| The Adventures of Robin Hood | |
|---|---|
| Format | Drama, adventure, folklore |
| Created by | Based on traditional legends |
| Starring | Richard Greene Alan Wheatley John Arnatt Bernadette O'Farrell Patricia Driscoll Alexander Gauge Archie Duncan Donald Pleasence |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 143 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Sapphire Films |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 1955 – 1960 |
The Adventures of Robin Hood was a popular, long-running British television series (143 half-hour, black and white episodes, 1955–1960) starring Richard Greene as Robin Hood. The programme was made by Sapphire Films Ltd for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network in the UK. Repeats can usually be seen on ITV3. It was also sold to CBS Television in the United States. It was the first of many big-budget shows commissioned by Lew Grade, who hoped to make big profits by selling programmes to the lucrative American market. Consequently the series was shot on 35mm film to provide the best possible picture quality, and had fade-outs where US commercials were intended to slot in. Most of the action was filmed at Nettlefold Studios. Art director Peter Proud hit on the idea of putting many props on wheels to facilitate quick set changes which was necessary with one 26 minute episode being shot every four and a half days. With production on a tight budget, one large fake oak tree and lots of foliage represented Sherwood Forest, while a long single floor building became a church, an inn and other buildings as needed. There was some location filming, mainly involving horse-riding doubles and stuntmen, and without dialogue recording.
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Cast
In addition to Greene as Robin Hood, recurring cast members in the series included:
- Alan Wheatley as the Sheriff of Nottingham
- John Arnatt as the Deputy Sheriff of Nottingham
- Bernadette O'Farrell in series 1 and 2, Patricia Driscoll in series 3 and 4 as Maid Marian
- Alexander Gauge as Friar Tuck
- Archie Duncan, briefly replaced by Rufus Cruikshank, as Little John
- Ronald Howard as Will Scarlet in two episodes of series 1
- Paul Eddington as Will Scarlet in series 4 as well as many other parts in series 2 and 3
- Donald Pleasence as Prince John
- Victor Woolf as Derwent and many other parts in the series
- Simone Lovell as Joan, the Blue Boar Inn barmaid
- Jonathan Bailey as Prince Arthur
- Richard O'Sullivan as Prince Arthur
- Peter Asher as Prince Arthur
- Jane Asher as Prince Arthur's sister
- Richard Coleman as Alan-a-Dale
- Jill Esmond as Queen Eleanor
- Anne Reid as Barmaid at the Blue Boar Inn
Blacklisted writers
The Adventures of Robin Hood was produced by Hannah Weinstein, a member of the Hollywood branch of the Communist Party USA, which helped to finance her production company, Sapphire Films. Weinstein hired many blacklisted American writers to script episodes of the series: these included Ring Lardner Jr., Waldo Salt, Robert Lees and Adrian Scott. Howard Koch, who was also blacklisted, served as the series' script editor. The blacklisted writers were credited under pseudonyms, to avoid the notice of the House Un-American Activities Committee.[1] After the blacklist collapsed, Lardner said that the series' format allowed him "plenty of opportunities to comment on issues and institutions in Eisenhower-era America". In addition to the redistributive themes of a hero who robs from the rich and gives to the poor, many episodes in the programme's first two seasons included the threat that Robin and his band would be betrayed to the authorities by friends or loved ones, much as the blacklisted writers had been.[1]
Theme tune
Carl Sigman wrote the words and music for the theme song which was sung by Dick James is still fondly remembered:
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men
Feared by the bad, loved by the good;
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood!
The song was released as a single by Gary Miller and reached #10 on the UK charts. This song was parodied by Monty Python's Flying Circus in their Dennis Moore sketch, which depicted a masked highwayman from the 18th century (more like the Scarlet Pimpernel) stealing lupins from the poor to give to the rich.
Influence
The series was an immediate hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and Lew Grade continued to commission 35mm shows until the late 1970s. If it had not been for the success of The Adventures of Robin Hood the world might never have seen The Saint, The Prisoner or Thunderbirds.
Trivia
Archie Duncan was replaced by Rufus Cruikshank for ten episodes, after Duncan was injured saving two child actors from a runaway horse. Episodes of this series is credited among a list of television series for being included in past public film showings at the annual Mid atlantic nostalgia convention in Aberdeen, Maryland. Included in the cast were Patrick Troughton and Donald Pleasance in a variety of roles.
References
- ^ a b Matthews, Tom Dewe. "The outlaws" (free registration required), The Guardian, 2006-10-07. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
External links
- The Adventures of Robin Hood at the Internet Movie Database
- The Adventures of Robin Hood - A Robin Hood Spotlight A 50th Anniversary Tribute to the Series
- Action TV
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| Characters | Robin of Loxley · Maid Marian · Much the Miller's Son · Little John · Friar Tuck · Alan-a-Dale · Will Scarlet · Will Stutely · Gilbert Whitehand · Arthur a Bland · David of Doncaster · a Saracen · Sheriff of Nottingham · Guy of Gisborne · The Bishop of Hereford · Richard at the Lee |
| Settings | Sherwood Forest · Nottingham · Loxley |
| Adaptations | Popular Culture · Film and TV |
