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Kaamelott is a French comedy medieval fantasy television series created, directed, written, scored, and edited by Alexandre Astier, who also starred as the main character. Based o…
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Kaamelott is a French comedy medieval fantasy television series created, directed, written, scored, and edited by Alexandre Astier, who also starred as the main character. Based on Arthurian legends, it followed the daily lives of King Arthur (Alexandre Astier) and his Knights of the Round Table in Camelot.
Kaamelott is a French comedy medieval fantasy television series created, directed, written, scored, and edited by Alexandre Astier, who also starred as the main character. Based on Arthurian legends, it followed the daily lives of King Arthur (Alexandre Astier) and his Knights of the Round Table in Camelot. 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 Café's 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. The cast includes regular Astier collaborator Jean-Christophe Hembert (Karadoc), who directed his two subsequent one-man shows, and Astier's father, Lionnel (Leodegrance), his mother, Joëlle Sevilla (Dame Séli), and his half-brother, Simon (Yvain).
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, Kaamelott: The First Chapter, was suspended and repeatedly postponed due to various issues; filming eventually began in January 2019, and it was released on 21 July 2021. 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 episode format for Kaamelott was at first very short. Unaired pilot episodes attempted a six-minute format that was rejected by the television network. Broadcast episodes from seasons 1 to 4 lasted about three and a half minutes, the same as Caméra Café. These seasons are made up of 100 short episodes, and originally seven such seasons were planned by Astier and M6. A season is referred to as a "livre" (French for "book") in the promotional material and DVD covers.
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.
From the beginning, the series was shot in widescreen, and the photography was comparable to that of a movie. Thus, on the surface, the film is a drama rather than a sitcom.
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 ne
Source: Kaamelott (CC BY-SA)
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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.
