A Knight’s Tale sees Heath Ledger as a peasant who poses as a knight and competes in tournaments, winning accolades and acquiring friendships with such historical figures
Dan Laurie Deputy Editor of Screen Time
12:21, 11 Oct 2025
A Knight’s Tale has been hailed “the greatest film of all time” by fans(Image: Getty)
A movie starring Heath Ledger hailed “the greatest of all time” is airing on Channel 4 this afternoon.
The film stars late Hollywood actor Heath as William Thatcher, a peasant squire who poses as a knight and competes in tournaments, winning accolades and acquiring friendships with such historical figures as Edward the Black Prince (James Purefoy) and Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany).
Its 14th-century story is intentionally anachronistic, with many modern pop culture references and a soundtrack featuring 1970s music.
The film takes its name from Chaucer’s story The Knight’s Tale, part of The Canterbury Tales, and also draws several plot points from Chaucer’s work.
The movie stars late Hollywood actor Heath Ledger as William Thatcher(Image: Publicity Picture)READ MORE: Monster season 4 filming begins with Ed Gein star Charlie Hunnam returningREAD MORE: How Ed Gein inspired one of the ‘greatest TV shows’ of all time
The film was released by Columbia Pictures in the United States on May 11, 2001 to mixed reviews from critics and grossed $117.5 million against a budget of $65 million.
With a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, movie fans have taken left a review sharing their honest thoughts on the flick.
One viewer penned: “A film lacking in polish but more than makes up for it with heart.
“A feel-good story for the masses about man born to nothing, who gets lucky and uses that opportunity to make his mark, not by right of birth, but by the virtues of bravery, tenacity, and kindness.”
Another added: “This one aged well, I think. Heartbreaking in retrospect of the tragic loss of leading man Heath Ledger, but also one of the films that helped launch the careers of Paul Bettany, Rufus Sewell, Mark Addy and others.
The Hollywood star died in 2008(Image: Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
“It’s just fun to watch if you love romantic stories cast in the back drop of the time of knights, lords and ladies, despicable villains and unapologetically uplifting happy endings.”
A third person said: “Perfect movie for anachronistic lovers! Miss Heath tremendously.”
A fourth agreed: “This is one is the greatest movies of all time.”
A Knight’s Tale airs on Channel 4 at 12.50pm on Saturday, October 11
