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Bosworth
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Close up of me in armour

There are more photos from the advert shoot below. Selecting any of the small thumbnail images will show a larger version of the picture in the main part of the page. »

Whitbread Gold Label 'Bosworth' advert - Knight

- "A horse! A horse!"

Three cold wet days on Wimbledon Common, re-enacting Richard III's death at the battle of Bosworth to try and sell more Whitbread Gold Label. The ad had Richard III (played by the late Kevin Lloyd - 'Tosh' in 'The Bill') call out "A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!" to no effect. He then thinks for a moment and shouts "A horse, a horse! A bottle of Whitbread Gold Label for a horse!" Of course, he is immediately surrounded by knights all giving up their horses for the offered bottle.

Apparently, so we were informed, the full metal armour we all wore was constructed by the same armourer who made the armour that was used in the film 'Excalibur' - Terry English. I was amazed how light and comfortable it was once you'd got used to it. I had ideas about it being incredibly heavy and cumbersome (no doubt instilled in me by stories of knights having to be winched on to their horses). But after a few minutes, it became quite easy to almost forget you were wearing it. The trick seemed to be to work with the armour, rather than try and fight it. We wore it all day without any problem. Mind you, the 'featured' knights were all fitted for their armour - I think the 'extras', who had generic armour 'off the peg', suffered rather...

There was one amusing incident halfway through filming when we were 'invaded' by a class of schoolchildren who were both fascinated and thrilled to find an encampment of knights in armour on their nature ramble! Luckily, their visit co-incided with a break in filming so we could shamelessly play up to their amazement and admiration!