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Kaamelott is a French Comedy series medieval fantasy television series created, directed, written, scored, and edited by Alexandre Astier, who also starred as the main character.In a TV interview on Dec. 1, 2008, Astier sums up his vision of Kaamelott as "Le médieval fantastique en comédie." ("comedy medieval fantasy") See Dailymotion video to present a new "realistic epic" Based on Arthurian legends, it followed the daily lives of King Arthur (Alexandre Astier) and his Round Table in Camelot. Astier, in a BFM TV interview, late November 2008. The series, which originally ran for six seasons (referred to as "books"), aired from 3 January 2005 to 31 October 2009 on the network M6.
The series was preceded in 2003 by a short film, Dies iræ, with mostly the same cast and concept, which was used to pitch the idea to the network, which at the time was looking to replace another successful short TV series, Caméra Café. However, Kaamelott exceeded Caméra Cafés audience in only three weeks after broadcasting started. It is widely regarded as one of the best, most iconic, and most popular French TV series of all time. It has also been praised for its fidelity, as, aside from comedic and linguistic liberties, it remains faithful to the mythology and historical context, both alleged and verified.
While the series takes place in the 5th century, it uses modern language and situations to offer a humorous take on the Arthurian legend. However, in later seasons, the mood becomes darker and more dramatic as Arthur's kingdom begins to disintegrate.See the M6 website for the specification of the 5th century M6 Season 1. This is the traditional period for Arthur's rise to power, though Kaamelott makes his reign a bit early--in the episode "Le Dernier Empereur" (Livre1) the Roman emperor Romulus Augustus, who ruled in 476, is mentioned as a contemporary. The cast includes regular Astier collaborator Jean-Christophe Hembert (Caradoc), who directed his two subsequent One-person show, and Astier's father, Lionnel (Leodegrance), his mother, Joëlle Sevilla (Dame Séli), and his half-brother, Simon (Ywain).
After the series ended in 2009, Astier began work on a film trilogy to conclude the series' story. First announced in 2012 and planned for shooting in 2013, production on the first film, , was suspended and repeatedly postponed due to various issues; filming eventually began in January 2019, and it was released on 21 July 2021.SND Twitter account announcing the new release date of Kaamelott - Premier Volet Following the release of the first movie, Astier confirmed that the story would be continued in two parts rather than a single sequel. Kaamelott: The Second Chapter - Part 1 was released on 22 October 2025.
The episodes were broadcast on M6 in France starting in 2005 in prime time (8:30 PM to 8:40 PM), twice every weeknight evening for seasons 1–4. The week's full ten episodes were aired on the Saturday of that same week. Each such season lasted ten weeks. A week's worth of episodes is about 35 minutes, comparable to the American one-hour network format of ca. 44 minutes or the British half-hour format of 30 minutes. Each episode features a teaser, opening titles, three acts, closing titles, and a tag, like an American sitcom episode. Season 1 aired early in 2005, 2 in fall 2005, 3 early in 2006, and 4 in fall 2006.
Each season attracted more viewers, with records reaching about 5 million viewers each evening.
The first half of season 5 aired in spring 2007 as two 52-minute episodes, followed by 5 weeks of 7-minute episodes (telling the same story, but with additional material) presented on the same schedule as the earlier seasons. The second half followed the same format in the fall of 2007.
Season 4 was the first to feature an overarching story arc. Whereas in the earlier seasons one could watch the short episodes in any order, in season 4 more than half the episodes were connected to a plot (and episodes 99 and 100 form a single episode with no break).
Season 5 features several intertwining plots presented chronologically throughout the season. This presented storytelling and editing problems that were incompatible with the old 3½-minute format, resulting in at least 3 different versions of season 5: 3 52-minute episodes as televised, 50 7-minute episodes as televised, and 8 52-minute episodes in the DVD "director's cut." In the interview on the DVD, Astier explains that season 5 must be seen in the director's cut version.
Season 6 was always conceived of, from the time shooting began, as a series of 40-minute episodes presented as a miniseries, not cut into shorter episodes.
Around the time that shooting began on season 6, Astier announced that there would be no season 7. Season 6 consists of a prequel (how Arthur became king of Britain) followed by an episode that serves as a sequel to season 5.
Season 6 had a theatrical premiere as part of the "Paris fait sa comédie" festival, with a screening of 7 episodes at the Grand Rex on 25 March 2009. The Livre was shown on M6 in October and November 2009 as a series of nine 40-minute episodes, three each Saturday night. The ratings for Livre 6 were relatively low (2.2-2.65 million), perhaps because the DVD was expected to hit the market almost immediately afterwards.
The series has also been shown on TSR2 in Switzerland, on Club RTL in Belgium, and on Historia in Canada.
Astier hopes to follow the television series with a trilogy of Arthur films. He has said that the last episode of season 6 prepares the audience for the movie series.
As the series goes on, there are more and more exteriors. Seasons 1-4 take place almost entirely in or near the fortress of Kaamelott. For the first two seasons, the interiors were shot in Paris, but production moved to Lyon for the third season (entailing changes in some sets, particularly Merlin's Laboratory). The castle exteriors are filmed at Montmelas-Saint-Sorlin, a medieval castle near Lyon. Parts of seasons 5 and 6 were filmed in Brittany, and some of season 6 was filmed in Rome at the Cinecittà Studios on the sets built for HBO's Rome.
The shooting schedule for 100 episodes was 50 days in the early seasons, later expanding to 60 days; Astier prepares the scenarios for the entire season in advance.See the Youtube video Kaamelott à la fnac Saint-Lazare, 19 October 2007, 2:16. To shoot as economically and quickly as possible, all the scenes using a particular set (especially exteriors) are shot consecutively. This gives each season its own texture, since an exterior setting will always have the same weather, more or less, and characters wear the same clothing in a particular setting when it reappears across episodes.This is particularly noticeable in the Season 2 episodes showing the Havre de Paix ("Haven of Peace"); in two of them, "Les Voeux" and "Always," it is raining. The last 12 episodes of season 2 were shot at the same time as the season 3 episodes.French Wikipedia information on shooting of Seasons 2 & 3
Costuming continuity is achieved in the first season simply by having the principal characters dressed the same in nearly every episode. Knights seated at the Round Table wear armor in the first four seasons, and in the first season, they also wear armor in battle exteriors. Through the first five seasons, though new costumes are introduced, Karadoc usually wears red, Perceval blue, Lancelot off-white, and Bohort green (in a few episodes, Sir Herve appears in a yellow costume). Arthur wears blacks with deep reds and purples; Leodagan wears gray or gray-blue and black.
Astier usually writes the actual dialogue the night before a scene is shot.Youtube, Kaamelott à la fnac Saint-Lazare, 19 October 2007, 3:20. In other interviews Astier justifies this practice; he says that it allows him to adapt the dialogue to the actors. Thus, if a three-minute episode includes an exterior scene, a bedroom scene, and a hallway scene, the actors would be learning their lines for the episode (along with the lines for other bits of episodes using that set) on three different days.
Fantasy elements have been limited, undoubtedly to some extent by the budget. However, a few episodes suggest the possibility of an intersection of the traditional Arthurian world of fairies and wizards with science fiction (see the description of Perceval's character below).
Like other 21st-century Arthurian versions such as King Arthur and The Last Legion, this one emphasizes Arthur's ties with Rome and its empire. In season 1 of Kaamelott, several characters speak of adventures in Rome, but Arthur does not seem to like Roman art, food, etc.; however, in subsequent seasons, his Roman connections become important to his character and history. Season 6 tells the story of how Arthur, a Roman policeman, comes to understand his destiny and takes the crown of Britain.
Traditionally, Arthurian romance includes fantasy elements, but Astier may eventually intend to connect them to science fiction. He includes references to Stargate (Perceval travels through one in episodes in Livres 2 and 3) and Star Wars (in the Livre 3 Stargate episode, Perceval visits Tatooine and brings back a light-saber, which Arthur perceives as much like Excalibur; also, in Livre 1, Bohort, the minister of protocol, sometimes seems very much like C-3PO!).Astier also refers to a vast number of Hollywood films (e.g. the very first episode is titled "Heat" and in episode 78 of Livre IV, a dialogue is based on the Pacino-De Niro confrontation in the 1995 film Heat). The first episode, entitled "Silbury Hill," suggests the presence of spiritual beings everywhere in Britain, but "Silbury Hill II" implies they are extraterrestrials and that Arthur and Léodagan know this. In Livre VI, we learn that Perceval was found as a baby in a crop circle, which, if these are made by space travellers from other planets, explains his affinity for stargates. Supernatural beings encountered by Arthur include Morgan Le Fay (not his sister, but involved with his eventual fate), Méléagant, the emissary of gods who seem to want to destroy human rulers, and his guide, the Lady of the Lake; at the beginning of Livre VI.2, a meeting of the gods whom the Lady of the Lake represents is depicted on Alpha Centauri, which implies that they at least are beings whose home is "the stars" rather than on earth. Thus, rather than recording relationships between humans and fairies, Kaamelott seems to posit relationships between Arthur and superior beings from other parts of the universe.
Like all Arthurian stories, Kaamelott twists history as well and adds its own view of where Arthur came from and what his reign means.Astier's vision of Arthur as a dux bellorum is however close to the insight into the history of Britain which Marlow proposes at the beginning of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: "I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago -- the other day. . . . Light came out of this river since -- you say Knights? Yes; but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker -- may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday. Imagine the feelings of a commander of a fine -- what d'ye call 'em? -- trireme in the Mediterranean, ordered suddenly to the north; run overland across the Gauls in a hurry; put in charge of one of these craft the legionaries -- a wonderful lot of handy men they must have been, too -- used to build, apparently by the hundred, in a month or two, if we may believe what we read. Imagine him here -- the very end of the world, a sea the colour of lead, a sky the colour of smoke, a kind of ship about as rigid as a concertina -- and going up this river with stores, or orders, or what you like. Sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages, -- precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink. No Falernian wine here, no going ashore. Here and there a military camp lost in a wilderness, like a needle in a bundle of hay -- cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death -- death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush." Roman Britain had contributed armies, generals, and maybe an emperor to the Roman empire,In the 4th century the usurper Magnus Maximus was acclaimed Emperor by his Roman army in Britain; Constantine I was said to have been born of a British mother. but in Kaamelott, Britain is an aggregate of kingdoms that perceives Rome as an occupying force and Arthur perhaps as a PétainAstier refers to his Arthur as “une espèce de Pétain” in the first part of the documentary “Aux sources de Kaamelott,” on the Livre 2 Collector's DVD Set Addendum disk. Astier's version is somewhat supported by the Historia Brittonum, the earliest compilation of history for the British people, according to which the British took to killing Roman envoys in the early 5th century, though they continued to appeal to the Romans for help against the Picts. for having made peace with the Romans. The enemies of the historical Britons in the 5th century were the Picts to the north, the Irish (aka the Scoti), and the north Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) who had originally been brought in as mercenaries to fight the Picts. Arthur enters history as the victor of 12 battles between the British and the Saxons Nennius, Historia Brittonum, chapter 50. This is the earliest surviving mention of Arthur. and is also often depicted fighting the Picts and the Scots in the north.E.g. in the opening lines of Marie de France's lai Lanval. Astier's Arthur, by contrast, apparently stays close to his fortress Kaamelott, where he is attacked by Angles and Saxons but also by Attila and his Hun, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Vikings, Visigoths—just about every "barbarian" people that was on the move in Europe then (though Attila was active earlier and the Vikings later), except for the Franks, ancestors of the French (though a historically Frankish leader, Chlodoric, does lead "barbarians" against Arthur). The Picts, however, represented by Arthur's mother-in-law, Séli, and the Irish, represented by a federated king, are Arthur's allies in Kaamelott. The geopolitics of Kaamelott resembles that of the comic book world of Asterix—a small, primitive "Celtic" society with its druid, warrior, and secret weapon, persisting on the edges of the Roman Empire—more than traditional English or American versions of the Arthur story.An Astérix- Kaamelott connection almost goes without saying. Near the end of Livre 2, Arthur has his hair cut in the Roman style ("La Coupe Romaine")--so that Astier, the actor, can play a Roman soldier in the film Astérix aux jeux olympiques (2008). Astier has also discussed the importance of Astérix as a model for the Kaamelott comic books; see this online interview. In the second episode of Livre 1, "La Table de Breccan," the artisan who is building the Round Table remarks to Arthur that he has “just delivered 400 dolmens to Winchester,” echoing Obélix's vocation as “menhir deliveryman”... and when, later in the season, Arthur stops by the tavern, he asks for a glass of goat's milk, a beverage which Astérix is known to enjoy (e.g. in Le Tour de Gaule).
The series also uses slapstick for humor (e.g. a cream-cheese fight in season 3 "La Grande Bataille"), and running gags, which may be verbal ("La Botte Secrète," the use of the phrase “You're not wrong” to keep up one end of a conversation one does not understand), physical ("Unagi," the completely absurd martial arts developed by Karadoc and Perceval; the silly caps the characters wear to bed), musical (the song "À la volette" which recurs through the first season), or character-specific (Merlin's conflict between his role as healer-scientist and the court's idea of a magician, Karadoc's truly Gargantuan need for food, Arthur interrupted in his bath by various incursions). There is little sexual romance; none of the knights seems genuinely interested in women (or other men),Bohort's affect is one that is easily interpreted as gay but in Livre 3, “Au Bonheur des Dames,” he is provided with a beautiful wife who, however, lives far away in Gaunes and is never seen by the court. Karadoc is also married, to the lovely Mevanwi, and has children; but he sees sex as a nasty business one has to go through in order to have children. Perceval has a long and amusing courtship with Guenièvre's maid Angharad, but it comes to nothing; he loves Arthur, as is made clear in Livre 4 “L’Habitué” and Livre 2 “Le Tourment II,” though this love does not seem to have a sexual component. Léodagan enjoys lusting after young women but apparently remains faithful to his termagant wife Séli. Lancelot loves Guenièvre but when they finally share a bed he can not figure out how to consummate the relationship. In Livre 5, Yvain has acquired one of Arthur's cast-off mistresses, but she tells Arthur she refuses to sleep with him because of his crude comments ("La Conspiratrice"). In Livre 4 “Anges et Demons” the enchanter Élias tells Arthur that most of the men in Kaamelott are impotent, but it is not clear who among them would actually want to use Élias's little blue pills. The only non-comic sexual relationship in the first 5 seasons is that between Arthur and Mevanwi in Livre 4. and Arthur's relations with his various mistresses are more a comic device than a matter of emotion. Guenièvre, for a reason left mysterious in the first 5 seasons, remains a virgin, and this too is a source of comedy as she tries to figure out, for example, why she can't get pregnant. As the characters become familiar, dramatic or emotional situations can arise from this kind of comedy.
The series occasionally gives humorous (but always possible) explanations for historical facts. For instance, Kaamelott explains the creation of Scotland's national attire, the kilt, as a misfortune of the king of Caledonia (modern Scotland). His armor's legs rusted when he fell into some water. It turns out to be a rule that a knight of the Round Table must wear either full-body armor or his national attire, so the king of Caledonia wraps a cloth around his waist and declares it his country's official attire.
Even the idiotic characters, however, are given qualities that explain Arthur's patience with them and make them more likable and interesting to the viewer. For instance, Perceval of Wales first appears in medieval literature in the work of Chretien de Troyes as both the destined Grail Knight and a clumsy, foolish boy. In Kaamelott, he is the only character besides Arthur for whom Excalibur glows when it is picked up.Livre 2 "Excalibur et le Destin." But he is the least confident of the knights,Livre 2, "La Conscience d'Arthur." and for good reason. He is not sure of his own name.Livre 1, "Le Chevalier Mystère." Compare Chrétien de Troyes, Le Roman de Perceval, ed. Roach (Geneva: Droz, 1955), lines 3572 ff. "The man who did not know his own name made a guess and said he was called Perceval the Welshman, but he didn't actually know if he was telling the truth--but it was true." He fails almost every mission he is entrusted with. He is illiterate, cannot understand the concept of a map, and insists that North and South are relative concepts. On the other hand, he loves and is extremely faithful to Arthur.In "Le Tourment II" from Livre 2, Perceval works some emotional blackmail on Arthur to get him to tell him he loves him (the scene ends with a hug). Perceval hires a prostitute simply in order to have someone to whom he can explain how he feels about Arthur in Livre 4, "L'Habitué." In Book 5, Arthur puts Excalibur back into the stone to show challengers to the throne, from all over the country, who come to try to take the magical sword back out again, that only he is the rightful king. Some of Arthur's knights and allies do try their luck with the sword, but Perceval refuses and convinces his fellow knight Karadoc to do the same. Astier has described Perceval as "naïve but lucid" and (provocatively) as "the most intelligent" of the knights in his analysis of the sword in the stone situation.Astier says this about Perceval in the interview on the Addendum disk of the Livre 5 Director's Cut DVD set. Perceval dreams of space travel and, at one point, tries to explain the theory of special relativity to Arthur. He can also count people or objects at a glance (such as the stones in the fortress of Kaamelott) and grasp the "values" of cards or objects in complicated games. In Livre 6, we learn one possible explanation for Perceval's peculiarities: his parents found him in a crop circle; in Livre III.i.22, it is strongly implied that crop circles are made by visiting extraterrestrials. So he may not be human at all.
The final episode of season 6 brings us back to the season 5 cliffhanger, with Arthur still alive but very ill. Lancelot, given power by Arthur based on the latter's enduring trust in him, ravages the island and destroys the Round Table, both physically and spiritually. The final words of the episode, projected over a recovering Arthur, leading into the projected movie trilogy, are "Soon Arthur will once again be a hero."
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Many of them are friends or family of Alexandre Astier and have already worked with him. Family members include his father, Lionnel (Léodagan); his half-brother, Simon (Yvain); his mother, Joëlle Sevilla (Dame Séli); and Simon's mother, Josée Drevon (Ygerne). They, along with many of the actors in the series, are part of the theater scene in Lyon.
Almost all the actors have been invited by Astier to join the show directly because he had formerly worked with them or was familiar with their work. He only writes the dialogue once he knows the actor's voice, musicality, and speaking style. Thus, he seldom casts actors for pre-existing roles or characters, but the few from a casting session are Anne Girouard (Guenièvre), Caroline Ferrus (Mevanwi), Vanessa Guedj (Angharad), Caroline Pascal (Demetra), and Guillaume Briat (King of the Burgundians).
Initially, Antoine de Caunes (Dagonet), Christian Bujeau (The Master of Arms), François Rollin (King Loth), and Bruno Salomone (Caius Camillus) were only guest stars, but eventually they joined the main cast.
Like Astier (Arthur, director and writer), some actors shared their acting duties with technical crew responsibilities. These are Jean-Christophe Hembert (Karadoc/art director), Emmanuel Meirieu (Appius Manilius/graphic designer), Stéphane Margot (Calogrenant/stunt coordinator), and Christian Bujeau (the Master of Arms/swordmaster).
Due to the large cast and the original short format, many characters, even important ones, appear in only a few episodes. The only characters to appear in more than 100 of the 458 episodes are King Arthur (446), Léodagan (228), Perceval (195), Karadoc (172), Lancelot (157), Guenièvre (154), Bohort (138), and Father Blaise (105).
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| 2006 | Globes de Cristal Award | Best TV Movie / TV Series | Alexandre Astier & Alain Kappauf | |
The 6 Livres have each been issued in a complete ("intégrale") "collector's edition" (3 discs each for Livres 1–4, 4 discs each for Livres 5–6) with bonus material including blooper reels (aka "bêtisier"), pilots, documentaries, and previews of the next season. This edition has a “bound-book” look (in the style of the Lord of the Rings collectors’ editions) and interior illustrations by Jérome Jouvray.A new DVD issue of all seasons is proposed, to begin in 2009. According to the previews of the jacket, this series will have English subtitles for all the Livres, as well as new artwork and logos. This edition will consist of single disks each containing about an hour's worth of material; thus Livre 1 will have 6 separate DVD "chapters". Information about this edition, to be sold in news kiosques—presumably, a different disk each week or month—was released to the Kaamelott fan forum On En A Gros, where versions of the proposed jackets for Livre 1 are displayed (NB. Chapter 2 has two different designs shown).
The bonus materials ("Addendum") in the collector's sets include: Livre 1, Dies irae and the pilots, bêtisier (i.e. blooper reel); Livre 2, documentary "Aux Sources de Kaamelott: Les Moeurs et les Femmes," bêtisier, teasers for Livres 1–3; Livre 3, documentary "Aux Sources de Kaamelott: La Magie et l'Eglise," bêtisier, trailer for Livre 4 and for the first comic book; Livre 4, documentary "Aux Sources de Kaamelott: L'Art de la Guerre," bêtisier, trailer for Livre 5 and for the second comic book; Livre 5, interview with Alexandre Astier (wandering around the Cinecitta Rome set), documentary "Aux Sources de Kaamelott: La Géopolitique du Royaume," bêtisier, trailer for Livre 6; Livre 6, documentary "Aux Sources de Kaamelott: Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde," Making Of documentary, bêtisier
Livres 5 and 6 were released as a 3-disc Blu-ray set alongside the regular (4-disc) DVD set. Since the entire series has been shot in HD, Blu-ray issues of previous livres are possible.
All the collectors' editions have French subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing as an option for Kaamelott itself. Livres 4, 5, and 6 also have English subtitles. None of the Addendum films has subtitles.
Five inspired by Kaamelott were published from November 2006 to November 2010, with stories by Alexandre Astier and art by Steven Dupré. They can be read in any order:
Eric Le Nabour and Martin Aurell have published two books that examine the series in the context of medieval history and Arthurian legend.
4 tie-in items (Arthur's Oghma amulet, a mug, a notebook, and a 2009 calendar) were premiums with the purchase of a "Menu Top" at the Quick hamburger chain in late 2008 and early 2009.Poster at On En A Gros.
On 2 November 2015, after several years of conflict with the producer, Alexandre Astier announced that the conflict was over and that his project of feature films, whose storyline would follow the sixth season, had resumed.tvmag.lefigaro.fr/le-scan-tele/series/2015/11/03/28005-20151103ARTFIG00144--kaamelott-alexandre-astier-confirme-le-retour-de-la-serie-au-cinema.php The shooting started in January 2019.With a tweet, Astier reveals the location where the movie will start being filmed [12]
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