Knights of God (1987) User Reviews

King Arthur Legend Meets Secret Army.

[mikestone1948 · 8/10 · 5 March 2022]

"Knights of God" is a 1987 children's' tv series, set in a future where Britain (or at least England) has fallen into civil war and been taken over by an extreme religious (though apparently non-Christian) dictatorship. It focuses on the adventures of a young man in whom both the Knights themselves and the resistance movement take an unaccountable interest,

The Knights' uniforms and the black helicopters they use recall an earlier series called "The Guardians" which also featured a Britain that had collapsed into dictatorship, while some of the resistance fighters are reminiscent of Secret Army and similar WW2 stuff. KoG, however, is permeated with overtones of Arthurian legend. The leader of the resistance (based in Wales) is actually called "Arthur", whilst the Knights' leader is named "Mordrin" - perhaps to invoke Mordred.

As always, there's room for a nitpick or two. About the most absurd bit is the claim that the whole Royal Family has been wiped out. Short of WW3 (and doubtfully even then) this would be a sheer impossibility. There must by now be hundreds, if not thousands, of people descended from Sophia of Hanover, by no means all of them living in the UK. The entire Norwegian Royal House is descended from Edward VII, and of course there are Germans galore. I will leave to others to ponder the philosophical point of whether it is better or worse to be ruled by a German than by a religious nutter.

Gervase (George Winter) is a rather passive kind of hero, the sort that has things happen to him rather than making things happen. And many viewers probably figured the outcome of his "quest" well ahead of time. But this is ok for what is basically a kids' action adventure, and is surely more than made up for by John Woodvine's brilliant performance as Prior Mordrin. For me, he steals the show with a great portrayal of the paranoid dictator going to pieces as his regime starts to crumble.

All in all, well worth a read or (if you can get it) a view. It's a scandal that no proper dvd has been issued. However, I understand that Youtube is filling the gap for now.

King Arthur Legend Meets Secret Army.

[mwstone-702-794940 · 8/10 · 11 March 2022]

"Knights of God" is a 1987 childrens' tv series, set in a future where Britain (or at least England) has fallen into civil war and been taken over by an extreme religious (though apparently non-Christian) dictatorship. It focuses on the adventures of a young man in whom both the Knights themselves and the resistance movement take an unaccountable interest,

The Knights' uniforms and the black helicopters they use recall an earlier series called "The Guardians" which also featured a Britain that had collapsed into dictatorship, while some of the resistance fighters are reminiscent of Secret Army and similar WW2 stuff. KoG, however, is permeated with overtones of Arthurian legend. The leader of the resistance (based in Wales) is actually called "Arthur", whilst the Knights' leader is named "Mordrin" - perhaps to invoke Mordred.

As always, there's room for a nitpick or two. About the most absurd bit is the claim that the whole Royal Family has been wiped out. Short of WW3 (and doubtfully even then) this would be a sheer impossibility. There must by now be hundreds, if not thousands, of people descended from Sophia of Hanover, by no means all of them living in the UK. The entire Norwegian Royal House is descended from Edward VII, and of course there are Germans galore. I will leave to others to ponder the philosophical point of whether it is better or worse to be ruled by a German than by a religious nutter.

Gervase (George Winter) is a rather passive kind of hero, the sort that has things happen to him rather than making things happen. And many viewers probably figured the outcome of his "quest" well ahead of time. But this is ok for what is basically a kids' action adventure, and is surely more than made up for by John Woodvine's brilliant performance as Prior Mordrin. For me, he steals the show with a great portrayal of the paranoid dictator going to pieces as his regime starts to crumble.

All in all, well worth a read or (if you can get it) a view. It's a scandal that no proper dvd has been issued. However, I understand that Youtube is filling the gap for now.

I loved this but no-one remembers it

[osfachris · 24 July 2003]

It's typical that as I write this it has yet to receive 5 votes, despite being 16 years old. I watched it on British TV when I was 11, and I was totally hooked. Maybe being Welsh helped, maybe being into that other great british SF series Doctor Who helped, but I thought this was a superior slice of homegrown SF with a startling twist at the end. This is a serial in which the hero spends much of its running time brainwashed by the dictator! It's hard to imagine something this brave ever being commissioned as, essentially, a kids' show. Like most great kids' shows, it was far more than just a kids' show. Release it on DVD now!

gripping stuff, definitely worth a DVD

[samurai_rich · 9/10 · 5 August 2004]

This show was fantastic, I have only the vaguest memories of it now, but I remember being gripped at the time, because it was like nothing i'd ever seen before. My parents just wouldn't watch sci-fi, so i missed loads of it, but i used to watch it with my brother whenever i could. But it wasn't really sci-fi, it had this medieval quality, maybe because of all the court politics and religious overtones. I had the novelisation too. The Knights crossed swords symbol is still imprinted in my imagination and i think i'd still be scared even now if i met John Woodvine. Fantastic television, definitely worth a DVD.

In fact, if today's telly people looking to counter or capitalise on Doctor Who's current success made more shows like this and less reheated dross like Primeval or Robin Hood the world would be a better place.

Aha! Finally found this gem thanks to John Woodvine

[Opiuman · 10/10 · 8 October 2006]

I saw this series when I was a teenager and occasionally remembered it and wanted to locate DVDs of it, but had no recollection of what it was called...

Recently I watched Season 2 of "Shameless" and as soon as John Woodvine appeared in it (as Neville Galagher) I recognized that he performed in the series and it gave me a vital clue.

I scoured his filmography until I finally found this series. I'm glad to see that there are others that remember it, even if they are few. Hopefully I'll be able to find a copy of the series somewhere so I can watch it again.

Hopefully it won't disappoint me, I watched it many years ago.

Release this on DVD !!

[eric-chadwick · 9/10 · 15 January 2004]

I can only agree with the other comment.

It was a long time ago now but I still fondly remember this series. Made by HTV and shown I think on Sunday afternoons it was much more edgy than the usual sci-fi fare and involved religious zealots taking over britain in a modern civil war. Featuring an excellent cast and played with a serious tone it deserves to find a new audience. It also seemed to have a higher budget that the average at the time even stretching to the involvement of helicopters.

Someone please release this on DVD!

Great Series

[milkhead · 5 January 2006]

I remember this on TV, is it available on Video or DVD? John Woodvine is an impressive actor. I'm also interested in finding a film version of Arturo Ui, Le Petomane, Mr Axelford's Angel, and many other great films / TV from this era. Remember Diana Dors in Queenie's Castle? Anyone recall the Space Adventures of Don Quick? How about White Rock, commentary by James Coburn, music by Rick Wakeman? Back to Knights of God, not only was John a good actor, the storyline was impressive, one of those that sticks in my memory, like Fatherland, Bedford Incident, A Very British Coup, Defence of the Realm and more recently the Day Britain Stood still, there was also a sci-fi about a post apocalyptic England, No Blade of Grass or something like that.

Undeservedly Neglected

[mwstone · 9/10 · 7 November 2007]

I encountered a few episodes of this back in 1987. Never saw it again but never totally forgot it either. Finally discovered a DVD (somewhat amateurish and picture quality less than ideal but still viewable) while googling for something else altogether.

I was delighted. There's room for a few gripes. In particular, rather too much time seemed to be spent on the hero being pursued, John Buchan style, over moors and other "wild and loonley places", making it an episode or two longer than perhaps it really needed to be; but overall it was better than many things I've watched. One of the episodes already seen had given away the Big Secret, but I found that didn't spoil my enjoyment in a major way. And it was a little hard to get really excited about the young hero, who at times seemed a trifle dull in both senses of the word. But given what his heredity is supposed to be, making him a genius or a scintillating personality could be deemed implausible.

The serial might be described as "King Arthur in modern dress" or perhaps a WW2 "resistance" one, like "Secret Army" with strong Arthurian overtones. Both sides have modern weapons, the Bad Guys even using black helicopters (another sign of the time it was made), yet at one point they even manage to get a sword fight in, while their leader, played wonderfully by John Woodvine, is called Prior Mordrin (= Mordred?), and a character on the other side is named Arthur. The resisters are disproportionately Welsh, with support (mostly offstage) in the North of England, fighting a kind of Neo-Pagan "religious order" based in Winchester. These got into power some 20 years before, in a civil war between north and south. The Iron Lady is never mentioned, but it sounds as if the "North-South divide", much discussed in Her day, had got really out of hand. But the opposition is very disunited, and the hero is quickly drawn into a search for "the King", sole survivor of the Knights' massacre of the Royal Family, as an essential rallying point.

(Small nitpick here. The House of Windsor is enormous, with hundreds of members, many living outside the UK, so it would be impossible for the Knights to wipe them all out. However, a distant and maybe foreign cousin might lack the appeal of a close relative of the immediate Family, so let it pass)

To cut a long story short, they find him, but only after Our Boy has gone through a Concentration Camp, been subjected to a rigorous training programme, brainwashed, pursued hither and thither both by the Knights and by their enemies and generally given a hard time. In short, a classical Arthurian Quest, and it all turns out to be for a Purpose. All in all, well worth a view, and undeservedly neglected.

Superior 80s YA SF adventure

[Adrian Sweeney · 1 August 2018]

John Woodvine (the doctor out of American Werewolf) is great as the Cromwellian dictator of a dystopian future Britain. Julian Fellowes (yes, that Julian Fellowes, writer of Downton) is excellent as his scheming second-in-command, one of the snidiest connivers in TV history. He manipulates, sneers, looks great in kinky leather, and does action-adventure things I won't spoiler but which will make me look at him in a new light the next time I see him in a chintzy sitting-room talking about 1920s country houses. Gareth Thomas and Patrick Troughton are resistance leaders. For a kids' show and for its era it was ambitious in scope and production values and presumably budget (the look is medieval knights with motorbikes, helicopters, computers and machine-guns). I never saw it as a kid, which is a shame as I would have thought it the greatest thing ever, but even as a grown-up I had fun. It meanders at times, after a brisk opening getting mired down in certain sub-plots for slightly too long, but it all builds to a climax of jaw-dropping mayhem. Points of interest include that despite his scariness the dictator Prior Mordrin isn't a 2-dimensional villain but believes he's doing the best for the country; and that despite their name and crusader-monk aesthetic his organisation the Knights of God are pretty frankly Nietzschean and contemptuous of real religion.

If you like the Tripods and Dr Who,Knights of God is for you!

[etepmanor · 7 March 2004]

Recently watched this again from a copy made at the time from TV in 1987 and was pleasantly surprised how gripping the story is. If you enjoy spotting the durable British character actors who seem to appear in everything made back in the 70's & 80's,Knights of God will keep you watching.

Would love to see it released on DVD,I don't know whether TVS still exists or was swallowed up by ITV at some point. However I fear it had limited appeal when first broadcast ,over looked on Sunday afternoons,which is a shame, because its definetely worth a second sight as they say!

Horribly boring...

[mandelmanden · 11 February 2004]

Bought part 2 of the video yesterday in a "used videos and stuff" shop for about 1.5$... I was lured by the action packed cover to spend time and money on this piece of incredibly boring garbage... maybe as a tv-series in 10000 episodes this could work, but as a 120 min film, 240 if you bought part 1, and dread the existence of part 3, then it falls through... all the way to the bottom.