The Real King Arthur - S0.E5

Once upon a time, there lived the greatest hero we’ve ever known. He was brought up by the wise wizard Merlin; he became king of the Britain’s when he pulled the sword from the stone; he married the beautiful Guinevere; he rode out of Camelot protected from harm by his magic sword Excalibur; he sat in council with the chivalrous knights of the round table and sent them to find the holy grail.

But as all hero’s will be, he was betrayed. First by the brave Lancelot, who fell in love with Guinevere, and then by his sister, who persuaded him to fight without Excalibur. Mortally wounded in battle with his treacherous son, his body was carried to the Isle of Avalon. From where it’s said in our hour of greatest need, one day, will rise again.

This king was called Arthur, and his stories known to us all. But actually he’s shrouded in mystery, some people say that he was a chivalrous medieval king. Others, a gritty Dark Age warrior, others again, that he never existed at all.

Time Team are setting out on a quest of our own to see if we can find out who he really was. It’s a journey back in time through centuries of myth and legend, on the way we’ll visit sacred lakes, pull our own sword from the stone and uncover the very first archaeological host.