Spielberg plans Camelot epic

The legend of King Arthur is to be turned into a multi-million pound television epic.

Steven Spielberg plans to make an eight-hour series from the tales of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. Gabriel Byrne is favourite to play the lead when filming starts early next year.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is reportedly hoping to persuade Spielberg to film in this country as he did the Second World War epic Band Of Brothers. With the King Arthur series being aimed primarily at the American audience, the department believes it could play a key role in reviving the British tourism industry.

However, filming may take place in New Zealand after the removal by Chancellor Gordon Brown of a tax break for television producers that formerly allowed them to write off 10 per cent of a project's budget.