Ivanhoe (1970)

A noble 12th-century knight returns home to England after fighting in the Crusades alongside Richard the Lionheart, only to find the country under the domination of the king's tyrannical brother. Banished from England for wanting to marry against his father's wishes, Ivanhoe joins Richard the Lionheart on a crusade in the Holy Land. On his return, his passionate desire is to be reunited with the beautiful but forbidden lady Rowena, but he soon finds himself playing a more dangerous game as he is drawn into a bitter power struggle between the noble King Richard and his evil and scheming brother John. Ivanhoe is set in a highly romanticized medieval world of tournaments and sieges, chivalry and adventure where dispossessed Saxons are pitted against their Norman overlords. The BBC's classic adaptation was a Sunday evening favourite. Directed by David Maloney, the 10-part series starred Eric Flynn as Ivanhoe and Anthony Bate as his main rival, the corrupt Knight Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert.