The Winter King: When is the ITV show about legendary King Arthur on this Christmas?

Most of us know the legend of King Arthur, a legendary British king who led the resistance against the Saxons and unified Dark Ages Britain when warring factions squabbled over land.

Arthur apparently drew a sword from a stone, established a round table of knights at Camelot and, among all the battles, fell in love with the fierce and beautiful Guinevere.

Iain De Caestecker is the latest in a long line of actors to take on Arthur Pendragon in ITVX’s 10-part drama The Winter King, based on Bernard Cornwell’s trilogy The Warlord Chronicles.

The series charts Arthur’s origin story as the illegitimate son of King Uther and his turbulent path from outcast to vaunted warrior and leader.

It has been described as a twist on the Arthurian canon, uncovering new sides of the legendary characters at the heart of this fabled story, and ultimately depicting an Arthur who is moral, compassionate, smart and strategic.

Directed by the Bafta-winning Otto Bathurst, the stellar cast also includes Happy-Go-Lucky’s Eddie Marsan as Uther Pendragon, Bridgerton’s Jordan Alexandra as Guinevere, Nathaniel Martello-White as Merlin, Outlander’s Stuart Campbell as Derfel and Rotherham actor Steven Elder as Bishop Bedwin.

It is at a point in the fifth century, where the Romans have departed Britain, and where the Saxons really haven’t taken over. Christianity is very new, and Paganism is still a force to be reckoned with. And Britain is ruled by scores of small tribes, each with their own territory.

Arthur’s patch is that part of the West Country that is Somerset, Devon and down into Cornwall.

Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D actor De Caestecker, 35, and Alexandra, 30, explain more about taking on mythical characters and what we can expect from the series.

De Caestecker says it was a challenge taking on such a legendary role.

“I think the first thing you think about going into this is it’s such a well-known character throughout the world. And there’s been so many different iterations of it that you think ‘well, what is it about this version that can be new and unique and fresh?’” he says.

"A couple of things stood out to me quite quickly. Firstly, the idea of exploring what it means to be a leader and a leader for good – the toll that takes on somebody, the impossible choices you have to make and the sacrifices. I mean it’s Dark Ages here in Britain, which is a brutal time, and decisions are literally life and death. So that was really interesting to explore.

“The show in general is a bit more of a human take on this character and the other characters. And I think that’s really exemplified in the opening episode when we see a bit more of an origin story to Arthur and we see him as this young prince who’s very duty-bound to his kingdom.

“And then we meet his father who’s this really ruthless king. And he’s never felt the love of his father, he’s been all but rejected by him. And he’s been living under the weight of being the bastard son of the High King and ultimately he’s brutally and savagely beaten by his father and banished from this kingdom that he loves and he’s devoted his life to and, sorry for the language, that’s going to **** someone up.

“And I think what’s cool throughout the series is we get to see Arthur not only trying to reunite the Saxons but also, on a more personal note, a man who’s trying to reconcile with his past and overcome childhood trauma which is a side to this character that I’d never seen before.”

As for Alexandra’s Guinevere there are differences to many of the depictions of this famous heroine.

“The Guinevere that you’re getting throughout this season has a lot of new aspects to her that we may not have seen in the books. Because it’s not from Derfel’s perspective [as in the books], it gives you this huge opportunity to really add all these layers.

"Guinevere is such a powerful character. She’s very cunning. She’s very smart. And we get to see the really skilful ways that she navigates the people around her.

“Guinevere affords the show this ability to show that you can have this political side, you can be really smart, and you can also desire and have a great need for love. It brings both aspects and one doesn’t negate the other.”

Produced by Sony Pictures Television-owned Bad Wolf, which has produced three seasons of His Dark Materials, the series was shot in locations across Wales and the West Country.

Kate Brooke and Ed Whitmore adapted Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles to create the series, with both acting as executive producers on the show.

De Caestecker says filming the gritty and often dark 10-parter could sometimes be a challenge.

“There were times when we’d be filming up on a mountain in midwinter or you’d be in a rain machine for a couple of days, and it was cold and brutal. But sometimes those things, the idea of blurring the line of art imitating life, are all actually tools you can use as fuel for the character.”

So how did he get into the character of Arthur?

"When you’ve got a great costume designer and great makeup so much of it is done for you. Early on, the idea was that Arthur and his men were kind of the SAS of their day – a different breed of warrior. So having the shaved head and scars adds to it,” he says.

“With the sword fighting and stuff, that’s where the movie magic comes in because I didn’t look that cool on the day. I’d say one thing that really, really, really helped me was the horse riding, because when you jump on a horse you have to become in tune with them and they’re so stoic and so cool. Honestly, I have such a crush on horses.

"And you learn how to sit up straight and there’s something powerful about being on a horse. I had this great horse called Shovel and he was just brilliant. All that stuff helps you piece it together and then suddenly something just clicks into place."

Bernard Cornwell was born in London in 1944 – a ‘warbaby’ – whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.

He was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People, but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined the BBC where he worked for the next 10 years.

He began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs for the BBC in Northern Ireland.

It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card.

He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government – and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars – and so the Sharpe series, later turned into a television series starring Sean Bean, was born.

Bernard and Judy married in 1980, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe as well as other bestselling epics including the Last Kingdom and the Warlord Chronicles.

The first five episodes of The Winter King are on ITVX now.