| Creator: | Anthony Horowitz |
| Starring: | Will Lyman Hans Meyer Guy Rolfe John Otway Bernard Spiegel Nick Brimble Bertie Cortez David Barry Gray Dana Barron Jeremy Clyde |
| Composer: | Stanislas Syrewicz |
| Num Seasons: | 3 |
| Num Episodes: | 72 |
| Network: | CBN Cable Network |
| Runtime: | 25–27 minutes |
Crossbow is a 1987 historical drama action adventure television series that aired on CBN Cable Network. The series was produced by Steven North and Richard Schlesinger for Robert Halmi Inc., in co-production with French television network FR3, and filmed entirely on location in France.
Crossbow follows the adventures of William Tell (Will Lyman) and takes place in the 14th-century in Switzerland.[1] William Tell and his son Matthew are imprisoned by the tyrannical Gessler (Jeremy Clyde). As Governor (Landburgher in the original story) of Austria, Gessler plans to stop the Swiss uprising. Having split the apple on his son's head with his crossbow, much to Gessler's chagrin, there is no stopping William Tell's legendary strength and skill.
A television film, Crossbow: The Movie, edited from combined episodes of the series, was released on DVD in 2005, under the title The Adventures of William Tell. The complete series was later released in 2018 on six DVD discs.
An action-adventure game titled Crossbow: the Legend of William Tell, based on the series, was released in 1989 for the Amiga and the Atari ST.
Marvel Comics released several issues of a tie-in comic book, with the characters of Tell and Gessler drawn to the likenesses of Will Lyman and Jeremy Clyde. An illustrated storybook and a novelization were released as well.
The musical score for the series was composed by Stanisław Syrewicz, and used an arrangement of the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini in one of the tracks. A limited printing of the score was released in 1989 on CD and on LP record.