Bad Wolf’s new Arthurian-legend drama, The Winter King, used Blaise Castle Estate near Henbury, Bristol, to create ‘Avalon’. 
 

The 10-part ITVX drama – an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles – is a revisionist take on the well-known legend and filmed across Wales and the south-west of England last year. 
 

Bristol Film Office supported the Blaise Castle location filming, when a large section of the Echo Gate area of parkland on the Grade II-listed estate was transformed into a medieval village, comprising a large central tower and authentic period thatched dwellings constructed from wood, wattle and daub. 

Set building and site preparations began at Blaise Castle Estate in August 2022, with filming taking place there between September and December. Bristol Film Office also assisted The Winter King’s production team to film in Redcliffe Caves in October 2022. 
 

Laura Aviles, head of film, Bristol City Council said: “The Film Office assisted the production to transform a quiet corner of the parkland into a bustling medieval village, a central setting within the series, with minimal disruption… 
 

“… Blaise Castle Estate looks stunning on screen as Avalon and really demonstrates the potential that Bristol’s green spaces offer as filmmaking locations.”

Producer Catrin Lewis Defis added: “I’m excited for people to see the beauty of the Welsh coast and the South West and areas around Bristol. The Quantock Hills. Cheddar Gorge. We’ve found all these wonderfully beautiful locations that haven’t been touched because they’re quite remote and I’m looking forward to people seeing the beauty of where we’ve been.”
 

Otto Bathurst is lead director and executive producer, alongside Toby Leslie. Kate Brooke and Ed Whitmore adapted Cornwell’s books for television, and also act as executive producers. Julie Gardner, Lachlan MacKinnon and Jane Tranter are executive producers with Sherry Marsh. Shelley Browning and Kenneth L. Browning are also executive producers and the drama is produced by Catrin Lewis Defis for Bad Wolf, in association with One Big Picture.

Small image via ITVX; larger images via ITVX Simon Ridgway.