King of the Castle is a children's drama series that follows Roland Wright, a timid schoolboy who is much put upon by his overbearing parents and the bullies at school. To compensate for his meekness in real life, Roland develops an elaborate imaginary world where everyone he knows appears as a grotesque double and he can be top dog. However, when a freak accident throws him into this alternate reality, Roland will have to rely on all his wits if he truly wants to be the king of the castle... |
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Ratings: | TVMaze: No Rating | |
Released: | May 8, 1977 | |
Runtime: | 30 min | |
Genres: | Adventure Fantasy Children | |
Countries: | United Kingdom | |
Companies: | ITV | |
Another ‘impossible it would be made today’ UK 70s fantasy kids series. As the BFI website states:
“Kafka for kids” is how co-writer Bob Baker concisely summed up this, another in a long line of unsettling mid-70s fantasy-based serials from West Country ITV franchise HTV. As Baker hinted, the title almost certainly came from Franz Kafka’s allegorical novel The Castle, a study of the dehumanising alienation wrought upon us all by modern society. And this was for children?
HTV executive Patrick Dromgoole modestly recalled it as “quite a serious piece of work” and the serial was nominated for a BAFTA. It stands as a benchmark of just how far ITV could sometimes push the envelope in the mid-70s.