'', retitled '''''Robin Hood''''' in the US, was an acclaimed
1980s British Television Series , based on the legend of
Robin Hood . It was made by
HTV in association with
Goldcrest , and ran from
1984 to
1986 on the
ITV network. The show starred first
Michael Praed then
Jason Connery as two different incarnations of the title character, and was created by
Richard Carpenter . Unlike previous adaptations of the Robin Hood legend, ''Robin of Sherwood'' combined a gritty, authentic production design with elements of real-life history and
Pagan myth.
There were three series, comprising a two-hour opening episode and 24 hour-long episodes, although the pilot is sometimes screened as two one-hour episodes. It was shot on film, and almost entirely on location, mostly in the north and west of
England . The show's soundtrack was composed and performed by Irish folk group
Clannad , winning a
BAFTA award in 1985; their
1984 album
''Legend'' was comprised of music from the first and second series.
Together with
Richard Lester 's offbeat
1976 film ''
Robin And Marian '', ''Robin of Sherwood'' is probably the most influential treatment of the core Robin Hood legend since ''
The Adventures Of Robin Hood '', being the first to introduce a realistic period setting and introducing the character of a
Saracen outlaw.
magazine.]]
Michael Praed played Robin Hood (or Robin of Loxley) in the first two seasons. His "Merry Men" consisted of
Will Scarlet (played by
Ray Winstone ), who used to be known as Will Scathlock, before changing his name when his wife, Elena, was raped and trampled to death with horses by some Norman Soldiers,
Little John (played by
Clive Mantle ),
Friar Tuck (played by
Phil Rose ) his adopted brother Much (played by
Peter Llewellyn Williams ), the
Saracen Nasir (played by
Mark Ryan ) and
Lady Marian (played by
Judi Trott ). As in the legend, Robin is opposed by the
Sheriff Of Nottingham (
Nickolas Grace ) and Sir
Guy Of Gisbourne (
Robert Addie ), as well as the Sheriff's brother Abbot Hugo (
Philip Jackson ) (representing all the greedy abbots in the legends). Robin is assisted by
Herne the Hunter (
John Abineri ), who sometimes appears as a forest spirit representing the powers of light and goodness, and sometimes as a mortal man.
) and his "Merry Men", in the final episode "The Time of The Wolf" (closing shot)]]
At the end of the second season, Robin of Loxley is killed and Robert of Huntingdon (played by
Jason Connery , whose father
Sean Connery had played Robin in ''
Robin And Marian '') replaces him as Robin Hood. During the course of the season, 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).
The series came to an end when
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 eighties, but had hit a lean spell with such films as ''
Revolution '' (1985) and ''
Absolute Beginners '' (1986). As the series was expensive to make,
HTV could not afford to produce it alone and no more episodes were made.
- Directed by: Ian Sharp , Robert Young , Ben Bolt , James Allen , Gerry Mill , Sid Robertson and Alex Kirby
- Produced by: Paul Knight , Esta Charkham and Patrick Dromgoole
- Written by: Richard Carpenter , Anthony Horowitz , Andrew McCulloch and John Flanagan
- Series created by: Richard Carpenter
- Cinematography by: Roger Pearce , Howard Rockliffe , Gary Breckon and Bob Edwards
- Music composed by: Clannad
- Production design by: John Biggs and Ken Sharp
- Costume design by: Lynette Cummin
- Casting by: Esta Charkham and Beth Charkham
- Stunt co-ordination by: Terry Walsh
- Horse supplier: Steve Dent
- 2005 . "Robin Of Sherwood - The Complete Series 1 DVD." ASIN: B00005Q3VG Cat No.: 7952120
- 2002 . "Robin Of Sherwood - The Complete Series 2 DVD." ASIN: B000066NSI Cat No.: 7952127
- 2002 . "Robin Of Sherwood - Series 3 - Part 1 - Episodes 1 To 6 DVD." ASIN: B00006L9YS Cat No.: 7952128
- 2002 . "Robin Of Sherwood - Series 3 - Part 2 - Episodes 7 To 13 DVD." ASIN: B00006SKVF Cat No.: 7952129
- 2005 . "Robin Of Sherwood - Complete DVD." ASIN: B000B7KXOU Cat No.: 7952358
Legend: Original Soundtrack from Robin of Sherwood/Remastered & Repackaged by Clannad, Audio CD August 25th 2003 ASIN: B0000AM6OW Cat No. 82876545022
Tracks are: Robin (the Hooded Man), Now is Here, Herne, Together We, Darkmere, Strange Land, Scarlet Inside, Lady Marion, Battles and Ancient Forest.
In addition to Clannad's music, used extensively in the series, there is also additional music composed for Series Three (artist/s not known) which does not feature on this album.
- 1 Novelization of the first series by series creator Richard Carpenter.
- 2 Novelizes the second series, but begins with The Swords of Wayland two-parter which actually came towards the end of the second series, not the beginning.
- 3 Novelizes Herne's Son Parts 1 and 2 and The Power of Albion from the beginning of Series Three, showing how Robert of Huntingdon became 'Robin'.
- 4 The final episodes of Series Three.
- 5 Novelizations of Series One, Two, plus the beginning and end of Series Three.
- 6
- 7
- 8
