Ivanhoe is a 1982 British-American made-for-televisionadventuredramaepichistorical romance film adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Douglas Camfield, with a screenplay written by John Gay. The film depicts the noble knight Ivanhoe returning home from The Holy Wars and finds himself being involved in a power-struggle for the throne of England. The score by Allyn Ferguson was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1982. The film premiered on CBS in the USA on 23 February 1982 and was first broadcast in the UK on 26 September 1982 on ITV De Bois-Guilbert is treated more ambiguously than in most versions of the story. He develops some genuine affection for Rebecca towards the end, and although he could easily have won the fight against the wounded and weakened Ivanhoe, de Bois-Guilbert lowers his sword and allows himself to be killed, thus saving Rebecca's life. The film featured Julian Glover reprising his role as Richard I from the 1965 Doctor Who serial The Crusade, which was likewise directed by Camfield. In Sweden, where it first aired over TV 1 on 31 December 1982 the film's airing annually around Christmas-New Year has become a tradition.
The film was part of a slate of films from Columbia Pictures Television then under Herman Rush. Anthony Andrews' casting was announced in September 1981. "Its impossible to make Ivanhoe without being a bit tongue in cheek," said Andrews. Michael Hordern said, "You could change our costumes from 12th Century to 20th Century and have us running about in automobiles instead of on horseback, and you could do the same story in terms of. Prejudice is still very strong. Human nature doesn't seem to have changed very much since Cedric's time." It was filmed at Pinewood studios and the historic Bamburgh and Alnwick Castles in Northumberland. "The problem with Ivanhoe is that he is whiter than white, cleaner than clean," said Andrews. "He's a straight-cut hero with no rough edge. Each time he opens his mouth he says something incredibly just. The problem was to turn him into a human being."
