Series Description

The Adventures of William Tell TV series was a 30 minute British action/adventure show that aired on ITV. It was about a Swiss man who is an expert with a crossbow and fights back against the Austrians who have taken over his nation and abused his fellow citizens.

William Tell Cast

Conrad Phillips .... William Tell
Jennifer Jayne .... Hedda Tell
Richard Rogers .... Walter Tell
Nigel Greene .... "The Bear" Fertog
Willoughby Goddard .... Landburgher Gessler

William Tell Theme Song

Lyrics By: "Harold Purcell"

Music: Adapted from the William Tell Overture by "Gioachino Rossini"

Performed By: "David Whitfield"

Come away, come away with William Tell
Come away to the land he loved so well
What a day, what a day when the apple fell
For Tell and Switzerland

Come away with Tell to the mountainside
Looking down to the pass where the tyrants ride
Set a bolt to your bow and down they go
For Tell and Switzerland

We are simple peasant folk
We will not fell a foreign yoke
Our freedom song will echo on
We'll fight for what is right

Hurry on, hurry on, there's a dungeon cell
Hurry on, hurry on, there's a noose as well
What we must face from the jaws of hell
For Tell and Switzerland

We lived our lives, we loved our friends
We never wanted more
We had the skill to plough and till
But not the art of war

But now the tyrant from the plains
Steals up to take our lands
Instead of spade we wield the blade
Our life is in our hands

Follow on, follow on, with the leaders feel
With a thrust of a pike and a clash of steel
Follow on with the fight till the tyrants reel
For Tell and Switzerland

Give 'em one for the day they bared the grain
Give 'em two for the night that Fritz was slain
Give 'em three, give 'em four and hooray for more
For Tell and Switzerland

The shepherd's crook, the reaping hook
Has taken on a warlike look
With blades we've beaten from the plough
We reap a harvest now

Come away, come away with William Tell
Come away to the land he loved so well
Fit a bolt to your bow, and away we go
For Te-e-e-ell, and Switzerland

William Tell Trivia:

The Adventures of William Tell theme song music in the United Kingdom used the same portion of the William Tell Overture that was used on the popular U.S. TV series, "The Lone Ranger". Therefore, a different portion of the overture was used when the series aired in the United States.

In the first episode, the Austrian conquerors put a copy of their Emperor's hat in the central square of every Swiss village and demanded that the people honor the hats. William Tell refused to bow to the "Emperor" and was arrested. As his punishment he was forced to shoot an apple off the head of his son, a task that the Austrian tyrants were sure would result in the boy's death. Tell was such an expert marksman that he split the apple right down its center and gave his people the will to resist the conquerors. That story was adapted from the original story of William Tell, written by Johann von Schiller.