Idylls of the King

Gustave Doré’s illustration of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”, 1868

From the Winter 1999 WNYC Program Guide:

"As we stand poised on the edge of a new millennium, travel back to another world on the verge of change. The Idylls of the King, based on the poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson is a radio play that gloriously recreates the legend of King Arthur, his queen Guinevere, and the dawn of a new age."

The production was edited and adapted for radio by Christopher Cartmill and features Christopher Cartmill and Kathleen O'Grady. It was directed by Tom Palumbo and produced by WNYC's Scott Borden and Gads Hill for a first broadcast on December 31, 1999.  The late great Margaret Juntwait announces. Engineering was by Wayne Schulmister.

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From the original proposal:

A Story So Big It Only Fits on Radio

As we approach the year two thousand many people are trying to make meaning out of the present by looking to the future and remembering the past. It is a powerful time and a powerful dramatic radio program is needed.

The tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table sprung up early in this millennium - in the turmoil and chaos of Europe in the eleventh century. William the Conqueror captured the English throne and established a dynasty that rules to this day. The old order changed giving place to new thus tying the end of life clearly to the start of life and creating a profound mix of nostalgia and hopefullness

For these last thousand years King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and their knights have served as models and mirrors for the changing values and realities of the western world. The human spirit longs to look closely in this mirror as we anticipate the end of one millennium and the start of another. What better time to bring Idylls of the King to life!

The Adaptation

A long and august line of wordsmiths has been drawn to this legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth, Cretien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenback, Mallory, Blake, Marion Bradley, and others have all set their hand to this story. Even some modern comic book heroes and video games have their roots in Arthurian legend.

Of all those who have been moved by Arthur, Tennyson stands out. His Idylls of the King captures a sense of the momentous and the humourous; majesty and modesty; the best in human virtue and the worst in human treachery.

In addition, Tennyson wrote on the very brink of the modern age and so there is a contemporary quality. At the same time, he was very much a Victorian, adding a gentle sentimentality to his voice. But most of all, he captured the timeless spirit of the legend. 

Author/Actor Christopher Cartmill has done more than just cut and paste Tennyson's words. This dramatic moving adaptation represents a distillation of Idylls of the King. It keeps much of what is best, orders it in a consumable way, and bridges some gaps that might have been common knowledge in Tennyson's time, but are not today.