Overview of 'Richard the Lionheart' Season 1

Episode 1 - Long Live the King

Release Date: 1962-06-04

Training soldiers off in the countryside, Prince Richard is unaware that his father the King is ill. A messenger is sent to tell him, but scheming Prince John has him killed and a false message sent that causes Richard to go off to make a treaty with the unpredictable Lady Catherine. In the mean time, the King dies and John insists that in Richard's absence, he should become the new King.

Episode 2 - The Lion and the Eagle

Release Date: 1962-06-11

Back in 1189 London, Richard and his men receive no welcome, only to find that Prince John has kidnapped their mother, Queen Eleanor, and is intent on installing himself as the new King.

Episode 3 - The Robbers of Ashdown Forest

Release Date: 1962-06-18

Having returned to London to prepare for his coronation, Richard discovers that Prince John has fled the country with the Queen as hostage.

Episode 4 - The Wolf of Banbury

Release Date: 1962-06-25

In defiance of Richard's orders, Baron Giles gives protection to fugitives from justice. To add insult to injury, he abducts the Lady Rosalie, recently betrothed to Sir Geoffrey.

Episode 5 - School for a King

Release Date: 1962-07-02

Anxious to learn the plight of his subjects firsthand. Richard sallies forth in disguise – and soon finds himself arrested for not paying his taxes.

Episode 6 - Crown in Danger

Release Date: 1962-07-09

Having sent several of his friends in pursuit of three escaped prisoners, Richard is concerned when he hears that they have taken refuge in the castle of a knight who feeds his foes to his wild animals.

Episode 7 - The Pirate King

Release Date: 1962-07-16

Believing himself to be Richard's equal, Forked Beard, a self-styled 'King', seeks a treaty between himself and the English king. Having rejected his proposal, Richard is taken prisoner.

Episode 8 - The Alchemist of Roven

Release Date: 1962-07-23

Lady Rosalie's appeal to Richard to help her father, whom she believes she has fallen under the spell of Villanus, an alchemist, almost costs Richard his life.

Episode 9 - The King's Champion

Release Date: 1962-07-30

Led by a bogus pretender to the English throne, a Black Knight issues a challenge that Richard, with too few knights at court, must accept – or forfeit his throne.

Episode 10 - King Arthur's Sword

Release Date: 1962-08-06

Richard leads his men to capture thieves who've stolen Excalibur from Arthur's tomb at Glastonbury Abbey, but danger dogs block his path.

Episode 11 - The Challenge

Release Date: 1962-08-13

Zara and her brother Umbaldo issue a challenge to Richard. He must choose a champion to defeat Umbaldo. Should Umbaldo win, Richard will pay service to Zara — should he be defeated, Zara will become Richard's bride.

Episode 12 - The Bride

Release Date: 1962-08-20

Urged by his counsellors to take a bride, Richard sets out in disguise to visit the court of Prince Frederick, to take a cautious look at his daughter.

Episode 13 - The Strange Monks of Latroun

Release Date: 1962-08-27

In Lebanon, Richard and his men find a dying boy near a supposedly friendly abbey with monks renowned for helping pilgrims and travelers. The monks have in fact been replaced by a band of murderous thieves who have assumed the robes of the friars. Richard infiltrates by posing as a fellow cutthroat.

Episode 14 - The Great Enterprise

Release Date: 1962-09-03

Queen Berengaria, honeymooning with her new husband, is unaware that someone is plotting treachery at Richard's court — returning home, she faces a charge of treason.

Episode 15 - The Norman King

Release Date: 1962-09-10

Unaware that King Tancred of Sicily and King Philip of France are plotting his death, Richard accepts their invitation to a banquet given in his honour.

Episode 16 - When Champions Meet

Release Date: 1962-09-21

Pursuing his plot to have Richard killed, King Philip joins forces with Prince John. Together, they challenge Richard to face Saladin, in a 'friendly' tournament.

Episode 17 - The Warrior from Scotland

Release Date: 1962-09-28

Determined to join Richard's Crusade, Kenneth, a young Scottish warrior, arrives at Richard's castle. While attempting to impress Richard. he loses the King banner - and sentenced to death.

Episode 18 - The Conjuror

Release Date: 1962-10-05

Ali, a Saracen youth with a flair for conjuring – bit a fear of killing – is ordered to infiltrate Richard's camp and slay the monarch.

Episode 19 - The Lord of Kerak

Release Date: 1962-10-12

Arnold, master of Kernak Castle, is a Crusader in name only. So when he hears that the King is travelling to query his absence from court, he plans to have Richard killed.

Episode 20 - The Saracen Physician

Release Date: 1962-10-19

Gravely ill with fever, Richard is taken to the vamp of his allies where, unknown to his friends, the attendant physician is in the pay of Saladin, Richard's enemy.

Episode 21 - A Marriage of Convenience

Release Date: 1962-10-26

On the pretence of Lady Edith's marriage to Sir Kenneth, Richard sends his confidant to Saladin to propose that the Moslem leader consolidate the peace between them marrying the girl.

Episode 22 - Queen in Danger

Release Date: 1962-11-02

Fearing for her safety, Richard orders Queen Berengaria to return to England, so she takes her entourage yet tries to travel in disguise. She's captured not by Saladin or Muslim raiders, but by unscrupulous rival crusader Conrad of Montferrat.

Episode 23 - Prince Otto

Release Date: 1963-03-15

Prince Otto's castle is the only barrier in the Crusader's path. He insists on being paid before he'll allow anyone to pass – including the British sovereign.

Episode 24 - The Vision Fades

Release Date: 1963-03-29

Within sight of Jerusalem and victory, Richard readies for a final battle with the Muslim forces, but he realises his erstwhile allies are undependable. The Austrian King is losing interest because he won't get enough glory, and the French King and his troops outright leave the crusade, just as word is received the enemy forces are about to abandon the city.

Episode 25 - The Fugitive

Release Date: 1963-04-12

The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Richard scrambles ashore to safety. Unfortunately, he's landed on the land of Duke Leopold – his sworn enemy.

Episode 26 - Knight Errant at Large

Release Date: 1963-04-26

Following his knight's vows, Richard helps a young woman in distress — and quickly finds himself a prisoner of the tyrannical Lord Rudolph.

Episode 27 - Guardian of the Temple

Release Date: 1963-05-10

With new friends Hugo and Marta, Richard stops at a market-town to purchase fresh mounts – and finds himself arrested as an enemy spy.

Episode 28 - Capture

Release Date: 1963-05-24

Within sight of escape from Austria, Marta collapses from fatigue. Though he risks capture, Richard refuses to continue until she has recovered.

Episode 29 - A King's Ransom

Release Date: 1963-06-07

Hearing that Leopold demands a price of 150,000 marks for Richard's release, Queen Berengaria commands Sir Gilbert and Sir Geoffrey to raise the money.

Episode 30 - The Devil Is Unloosed

Release Date: 1963-06-21

Told by a fortune-teller that Richard is dead, Prince John makes plans to proclaim himself King. He has reckoned without Robin Hood and his Merry Men – Richard's loyal subjects.

Episode 31 - The Little People of Lyntor

Release Date: 1963-07-05

The "Little People" are taxpayers of outlying counties. They've been dunned for four large payments and are nearly bankrupt. Richard finds they have been tricked into paying by false documents backed by Prince John's soldiers.

Episode 32 - The Raiders

Release Date: 1963-07-19

Out hunting, Richard and Gilbert finds the body of a murdered man — a discovery which leads them to a murderous knight responsible for several killings.

Episode 33 - An Eye for an Eye

Release Date: 1963-08-02

Richard finds himself abducted by a knight with a grievance against the English Throne. Put on trial for treason, he is sentenced to be hanged.

Episode 34 - The Caveman

Release Date: 1963-08-16

In a small backward town, Richard finds the locals living in fear of a hermit living in a nearby cave, who blackmails them with threats of invoking a supernatural power over their water supply. After seeing the beautiful Lady Diane, the hermit insists she marry him, or the land will go dry.

Episode 35 - A Year and a Day

Release Date: 1963-08-30

After a desperate man steals Richard's horse, the squire of Fitzgeorge Castle takes him in. He can't see the man's son though they served gallantly in a crusade. The serving maid tells of a plot, where it was actually a serf that fought alongside the King, and the real scion of Fitzgeorge hid back in England.

Episode 36 - The Crown Jewels

Release Date: 1963-09-13

Under Richard's tutelage is knight in training Miguel of Navarre, but nights find the lad deep in debt to disreputable owners of a local gambling den. They threaten him with complete disgrace by exposure, unless he conspires with them in a plot to steal the crown jewels.

Episode 37 - The Man Who Sold Pardons

Release Date: 1963-11-29

Nicholas, a charlatan posing as a monk, goes from town to town selling indulgences, with forged documents of authority from Richard. His intention is to blackmail nobles who supported John's attempted coup. Richard seeks the phony friar, and pursues him to a country inn.

Episode 38 - The Heir of England

Release Date: 1963-12-06

Arthur, the young prince of England, is to visit his uncle Richard from his home in Brittany. But the knight that's to escort him is waylaid and a kidnapper takes his place. In pursuit of the outlaws, Richard goes undercover as a sailor to find their hideout.

Episode 39 - The People's King

Release Date: 1963-12-13

As Richard's coronation draws near, great importance is placed on the clothes to be worn to the ceremony. One such costume is smuggled out so that a lord, who will lose his status should Richard come to full power, can disguise himself and get close enough to kill him so the exiled John will be crowned.