at Alliance Film Studios, Twickenham, England
, more famous for his haunting theme for Coronation Street
.
The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the...
), it was produced by Sapphire Films
Sapphire Films
Sapphire Films was a British television production company, active in the 1950s. Amongst their best-known series are The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, The Buccaners, and The Four Just Men produced for ITC Entertainment and screened on ITV in the UK, as well as being...
for ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
and fitted into the same swashbuckler
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...
genre as previous productions. It ran for 39 half-hour monochrome episodes.
Plot
Marco del Monte is a young Republican artist living in sixteenth century RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. The city is ruled by the tyrant, the Duke of de Medici. Marco's girlfriend is Angelica, a beautiful former pickpocket. Sandro is Marco's friend and confidant. Machiavelli is the Duke's advisor, and Captain Rodrigo is the head of the de Medici's forces. The series depicts the struggles of the Republicans to combat the attempts of the Duke to strengthen his position and make himself a dictator.
Cast and characters
- Edmund PurdomEdmund PurdomEdmund Anthony Cutlar Purdom was a British actor.-Early life:Purdom was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England and educated at St. Augustine's Abbey School, Ramsgate, then by the Jesuits at St. Ignatius Grammar School and Welwyn Garden City Grammar School...
as Marco del Monte - Adrienne CorriAdrienne CorriAdrienne Corri is an actress of Italian parentage.She is probably best known for her role as the rape victim Mrs. Alexander in the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange, and for her appearances as Valerie in Jean Renoir's The River and as Lara's mother in David Lean's Dr. Zhivago...
as Angelica - Roland Bartrop as Sandro
- Martin BensonMartin Benson (actor)Martin Benjamin Benson was an English character actor, who appeared in films, theatre and television. He appeared in both British and Hollywood productions.-Career:...
as the Duke de Medici - Kenneth Hyde as MachiavelliNiccolò MachiavelliNiccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
Recurring characters
- Derek Sydney as Captain Rodrigo
- Monica Stevenson as Francesca de Medici (De Medici's sister)
- Andrew KeirAndrew KeirAndrew Keir was a Scottish actor, who rose to prominence featuring in a number of films from Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and particularly in the theatre, in a professional career that lasted from the 1940s to the 1990s...
Edward Atienza as Leonardo de Vinci - Kevin StoneyKevin StoneyKevin Stoney was an English actor, best known for his television roles.During World War II, Stoney served with the Royal Air Force....
as Niccolo the innkeeper
Guest stars included Joan Plowright
Joan Plowright
Joan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
Peter Wyngarde
Peter Wyngarde
Peter Paul Wyngarde is an Anglo-French actor best known for playing the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two British television series in the late 1960s and early 1970s: Department S and Jason King .-Biography:He was born Cyril Goldbert in Marseilles, France, the...
, Charles Gray
Charles Gray (actor)
Charles Gray was an English actor who was well-known for roles including the arch-villain Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, Sherlock Holmes' brother Mycroft Holmes in the Granada television series, and as The Criminologist in the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show in...
, Paul Eddington
Paul Eddington
Paul Eddington CBE was an English actor best known for his appearances in popular television sitcoms of the 1970s and 80s: The Good Life, Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.-Early life:...
, Brian Nissen
Brian Nissen
Brian Nissen was a British actor and television continuity announcer.-Biography:Nissen made an early appearance in Laurence Olivier's film of Shakespeare's Henry V, and made many TV, film and stage appearances, including The Dam Busters , and the television series The New Adventures of Charlie...
, Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
, Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
and Roger Delgado
Roger Delgado
Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
.
Episode list
Airdate is for ATV Midlands ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
regions varied date and order. Production order as the Network DVD
Network DVD
Network DVD is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV programmes...
Filmed during 1957-1958. Production Nos 101, 117-139 at Walton Studios, Walton on Thames, England and 102-108 at Alliance Film Studios, Twickenham, England
Series 1 (1958)
| Episode # | Prod # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
|---|
Series 2 (1960–1961)
| Episode # | Prod # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
|---|
Music
The theme music to Sword of Freedom was composed by Eric SpearEric Spear
Eric Spear was an English composer of film music. He was born in Croydon and died Southampton.Spear is best known for composing the original theme tune for the UK's longest-running television soap opera, Coronation Street, for which he was paid £6.The cornet player Ronnie Hunt found the recording...
, more famous for his haunting theme for Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
.