Young Arthur

Young Arthur was a pilot episode for a 2002 NBC TV drama about the childhood of King Arthur. The pilot was directed by Mikael Salomon and written by Remi Aubuchon and Graham Yost. It was not picked up as a full series.

Background
Young Arthur was pitched at the age 12-34 demographic, modeled after two 2001 properties: the medieval comedy film A Knight's Tale and teen superhero series Smallville. A talent-agency source told Electronic Media that NBC hoped to find a lead actor akin to Heath Ledger or Tom Welling, those properties' respective leads: "They're looking for a young, heroic hunk who can be a brand to the network." They ultimately chose two 19-year-old actors, Julian Morris and Paul Wasilewski, to play Arthur and Lancelot respectively.

Remi Aubuchon and Graham Yost wrote the screenplay, and Sweden's Mikael Salomon directed the episode. Filming began in Prague in the Czech Republic, with an estimated budget of $2.4 million for the pilot episode, in line with typical pilot costs, but less for subsequent episodes. NBC, which was in the middle of cost-cutting, chose the overseas filming location in part to reduce labor costs.

The network declined to pick up the series for its fall 2002 season.

Cast

 * Julian Morris - Arthur
 * James Fleet - Merlin
 * Paul Wesley (as Paul Wasilewski) - Lancelot
 * James Hoare - Kay
 * Jo Stone-Fewings - Jack
 * Stephen Billington - Lord Vortigen
 * Laura Rees - Morgana
 * David Birkin - Mordred
 * Desmond Barrit - Bullwhit
 * Marc Small - Heflin
 * Tony Maudsley - Aloysius
 * Clive Swift - Illtud
 * Nick Brimble - Pelinore
 * Patrick Gordon - Grimthorpe
 * Christian Burgess - Ector