Robin of Sherwood
Robin of Sherwood is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In the United States it was shown on the premium cable TV channel Showtime[1] and, later, on PBS. It was also syndicated in the early 1990s under the title Robin Hood. The show starred Michael Praed and Jason Connery as two different incarnations of the title character. Unlike previous adaptations of the Robin Hood legend, Robin of Sherwood combined a gritty, authentic production design with elements of real-life history, 20th-century fiction, and pagan myth.[2] Robin of Sherwood has been described by historian Stephen Knight as "the most innovative and influential version of the myth in recent times".[3] The series is also notable for its musical score by Clannad, which won a BAFTA award.[2] A video game adaptation, Robin of Sherwood: The Touchstones of Rhiannon, was released in 1985. The series attained cult status worldwide.[4]
Robin of Sherwood
"Robin (The Hooded Man)" by Clannad
United Kingdom
English
3
26 (list of episodes)
- Paul Knight
- Esta Charkham
- Patrick Dromgoole
50 mins (1 hour with adverts)
28 April 1984 –
28 June 1986
Production[edit]
Overview[edit]
Richard Carpenter had previously worked with producer Paul Knight on two other dramas involving historical adventure, Dick Turpin (1979–1982) and Smuggler (1981).[5] For their next project, Carpenter and Knight decided to have their production company Gatetarn do an adaptation of the Robin Hood legend. With the aid of television producer Sidney Cole, Carpenter and Knight were able to create a production deal for the show. Goldcrest Films, the US network Showtime, HTV and Gatetarn agreed to fund the series.[6] Robin of Sherwood was more expensive than Carpenter and Knight's previous series; each episode of Robin of Sherwood cost around £500,000 to film.[5] Filming on Robin of Sherwood began in 1983.[6] The show premiered in 1984, on ITV in the UK and on Showtime in the United States.[6] There were three series, composed of a two-hour opening episode and 24 one-hour long episodes, although the pilot is sometimes screened as two one-hour episodes. The episodes comprising "The Swords of Wayland" were transmitted as one episode in the UK on their original screening, on a bank holiday weekend in 1985.[2] The show was shot on film and almost entirely on location, mostly in the northeast and southwest of England; HTV West in Bristol was the base of operations, and most of the filming was done in and around Bristol and its surrounding counties. Primary locations were the Blaise Castle Estate and Vassells Park. Some of the forest scenes were shot near Bradford-on-Avon.
Robin of Sherwood is one of the most influential treatments of the core Robin Hood legend since the classic film The Adventures of Robin Hood. It featured a realistic period setting and introduced the character of a Saracen outlaw. Carpenter also added fantasy elements to the story, which had not appeared in previous TV versions of the legend. These included Robin's supernatural mentor Herne the Hunter, Robin's magic sword Albion, and appearances by black magicians and demons.[5][7]
Michael Praed as Robin[edit]
Michael Praed played Robin of Loxley in the first two series. His 'Merry Men' consisted of Will Scarlet (Ray Winstone), Little John (Clive Mantle), Friar Tuck (Phil Rose), Much (Peter Llewellyn Williams), the Saracen Nasir (Mark Ryan) and Lady Marian (Judi Trott). He is also assisted by Herne the Hunter (John Abineri). As in the legend, Robin is opposed by the Sheriff of Nottingham (Nickolas Grace) and Guy of Gisburne (Robert Addie), as well as the Sheriff's brother Abbot Hugo (Philip Jackson) (representing all the greedy abbots in the legends).
In the opening story, Robin Hood and the Sorcerer, Robin and Much fall foul of the Sheriff's henchman, Sir Guy of Gisburne and are imprisoned in Nottingham Castle. They manage to escape: as a result of this action, Robin is declared a "wolfshead", an outlaw, by the authorities. Robin retreats to the woods and gathers a team of fellow rebels to fight back against the Sheriff's authority.[2][5][8]
Jason Connery as Robin[edit]
At the end of the second series, Robin of Loxley is killed. Robert of Huntingdon (played by Jason Connery) replaces him as the new Robin Hood. The third series had the same episode count as the first two combined, so each incarnation of Robin featured in the same number of episodes.
At the conclusion of Series Three, Goldcrest was forced to pull out of the venture, due to a downturn in the fortunes of their film arm. Goldcrest had been responsible for critical and commercial hits such as Chariots of Fire (1981) and Gandhi (1982) earlier in the 1980s, but had hit a lean period with such films as Revolution (1985) and Absolute Beginners (1986). The series was expensive to produce; HTV could not afford to finance it alone, and so Robin of Sherwood came to an unexpected end.[5] Goldcrest invested £1,289,000 in the first six episodes, £1,944,000 in the next seven and £4,035,000 in the next twelve.[9] Despite the huge popularity of the series, Goldcrest's financial difficulties due to its cinematic investments, prevented further production.[10][11]
During the course of the third series, the new Robin discovers that he is the half-brother of his nemesis Guy of Gisburne (an idea suggested to Carpenter by the fact that both actors had blond hair). Carpenter had planned to have Guy discover this.[6] This particular story arc was never resolved, as the show's intended fourth (and final) series was never made. Series 4 would have also featured the return of Baron de Belleme.[6] The sudden cancellation also broke off Robin and Marion's intended marriage and left Marion at Halstead Abbey as a novice. Carpenter later said that, if he had known the third season would be last, he would have married Robin and Marion.[2]
Attempts at a revival[edit]
After the series ended, Carpenter and Knight tried several times to revive the show. First, Knight attempted to gain funding from US producers for a fourth season, but was unsuccessful.[5] Carpenter then wrote a script for a feature film adaptation of the series, and attempted to gather funding. Carpenter said in a 1990 interview that the film was intended to star the TV series' regular cast, with a new actor playing Robin if Connery was unavailable.[6] Carpenter also said that the film would not be an adaptation of the unmade fourth season, but "a story on its own".[6] The appearance of two Robin Hood films in 1991 (Robin Hood and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) meant that Carpenter and Knight could not interest potential producers in a third Robin Hood film.[2] In a ironic twist, Jason Connery's father Sean Connery had a cameo as King Richard in the second film.
Historical dating[edit]
Robin of Sherwood takes place in England in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, during the reigns of the Angevin kings Richard I and John, the usual setting of Robin Hood stories.[2][5] Robin Hood and the Sorcerer, which opens Series One, begins in 1180, then flashes forward fifteen years. In the final episode of Series One, however, King Richard's return to England following his capture and ransom is depicted, which in actuality occurred in 1194. The Series Two episode "The Prophecy" is set in the year 1199, when Prince John becomes King of England.[5] In the Series Three episode "The Time of the Wolf", the Sheriff dictates a legal document dated for the year 1211, and the plot of the episode involves King John raising an army to fight Llywelyn of Wales, an event which, in actual history, took place that same year.[5]
Controversy[edit]
ITV aired Robin of Sherwood during an early-evening television slot, and promoted the programme as being for a family audience.[20] Mary Whitehouse and the National Viewers and Listeners' Association criticised Robin of Sherwood as being unsuitable for children (as the organisation previously did with Doctor Who).[2][20] Whitehouse claimed that the show depicted "extensive violence", objected to the depiction of Satanic villains in "The Swords of Wayland", and also criticised the apparent "resurrection" of Robin in "The Greatest Enemy" as being disrespectful to Christianity.[2] Carpenter later met Whitehouse for a public debate, and introduced himself to her and the audience by saying "I'm Richard Carpenter, and I'm a professional writer. And you're a professional... what?"[21] The Guinness Book of Classic British TV defended Robin of Sherwood, stating that the show's "swordplay was strictly zero blood" and that the supernatural elements were the result of Carpenter's "love for the subject matter".[2]
Comic strip[edit]
A comic strip based on Robin of Sherwood ran in Look-in magazine from April 1984 (issue 18)[22] to September 1986 (issue 39)[22][23] It was written by Angus Allan, and illustrated mainly by Mike Noble, with some issues illustrated by Arthur Ranson and Phil Gascoine; colours were by Arthur Ranson.[22] The first 6 stories (32 issues) were in full colour, and the remainder were in black and white, with the exception of the 19th story which marked the change of character from Michael Praed's Robin to Jason Connery's.[22]
In 2022, Rebellion, Chinbeard Books and Spiteful Puppet jointly published "Robin of Sherwood: The Complete Look-In Comics", which collected all of the strips.[22] This was a limited-edition run.