The Adventures of Robin Hood

The most popular Robin Hood of all time.  OK, so I'm biased but if you asked anyone over the age of forty (and doesn't life begin at forty) who was Robin Hood and what was the theme tune, Richard Greene's name would be first out of the hat, followed by those memorable words 'Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen...'  This series was just as popular in the USA where it is thought to have also borne the name 'The Adventures in Sherwood Forest'. 

The series was commissioned by Lew Grade and made by Sapphire Films Ltd for ITC Entertainment.  Grade had the programmes shot on 35mm film with one eye on the lucrative US markets.

Most of the action was filmed in the studio, with one large fake oak tree and lots of foliage standing in for Sherwood Forest, with a lot of the props on wheels to enable quick set changes, these unique production methods being introduced by art director Peter Proud.  There was some location filming, mainly involving horse-riding doubles and stuntmen, and without dialogue recording.  

American producer Hannah Weinstein brought in blacklisted US writers under assumed names (but more on that in a later edition of the magazine); a fact that seemed to ensure a high quality of scripts and continuity of story lines.

There was a constant stream of guest actors, including Donald Pleasance, Ian Hunter, up and coming actors/actresses such as Harry H Corbett, Thora Hird, Joan Sims and even Nicholas Parsons!  However, some of the series regulars were to also make guest appearances in other roles, Victor Woolf (Derwent) and Paul Eddington to name just two.

First transmitted in the UK on Sunday, 25th September 1955 with the very first episode 'The Coming of Robin Hood' - not forgetting that at that time not every region in the UK had a transmitter, and the main broadcasters, ATV and Granada, did not necessarily show the same episode.  However, that apart, the series was shown repeatedly in the early 1960's to another generation of children.

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