Outline.

The Knight is one of our greatest mythic images.

He was the elite warrior of his day, a martial artist equipped with weapons and armour that were state of the art for his time.

From boyhood he would have been trained in skill at arms and horsemanship, preparing for the day when he would prove himself on the field of battle - or in the Joust.

The Joust was central to the knightly ideal. The place where a knight could win glory and honour by demonstrating - in public - his skills and courage as a warrior.

It was the extreme sport of its day and even Kings took part.

In this programme, presented by Dr Tobias Capwell, Curator of Armour at London's Wallace Collection, we'll be exploring every aspect of this fascinating and dangerous pursuit. We'll be looking at how it began and how it developed. How the armourers of the day refined and adapted armour specially for the Joust.

And with the help of experts like archaeometallurgist, Dr Alan Williams and leading brain surgeon Dr Philip Blackburn, we'll be applying modern techniques to analyse the effectiveness of the defences and the physical dangers.

We'll also be laying to rest the myth - largely propagated by Hollywood - that the medieval knight was a clumsy oaf, possessing little skill and barely able to move for the weight of his armour. Instead, we'll be showing how he was an accomplished martial artist - fit, agile and fearless.

Toby Capwell. More than just a presenter.

Toby is one of the world's foremost authorities on arms and armour. An American ex-patriate he is both an academic and a martial artist, equally at home in either the library or the tournament field, in curator's white coat or full plate armour.

The world's only jousting Curator, Toby approaches his subject in a passionate and unique way - not just by talking about it, but by doing it.

Toby is a formidable jouster, the current holder of several major titles, including Queen's Jubilee Champion and Scottish Champion.

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