The Coming of Arthur: The Winter King comes to ITV

This review has been written by guest contributor Maddy McGlynn: Maddy lives in Wiltshire with her two cats Pip and Estella. She loves history, especially anything to do with the Medieval period and Dark Ages. She collects books on King Arthur and has over 100 in her growing collection. You can read more of Maddy's content on her website and Instagram page.

“For Arthur, at last, had come”

The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell

After waiting months in anticipation and dedicating these cold winter nights to watching it, I’ve finally finished ITV’s The Winter King.

I love King Arthur. I collect books on King Arthur. And I’m not ashamed to say, I know a lot about King Arthur. I’m always intrigued by new interpretations of Arthurian legend, but with a hint of wariness.

I’m an advocate of reading the book before I watch the film/TV series. So, I sat down and demolished the novel within a week. I was determined to create my own ideas and interpretation first. But in this case, I regret it. Why? Because the ITV series felt like it was its own entity, had its own stamp and was made for a different audience. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it never felt like the series mauled the book, I just had very strong images and ideas which for me didn’t translate across to the series.

Overall, the series was decent. It’s not the best Arthurian adaptation out there, but it’s certainly not the worst. It was fairly true to the storyline of the book, and followed the same journey. It had all of the familiar characters of the Arthurian legends; Arthur, Nimue and Morgan, places like Avalon and items like Excalibur.

Some places have been adapted to a more historical setting e.g. Caer Cadarn is Arthur’s Camelot and is not a glittering white castle, rather a bulky, stalwart fort. The landscapes are bleak, the roads are dangerous and there’s a grit to the people living in this Dark Age world. This is very much the world Cornwell creates in his book and was historically grounded. I liked this world of no frills. It also created a setting for a TV series that was different, and stands out from the hundreds of modern thriller and action series on the market.

Everyone interprets characters differently; even the reader will have a different image to the one the author creates. And that is the beauty of books and stories. But it also can lead to disappointment, which is what happened for me. The characters I liked the most were the minor ones, the cheeky Lanval and Sag (Arthur’s men), and gentle Ceinwyn, who I thought was cast very well. The main characters such as Arthur, Merlin and Guinevere were just lacking the power and oomph of the books, and what I have grown to know through the legends.

Cornwell portrays Arthur as a quiet man in the books, but as one who understands the role of showmanship and how to forge unbreakable bonds with his men. Whilst De Caestecker did suit the role of a quiet, grounded Arthur, his character is very introverted and I just couldn’t see that camaraderie or charisma Arthur is supposed to have in the book and legend. No spoilers, but the ending of Series 1 does imply that he will grow as a protagonist but it wasn’t there for the majority of this first series.

Derfel unfortunately feels much more like a writer’s device in the films. It is true that Cornwell also uses him to tell Arthur’s story through a third party’s eyes in the book but he is an affable character who has very strong bonds with Arthur. relationship. Derfel in the series fades into the background and doesn’t seem to have a place. His real strength in the series is his relationship with Nimue, over his role as a spearman and Arthur’s loyal man in the books.

Lastly, the plot. This feels a little bit like the last Hobbit film situation – in that the producers are squeezing out every drop from one book, which makes it a slow burner It did move with bursts of action, but there were no epic battles and no sweeping pace. In the last few episodes, there were the beginnings of religious conflict between the old and the new ways, but even that left plenty of room to develop.

As a standalone TV series, The Winter King is different, and I think ITV have done a good job of providing a modern, accessible interpretation of a myth (or legend) that has been told in hundreds of ways. Judging by its proud position on the Most Popular spot on ITVX’s homepage, it seems it is brokering the interest of viewers. And if more people learn about Arthurian legend, then that’s fine by me.

I wasn’t amazed and I wasn’t disappointed. It was worth a watch, but I would still say the book always trumps the adapatation.*

*Except Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy