An aging archer recounts his experience of the Battle of Agincourt in this dramatic monologue.
An old archer (Esmond Knight), now living out his days in quiet obscurity, recounts his memories of the Battle of Agincourt to a young archer (John Fowler). He explains how a small, exhausted English force, wracked by disease, managed to defeat a vastly superior French army in one of the most celebrated victories in military history.
This production was an unconventional approach to historical drama. Rather than staging an epic battle, the teleplay is a minimalist two-hander, constructed as a powerful vehicle for the veteran actor Esmond Knight who had been performing the piece as a one man show for several years on the stage. Stripped of pageantry, the production relies entirely on Knight’s performance to conjure the mud, brutality, and unlikely triumph of the Battle of Agincourt. By framing the narrative as a personal recollection told by an anonymous soldier, the story gains an intimacy and authenticity often lost in grander treatments of the event.
Broadcast: BBC Two, 1 Episode, Tuesday, 30 October 1979
Written by: Esmond Knight
Director: Roger Bamford
Producer: Vee Openshaw-Taylor
Music: Geoffrey Burgon
Main Cast: Esmond Knight (Old Archer), John Fowler (Young Archer)
