Knight School (CITV series)
Encyclopedia
Knight School was a comedy drama series shown on Children's ITV and made by Granada Television
. It was written and created by Mark Billingham
and Peter Cocks, who also starred in the series. Two series were broadcast, in the autumn of 1997 and 1998.
The UK Knight School should not be confused with the ESPN documentary of the same name, which followed a group of students trying to win a place on the Red Raiders basketball team.
meets Blackadder
". Set in the Middle Ages, the action centred around St Cuthbert's Academy, an exclusive school for young knights. The story began with the school deciding to take a scholarship boy. The lucky boy, and the series' hero, was Wally Scrope, a common but loveable village idiot. Over the course of the series, Scrope battles for the affections of Lady Elizabeth de Gossard (played by Grange Hill
girl-next-door Amy Phillips), head girl of the nearby St Catherine's School for Damsels, and he has a rival for his affections in the form of St Cuthbert's head boy and school bully Sir Roger de Courcey.
Despite being set in the Middle Ages, there were many in-jokes to make Knight School relevant to a late 1990s audience. For one, the school was run by a progressive headmaster, Sir Hubert Grindcobbe, whose idea it was to take on a scholarship boy. His power-hungry deputy was the feared Sir Baldwin De'Ath, who longed for the top job, and made good use of De Courcey as his personal henchman. And in a bid to impress Lady Elizabeth, Wally gets her tickets to see her favourite boy band, "MinstrelZone". Unfortunately the tickets are fake, having been obtained from Wally's spiv cousin (pre-EastEnders Shane Ritchie), but they still get into the concert.
Knight School sent up the Spice Girls
phenomenon in Series 2 by having Lady Elizabeth and Eunice kidnapped on the school holiday and forced to perform in a new girl band, "The Herb Girls".
Series 1 of Knight School was shot with a filmic effect and had impressive production values. Come the second series, new producer Yvon Grace brought several changes to the style of the show; the filmic effect was lost in favour of a standard VT look, the impressive male vocal theme song was superseded by a less impressive rendition played on kazoos. A couple of principal characters were recast. But there was also a guest appearance by EastEnders stalwart John Altman as evil wizard Wormwood, and comedian Ted Robbins
as the DJ at the school's end-of-term "disco".
Pupils
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
. It was written and created by Mark Billingham
Mark Billingham
Mark Philip David Billingham is an English novelist whose series of "Tom Thorne" crime novels are best-sellers in that particular genre. He is also a television screenwriter and has become a familiar face as an actor and comic....
and Peter Cocks, who also starred in the series. Two series were broadcast, in the autumn of 1997 and 1998.
The UK Knight School should not be confused with the ESPN documentary of the same name, which followed a group of students trying to win a place on the Red Raiders basketball team.
Overview
Knight School was promoted by Granada as "Grange HillGrange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
meets Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
". Set in the Middle Ages, the action centred around St Cuthbert's Academy, an exclusive school for young knights. The story began with the school deciding to take a scholarship boy. The lucky boy, and the series' hero, was Wally Scrope, a common but loveable village idiot. Over the course of the series, Scrope battles for the affections of Lady Elizabeth de Gossard (played by Grange Hill
Grange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
girl-next-door Amy Phillips), head girl of the nearby St Catherine's School for Damsels, and he has a rival for his affections in the form of St Cuthbert's head boy and school bully Sir Roger de Courcey.
Despite being set in the Middle Ages, there were many in-jokes to make Knight School relevant to a late 1990s audience. For one, the school was run by a progressive headmaster, Sir Hubert Grindcobbe, whose idea it was to take on a scholarship boy. His power-hungry deputy was the feared Sir Baldwin De'Ath, who longed for the top job, and made good use of De Courcey as his personal henchman. And in a bid to impress Lady Elizabeth, Wally gets her tickets to see her favourite boy band, "MinstrelZone". Unfortunately the tickets are fake, having been obtained from Wally's spiv cousin (pre-EastEnders Shane Ritchie), but they still get into the concert.
Knight School sent up the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
phenomenon in Series 2 by having Lady Elizabeth and Eunice kidnapped on the school holiday and forced to perform in a new girl band, "The Herb Girls".
Series 1 of Knight School was shot with a filmic effect and had impressive production values. Come the second series, new producer Yvon Grace brought several changes to the style of the show; the filmic effect was lost in favour of a standard VT look, the impressive male vocal theme song was superseded by a less impressive rendition played on kazoos. A couple of principal characters were recast. But there was also a guest appearance by EastEnders stalwart John Altman as evil wizard Wormwood, and comedian Ted Robbins
Ted Robbins
Ted Robbins is an English comedian, actor, broadcaster, radio DJ, radio personality, voice-over artist and television personalityRobbins currently presents a morning show on BBC Radio Lancashire from 9am - 11am on weekdays....
as the DJ at the school's end-of-term "disco".
Cast
Staff| Peter Jeffrey Peter Jeffrey Peter Jeffrey was a British actor with many roles in television and film.Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor... - Sir Hubert Grindcobbe |
| Roger Lloyd Pack Roger Lloyd Pack Roger Lloyd-Pack is an English actor known for his roles in the TV shows The Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools and Horses and The Old Guys.-Career:... - Sir Baldwin de'Ath, also Ben D'Izir (Series 2) |
| Joanna McCallum Joanna McCallum Joanna McCallum is a British theatre, film and television actress. She is the daughter of British actress Googie Withers and Australian actor John McCallum... - Mistress Genevieve Gently |
| Mark Billingham Mark Billingham Mark Philip David Billingham is an English novelist whose series of "Tom Thorne" crime novels are best-sellers in that particular genre. He is also a television screenwriter and has become a familiar face as an actor and comic.... - Scrubbe |
| Peter Cocks - Grockle |
| Anne Orwin - Mrs Scabbe (Series 2) |
| Ramsay Gilderdale Ramsay Gilderdale Ramsay Gilderdale is an English actor, who played Guy of Gisbourne in BBC comedy Maid Marian and Her Merry Men. He also appeared in Rumpole of the Bailey and Blackadder's Christmas Carol.... - Jasper Crouchback |
| Christopher Guard Christopher Guard Christopher Guard is an English actor.Educated at Latymer Upper School, Guard was a member of the National Theatre aged 20. He has appeared in Vienna 1900 , Memoirs of a Survivor and Return to Treasure Island... - Clovis Sackbutt (Series 1) |
| Geoffrey Bayldon Geoffrey Bayldon Geoffrey Bayldon is a British actor. After playing roles in many dramas including Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series Catweazle , after turning down the opportunity to play both the First and Second Doctors in the long-running BBC science fiction... - Dr Spencer DePenser (Series 1) |
Pupils
| Stuart Rooker - Wally Scrope |
| Anthony Hamblin - Sir Arthur Melton-Mowbray |
| Blake Ritson Blake Ritson -Early life:Blake attended the Dolphin School in Reading, Berkshire until 1993, before going to St Paul's School, an independent school for boys in Barnes in West London on an academic scholarship. He then attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied English and Medieval Italian, Dante... - Sir Roger de Courcey |
| Amy Phillips Amy Phillips Amy Phillips is a British actress. She is best known for her role as Jessica Arnold in the BBC school drama, Grange Hill, in which she acted between 1994 and 1998.... - Lady Elizabeth de Gossard |
| Susie Williams - Eunice Spongge-Baggeley (Series 1) |
| Carly Hamilton - Eunice Spongge-Baggeley (Series 2) |
| Robert Pollard - Alf Scrope (Series 2) |
| Lucy Bell - Lady Amelia de Gossard (Series 2) |
| Thomas Hudson - Wykeham (Series 2) |