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.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 Knights of the 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 Augustulus, who ruled in 476, is mentioned as a contemporary. 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.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.
Episodes
Format and broadcast
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.
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.
Production 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 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.
Content The series title refers, of course, to Arthur's fortress, Camelot; the peculiar spelling may come from the Old French Kamaalot, a form found in the 13th-century French Lancelot-Grail cyclical romances.E.g. in the first sentence of the Queste del saint Graal, ed. Pauphilet (Paris: Champion, 1965) The double A forms the monogram of the show's creator, and the title generates puns based on the French word camelote ("cheap junk").
Genre The short format of the first four seasons demanded a comic structure, with each episode ending on an ironic note that would twist the situation presented into a memorable whole. Thus, the series was perceived as pure comedy—parody, satire, sitcom, or "so British," meaning a straight-faced historical send-up in the style of Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder or Monty Python and the Holy Grail.Two comments on the “British” humor of Seasons 1 and 2: “‘nonsense’ typiquement British,” Véronique Groussard “Alexandre Astier, le turlupin de la Table ronde,” in Le Nouvel Observateur (Télé obs), 14 April 2005; “L’humour British, décalé….” Odile Tessier, “Le phénomène “Kaamelott,’” Le Point, 10 November 2005; both online linked from the CALT website, http://www.robinandco.com/fr/icalt/programme.php?ID=797.769 . Astier had a lot of explaining to do when season 5 turned out to be very dark, full of terrible obsessions and passions.See the interview at the M6 site, http://kaamelott.m6.fr/html/series/kaamelott/livreV/livreV_entretien_Alex_Astier.shtml, to which Astier added an “Edito” to further insist on the relationship between comedy and “darkness.” None of the earlier seasons required this kind of justification. Season 5 also featured a move to a different format; it was broadcast in both short and longer segments, and the DVD cut resembled a dramatic miniseries. Season 6 was conceived and edited solely as a miniseries, with long episodes telling a primarily dramatic story and incidental comic elements.
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).
Historical and traditional content Although the show was initially perceived as pure comedy, in many ways it follows the medieval Arthurian legends, including such traditional characters as Lancelot, Guenièvre, Bohort (Bors), Perceval, Merlin, and the Lady of the Lake, as well as the Holy Grail and the sword Excalibur. The early seasons often include twists on traditional Arthurian or medieval themes, which might delight scholars; historians Eric Le Nabour and Martin Aurell have published two books based on the series, and a number of distinguished medievalists are interviewed in the 5-part documentary "Aux sources de Kaamelott" by Christophe Chabert, which accompanies the DVD sets.