International Herald Tribune (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France)
October 9, 1992
SECTION: NEWS
LENGTH: 1254 words
HEADLINE: A Medieval 'Bonanza' in England
BYLINE: Rich Zahradnik
DATELINE: LONDON
BODY:
A scruffy crowd of villagers stands in the mud and grass in front of
thatched houses. They surround the alleged witch, who is tied to a
stake and about to be burned by the local clergyman.
A crossbow bolt whistles through the air and knocks the torch from
the priest's hands. In ride two knights and the daughter of the local
nobleman, intent on saving the woman from the fire. A scuffle begins,
the horses are surrounded and the knights are dragged to the ground
by the local rabble.
A crew member yells out and everyone prepares to shoot another take
in the convincing medieval village that has been built at Shepperton
Studios just outside London.
Sitting off to the side, the American actress Ione Skye is worried
about her crossbow. The deadly weapon has a hair trigger and a mind
of its own. During earlier shooting, it went off inside a castle
without anyone near the thing. "I've only fired it two or three
times," said Skye. "I am so happy when those scenes are over with."
Stray crossbow bolts are just one of the risks in the production
of "Covington Cross," a historical action-adventure series that has
made a little history of its own by being the first American network
series to be shot in Britain in almost three decades. "Covington
Cross" airs Saturday nights on ABC in the United States, a sort
of "Bonanza" set in the 14th century that portrays the trials that a
single father, Sir Thomas Gray, faces as he raises four unruly kids,
deals with an evil knight, witchcraft and the plague, and dates the
lady in the castle next door.
The expense of hourlong television shows and the increasing financial
power of European broadcasters mean that more television for the
United States will be made in Europe in the coming years. "Covington
Cross" is one important test for how such hands-across-the-water
productions might work.
Lew Grade, the grand old man of British television, was the last
producer to have any marked success getting his productions on the
American networks. In the 1950s and 1960s, "The Adventures of Robin
Hood," "Secret Agent" and "The Prisoner" were all made in Britain by
Grade and carried by U. S. networks.
"You don't make them expressly for the American market," Grade
said. "You make them so they'll also perform for the world market
because I feel action-adventure series are liked by people throughout
the world; the pace is the same."
It is no surprise that Grade's first trans-Atlantic success came
with "Robin Hood," which ran on CBS in the late 1950s.
Like "Covington Cross" it was set in the Middle Ages, and the British
are linked in the minds of American television executives with
costumes and castles.
Whether series about the here and now will be produced in Britain for
the U. S. networks is an open question. Aida Young, producer
of "Covington Cross" and a veteran of film and television, said: "You
don't need us to make cop shows."
Maybe so, but across the Continent in Berlin, the television division
of the Hollywood studio Columbia TriStar Pictures is shooting the spy-
cum-private-cop show "Berlin Break." The series is about a former
Soviet spy and a former West German spy who team up as private eyes.
The operatives work out of a cafe owned by John Mackenzie, played by
John Hillerman, co-star of the long-running series "Magnum P. I."
The twist with "Berlin Break" is that Columbia Tristar is co-
producing the series in English with German network RTL Plus to air
in Germany. The companies do not yet have an American broadcaster
lined up for the series.
"I was aware for a long time that we could not simply export American
television series, however well made and professional they are, to
the rest of the world," said Nicholas Bingham, the London-based
president of Columbia TriStar International Television. "We need to
find a way to provide some local programs."
The creative tug-of-war that comes about in such programs is evident
in "Covington Cross." The series has so far been written by American
scriptwriters, and a British director was only hired after several
episodes were in the can.
Early reviews in the United States have been positive, with Variety
forecasting the series "could be a hit with kids and an enjoyable
pastime for adults." But the television critic in the British
satirical magazine Private Eye lambasted the acting, accents, plot,
even the swordplay.
Back at Shepperton Studios, the cast of Britons and Americans is
aware of the challenge, but is still having fun with the Middle Ages.
Nigel Terry, who stars as Sir Thomas Gray, and James Faulkner, who
plays bad guy John Mullens, both kid the witch-burning cleric that
he's not being near as campy as the rest of the cast.
Faulkner, eating lunch in a leather studded costume that a biker
would envy, explained that at least in a medieval series it's easy to
tell when your character is being given a premature exit. "When you
see them making the plague boils for you in makeup, you know you're
in trouble."
Rich Zahradnik reports from London for the Hollywood Reporter.