A man died after he was speared through the eye during a medieval jousting re-enactment for Channel 4 show Time Team.
The freak accident happened during a warm-up run for a sequence being filmed at Rockingham Castle, Leicestershire.
The jousters, members of a professional re-enactment group, were using lances with balsa wood tips, designed to break off on impact
with an opponent's shield.
A splinter of wood from a lance flew up through the eye slit of the man's helmet, penetrated chain mail and went into his eye socket.
He was taken to hospital after the accident on September 13 and died in University Hospital, Coventry, a week later.
The man has not been named as his family have requested privacy, but he is understood to have been in his late 40s or early 50s.
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating.
Former Blackadder star Tony Robinson hosts Time Team, a popular archaeology show.
The jousting demonstration was being filmed for a 2008 special about Edward III's Round Table at Windsor Castle.
Scenes featuring the man who died will be broadcast – although the accident will not – and there will be a dedication to him at the end of the episode.
A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: "We have been shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic accident."
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