Crossbow (TV series)

Crossbow

Created by	Anthony Horowitz
Starring	Will Lyman Hans Meyer Guy Rolfe John Otway Bernard Spiegel Nick Brimble Bertie Cortez David Barry Gray Dana Barron Jeremy Clyde
Composer(s)	Stanislas Syrewicz
Country of origin	France United Kingdom
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	72 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Mark Greenside Simon Oakes
Running time	25-27 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	The Family Channel
Original run	August 30, 1987 – February 11, 1989

Crossbow is a 1987 action/adventure television series that aired on The Family Channel. The series was produced by Steven North and Richard Schlesinger for Robert Halmi Inc., in co-production with French television network FR3, and filmed entirely on location in France.

Synopsis

Crossbow follows the adventures of William Tell (Will Lyman) and takes place in the 14th-century in Switzerland. William Tell and his son Matthew are imprisoned by the tyrannical Gessler (Jeremy Clyde). As Governor (Landburgher in the original story) of Austria, Gessler plans to stop the Swiss uprising. Having split the apple on his son's head with his crossbow, much to Gessler's chagrin, there is no stopping William Tell's legendary strength and skill.

Cast and characters

William Tell, played by Will Lyman
Governor Hermann Gessler, played by Jeremy Clyde
Blade, played by Melinda Mullins
Roland, played by Valentine Pelka
Matthew Tell, played by David Barry Gray
Katrina Tell, played by Anne Lonnberg
Tyroll, played by Hans Meyer

Horst, played by Nick Brimble
Conrad, played by John Otway
Arris, played by Robert Addie
Stefan, played by Conrad Phillips
Weevil, played by Bernard Spiegel
Ambrose, played by Bertie Cortez

Guest appearances

Eleanor, played by Dana Barron
The Emperor, played by Guy Rolfe
Prince Ignatius, played by Johnny Crawford
Gaston, played by Brian Blessed

Princess, played by Valerie Steffen
Captain of the Guard, played by Steve Buscemi
François Arconciel, played by Roger Daltrey
Sara Guidotti, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar

Vogel " The Alchemist", played by David Warner (actor)

Episodes

Season 1

No	Season	Ep	Title	Original airdate
001	1	1	The Banquet	30 August 1987
002	1	2	The Prisoner	6 September 1987
003	1	3	The Little Soldier	13 September 1987
004	1	4	The Scavengers	20 September 1987
005	1	5	Reunion	27 September 1987
006	1	6	Albion	4 October 1987
007	1	7	Sanctuary	11 October 1987
008	1	8	The Dukes of Zharinghen	18 October 1987
009	1	9	The Bet	25 October 1987
010	1	10	The Stallion	1 November 1987
011	1	11	The Impostor	8 November 1987
012	1	12	The Pass	15 November 1987
013	1	13	Misalliance	22 November 1987
014	1	14	Vogel	29 November 1987
015	1	15	Possessed!	6 December 1987
016	1	16	The Moor: Part 1	13 December 1987
017	1	17	The Moor: Part 2	20 December 1987
018	1	18	The Four Horsemen	27 December 1987
019	1	19	The Citadel	3 January 1988
020	1	20	The Princess	10 January 1988
021	1	21	Lotus	17 January 1988
022	1	22	The Physician	24 January 1988
023	1	23	The Handmaiden	31 January 1988
024	1	24	The Rebirth	7 February 1988

^[1]^[2]

Season 2

No	Season	Ep	Title	Original airdate
025	2	1	Nightmare	3 September 1988
026	2	2	Birthright	10 September 1988
027	2	3	Trolls	17 September 1988
028	2	4	Nemesis	24 September 1988
029	2	5	The Pit	1 October 1988
030	2	6	The Rock	8 October 1988
031	2	7	The Taking of Castle Tanner	15 October 1988
032	2	8	Fear	22 October 1988
033	2	9	The Emperor: Part 1	29 October 1988
034	2	10	The Emperor: Part 2	29 October 1988
035	2	11	The Lost Crusader	5 November 1988
036	2	12	Exit the Dragon	12 November 1988
037	2	13	Actors	19 November 1988
038	2	14	Seekers of the Soul	26 November 1988
039	2	15	Masterplan	3 December 1988
040	2	16	Ladyship	10 December 1988
041	2	17	The Promised Land	17 December 1988
042	2	18	Rejection	24 December 1988
043	2	19	Message to Geneva	7 January 1989
044	2	20	The Electors	14 January 1989
045	2	21	The Inquisitor	21 January 1989
046	2	22	Amnesty	28 January 1989
047	2	23	Blood Brothers	4 February 1989
048	2	24	Betrayal	11 February 1989

^[3]

Season 3

No	Season	Ep	Title	Original airdate
049	3	1	The Touch	1989
050	3	2	Spirit of Rebellion	1989
051	3	3	Insurrection	1989
052	3	4	Doppelganger	1989
053	3	5	Trail Break	1989
054	3	6	The Mission	1989
055	3	7	The Bounty Twins	1989
056	3	8	The Gods	1989
057	3	9	Gansari's Zombies	1989
058	3	10	The Shadow	1989
059	3	11	Gorian the Spider	1989
060	3	12	Forbidden Fruit	1989
061	3	13	The Lost City	1989
062	3	14	The Bridge	1989
063	3	15	Silver Rider	1989
064	3	16	The Children	1989
065	3	17	The Magician	1989
066	3	18	Wind Wagon	1989
067	3	19	Goldilocks	1989
068	3	20	Amazon	1989
069	3	21	Head Hunters	1989
070	3	22	Forbidden Land	1989
071	3	23	The Moment of Truth: Part 1	1989
072	3	24	The Moment of Truth: Part 2	1989

^[4]

Alternative names

De Kruisboog / Willem Tell (Belgium)
Crossbow: As aventuras de Guilherme Tell (Brazil)
Кралят на Арбалета (Bulgaria)
Kusza (Poland)
Ballesta (Catalonia)
La ballesta: Las Aventuras de Guillermo Tell (Latin America)
گیوم تل (Iran)

חץ וקשת (Israel)
Guglielmo Tell (Italy)
Guillaume Tell (France)
Guillermo Tell (Spain)
William Tell (UK)
Vilém Tell (Czechoslovakia)
Wilhelm Tell (Finland)

References

External links

Crossbow at the Internet Movie Database
Crossbow at TV.com
Crossbow – William Tell fansite

William Tell

Characters	William Tell Albrecht Gessler

Literature	White Book of Sarnen (1474) Tellenlied (1470s) Chronicon Helveticum (1550-70) Urner Tellspiel (1512) Chronicle of the Swiss Confederation (1505-7) William Tell (play, 1804)

Opera	Guillaume Tell (1791) William Tell (1829) (William Tell Overture)

Film	William Tell (1923) William Tell (1934) William Tell (1960) The Adventures of William Tell (1958-59) Crossbow (1987-90) The Legend of William Tell (1998)

Other	Rütlischwur Shooting an apple off one's child's head