Somewhere in Calgary today, a handful of kids will be trying to convince their classmates they really did see medieval knights sword-fighting in Fish Creek Park.

They won't be making it up. The park was a stand-in for ancient Britain Tuesday as the TV series MythQuest filed an episode based on the legend of King Arthur's Court.

While it might not have been apparent to the elementary-school group and assorted joggers who came across the production, some Hollywood magic has come to town. Veteran actor and fight director Anthony De Longis, who taught Michelle Pfeiffer how to snap a bullwhip in Batman Returns, was putting decades of experience into a sword fight with two enemies of the court.

De Longis is doing a guest shot as Sir Lancelot in this episode of the fantasy adventure series, which will air on PBS and YTV in the fall and later on CBC. Nearby, waiting for his turn before the camera, was F. Braun McAsh, playing the evil Maleager. Like De Longis, McAsh is a sword master and actor.

The two have been friends for years and have worked together on film shoots, training actors in combat techniques. But this was the first time they performed on camera together. Their sword fight would be the climax of the episode.

Before that happened, De Longis rode up on a horse, dismounted, drew his sword and took on the two bad guys while the camera rolled. He was later joined in the fight by young Christopher Jacot, a regular star of the series.

Jacot co-stars with Meredith Henderson (The Adventures of Shirley Holmes) in MythQuest as part of a team of adventurers who travel through a magical computer screen back in time to the great cultural myths of the world.

As with the series' other mythical encounters, this episode's sword play looked real. It also looked deadly, though no one on the set came close to being hurt. During a break, De Longis and McAsh talked about movie and TV swashbuckling. If you want to keep a conversation brief, don't get these two started on all the bad sword fighting that turns up too often on the screen.

"We call it ‘ants and airplanes’ fencing," said De Longis.

"Or "windshield-wiper fencing’" added McAsh.

The actors use both terms to refer to bad moving fencing in which the clanging swords move in predictable directions – first high in the air, the low to the grand, the back up in the air.

"If you're using historically authentic moves, it gives it a completely different look," said McAsh. "Even people who know nothing about swords will go, ‘That looks natural,’ which, of course, it is."

That leaves little time to waste. When the Lancelot story demanded to expert swordfighters, the calls went in for De Longis and for McAsh, the swordmaster on the Highlander TV series.

"Braun and I can walk onto a set and perform together at an incredible pace because we've each been rehearsing for 25 years," De Longis said.

De Longis recalled his work with Pfeiffer. "Michelle was wonderful to work with, a very strong-willed lady. I trained her with the bullwhip for her role as Cat Woman."

The script originally called for Cat Woman to use a ca o'-nine tails, but De Longis recommended the change of weapons because a bullwhip is more theatrical and dramatically interesting.

"I wanted to offer her character something that was dynamic," De Longis said.

Tuesday's shoot was also a chance for Jacot to gain experience with combat experts.

"I really learned a lot," Jacot said. "On TV, you'll see this quick little sword fight and it's done within minutes – something that takes about 15 hours to rehearse. We've been rehearsing for about a week."

Watching the filming from the sidelines was Gillian Horvath, the show's executive story editor. Horvath, another member of the Highlander team, wrote this script after researching numerous versions of the Arthurian legend. Fantasy tales are her specialty, and she loves them, she said.

"There's no chance of getting bored doing a show like this one."