The Adventures of William Tell

Lore & Background

The series was produced by Ralph Smart, who also created and produced Danger Man. Outdoor scenes were filmed around the mountains and lakes of Snowdonia in Wales, with the film base and make-up at a small farm in Cwm-y-glo beside Llyn Padarn. The crew walked up the mountain from their base due to no vehicle access, bringing work to a tiny corner of North Wales before tourism took off. An accident early occurred to star Conrad Phillips during filming: he was asked to keep stepping back until he stepped off a twelve-foot drop, injuring his knee, which eventually led to his retirement from acting. Phillips had to wear support bandages during filming but sometimes forgot, causing him to struggle with some action scenes.

Reader's Guide

The Adventures of William Tell was a swashbuckler series that, though similar to The Adventures of Robin Hood, was noted as an even harder show, with crossbow bolts killing people and Tell fighting hand-to-hand, often resulting in the death of the bad guy. The interaction between the hero and the villain Landburgher Gessler was a strong point, bringing out high quality diction and crispness in Willoughby Goddard's acting. The series was repeated well into the 1960s and again in June 2020 on British Talking Pictures TV, and in 2025–26. Its theme song, based on Rossini's William Tell Overture, had different versions for the UK and US markets. The entire series is available on DVD. Conrad Phillips later played William Tell's sidekick, Stefan, in the series Crossbow (1987–1989), and a separate New Zealand series, The Legend of William Tell, aired in 1998.

Did You Know?

• The outdoor scenes were filmed in Snowdonia, Wales, with the crew walking up the mountain because there was no vehicle access.
• Conrad Phillips injured his knee during filming when he stepped off a twelve-foot drop, an injury that eventually led to his retirement from acting.
• Daily rushes were viewed at the only cinema in the area, at Llanberis, taken over from 8:00 until noon every morning.
• The US version used a different portion of Rossini's overture as its theme song, titled 'The Freedom Song – Marching Behind William Tell'.

Production & the Snowdonia Set

The 1958 swashbuckler was produced by Ralph Smart, a figure already known for creating and producing Danger Man, and shot primarily at the National Studios in Elstree. However, the series' most distinctive visual identity came from its outdoor work in the mountains and lakes of Snowdonia, Wales. The crew set up a base at a small farm in Cwm-y-glo, right beside Llyn Padarn, a lake visible in numerous shots. Because no vehicles could reach the filming locations, the team hiked up the mountain on foot, and the production returned to this tiny corner of North Wales for at least three separate yearly shoots before tourism transformed the area. The daily editing workflow was equally unusual: rushes were screened at the sole local cinema in Llanberis, which the production commandeered from eight in the morning until noon, while the film itself was transported to Soho in London for developing and back by eight-thirty the next day. The third series shifted toward studio work, reusing stock footage from earlier seasons and forgoing synchronised sound to cut costs during a period of enforced demarcation rules.

Cast & the Hero-Villain Dynamic

Conrad Phillips brought the title role of William Tell to life, supported by Jennifer Jayne as his wife Hedda, Richard Rogers as their son Walter, Jack Lambert as Hedda's father Judge Furst, Nigel Green as The Bear, and Peter Hammond as Hofmanstahl. The series drew a natural comparison to The Adventures of Robin Hood, but Tell was a considerably bloodier affair: crossbow bolts actually killed, and hand-to-hand combat frequently ended with the villain's death. The antagonist, Landburgher Gessler, played by Willoughby Goddard, was deliberately crafted as a blunt, unshaven, gluttonous figure who threw both his literal and metaphorical weight around — a stark contrast to the more courtly Sheriff of Nottingham. Yet it was precisely the sharp verbal sparring between Phillips and Goddard that became one of the show's standout qualities, both actors delivering crisp, high-quality diction that elevated every confrontation. This was a marked improvement over the absence of a consistent adversary in the contemporary series Sir Francis Drake, which suffered from a lack of a regular foil for its hero.

Music & the Rossini Connection

The series' most enduring sonic signature was its theme, built upon the William Tell Overture composed by Gioachino Rossini. For the British broadcast, Harold Purcell wrote lyrics that were performed by David Whitfield, creating a long-remembered title sequence. The situation in the United States required a different approach: because the particular section of Rossini's overture used in the UK had already become famous as the theme for The Lone Ranger, the American syndicated run on the NTA Film Network called for an alternative. Geoffrey Parsons composed a new set of lyrics to a different portion of the overture, producing a song titled "The Freedom Song – Marching Behind William Tell," which appears on the Network DVD release of the episode Castle of Fear. Beyond the main theme, the show's incidental score was the work of Albert Elms and Sydney John Kay, providing musical support across the three series of adventures set in early fourteenth-century Switzerland.

Legacy, Reruns & Spin-Offs

The Adventures of William Tell enjoyed a long afterlife on British television, with repeats continuing well into the 1960s. In June 2020, the complete series returned to screens on the Talking Pictures TV channel, and a further run of reruns was scheduled for 2025–26 on the same network. Home video availability expanded in 2007 when Network Distributing Ltd, in partnership with Granada Ventures, released a five-disc region 2 DVD set, alongside a three-disc region 1 edition for international audiences. The legend of Tell also spawned later productions. Conrad Phillips himself returned to the world of the Swiss hero in 1987, playing the sidekick Stefan in the series Crossbow, which ran for 72 thirty-minute colour episodes across three seasons of twenty-four each, with the final season never broadcast in America; Will Lyman took on the Tell role in that show. A separate New Zealand adaptation, The Legend of William Tell, aired sixteen sixty-minute episodes between August and December 1998, starring Kieren Hutchison in the title part.