Camelot! Camelot! Camelot!

US cable channel Starz have greenlit a 10-part modern retelling of the King Arthur legend, entitled Camelot. The series is being masterminded by Chris Chibnall (Life On Mars, Torchwood), who'll be working with Ecosse Films (Becoming Jane, The Water Horse) and the creative team who gave us The Tudors. Filming in Ireland and Canada is set to begin this June, to air in the first half of 2011.

Chris Albrecht, Starz President & CEO:

"The story of Arthur isn't history, it's mythology, and Camelot isn't a place but an idea of hope that has resonated at different times throughout history. The goal is 'to tell the universal story of Camelot on a global scale.'"

This is certainly a big development for Chibnall's career, and I'm interested to see what he does with the premise of an updated King Arthur. Will it involve some of the legendary characters existing in contemporary times, or will the story just play out in the present-day with modern equivalents (as last year's axed TV series Kings attempted, with an update of the Biblical story of King David?)

Merlin as a stage illusionist? Arthur as the rightful Prime Minister of Great Britain? I wonder what the tone will be, and if they'll avoid notions of the supernatural that the BBC's Merlin embraced. This will be one to keep an eye on...