This Divisive 10-Part Fantasy Series Barely Made It To Season Over Its $7M Per Episode Cost

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Published Feb 19, 2026, 9:24 PM EST

Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with a substantial amount of experience under his belt. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. Using his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's been able to tackle a wide variety of articles.

The legend of King Arthur is one that's stood the test of time, from Arthur drawing his signature sword Excalibur out of stone and becoming the king of England to the wizard Merlin serving as Arthur's mentor. It's also inspired countless films and TV shows, whether it's the dark fantasy epic Excalibur or the BBC's cult classic Merlin. Starz would put its own gritty, realistic take on Arthurian lore with Camelot in 2011, starring Jamie Campbell Bower as Arthur. Yet Camelot only lasted a single season, and its ballooning budget is a large part of why it was canceled.

Camelot wound up costing a whopping $7 million per episode, according to a Wall Street Journal report in 2010. On paper, that doesn't seem like much, especially considering the astronomical budgets being poured into modern-day streaming originals. But over a total of ten episodes, that makes Camelot one of the most expensive shows ever produced for cable TV. Starz eventually wound up canceling the series, citing "production challenges" as the main reason why future episodes wouldn't be released. Yet that wasn't the only reason Camelot was cut short.

'Camelot' Was Crushed by Poor Ratings & The Rise of 'Game of Thrones'

Jamie Campbell Bower as King Arthur holding a sword in Camelot

Starz went all out to build a fanbase for Camelot, even releasing the first episode a month before the official series premiere. Yet despite hitting record ratings for its premiere, once Camelot officially hit TV screens it was critically panned with most of that criticism comparing it unfavorably to Starz's other historical action franchise, Spartacus. Camelot holds a meager 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a score more fit for a pauper than a king.

The biggest contributor to Camelot's downfall, though, was Game of Thrones. It premiered around the same time as Camelot, and wound up taking pop culture by storm. Game of Thrones also had a major advantage in that not many viewers had read George R.R. Martin's original novels, meaning that it truly felt like a fresh and subversive take on the fantasy genre. Camelot, on the other hand, was telling a story that most people have heard in some form or another, and apart from the sex and violence, it hit all the familiar beats of an Arthurian story. Most fantasy fans were also flocking to Merlin due to its Smallville-style remixing of a familiar myth, leaving Camelot in the dust.

Matthew Needham with his hands folded in 'House of the Dragon'

The Legend of King Arthur Takes a Dark Turn in 'Camelot'

Camelot would take an extremely dark approach to nearly every aspect of Arthurian lore, with mixed results. Merlin (Joseph Fiennes) is far less the wise mentor and more of a Machiavellian figure, setting up events to place Arthur on the throne. Arthur attempts to romance his future queen, Guinevere (Tamsin Egerton), but she's married to another knight. Excalibur isn't just the name of Arthur's signature sword...it's the name of a girl whose father winds up forging said sword. Other elements, such as Arthur's half-sister Morgana (Eva Green) scheming to steal his throne are pulled straight from the myth. Showrunner Chris Chibnall said in an interview that he wanted to put his own unique twist on Arthur's story:

"We’re starting right from the birth of Arthur, and we’re going through... And we’ll go through and kind of try and tell what might be the truth that lies behind the myth. What would have been the [real-life] events that could have contributed to these myths? What was interesting to me when we were talking about Camelot was excavating what it might be like to have lived then, and how these stories might have come about. We have a grand plan, which, if we get things right, I hope we’ll have multiple episodes, multiple seasons."

Chibnall obviously didn't get multiple seasons, even with Camelot's finale teasing the origin of the Knights of the Round Table. Yet it showcased Jamie Campbell Bower's range, as he showed a version of King Arthur who could be cocky, headstrong, yet ultimately dedicated to doing the right thing. Long before he terrified audiences as Vecna in Stranger Things, Campbell proved he had range with Camelot. It's just a shame that money and timing ended up killing what could have been a unique take on King Arthur.