| The Adventures of Robin Hood | |
|---|---|
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| Genre |
|
| Based on | traditional legends |
| Written by | |
| Directed by | Terry Bishop |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | Edwin Astley |
| Ending theme | Carl Sigman sung by Dick James |
| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 143 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Hannah Weinstein |
| Producer | Sidney Cole |
| Cinematography | Ken Hodges |
| Editor | Joan Warwick |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company | Sapphire Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | ATV London |
| Release | 25 September 1955 (ATV)[1] – 1 March 1959 (ATV)[1] |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes broadcast weekly between 1955 and 1959[2] on ITV. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood, and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show followed the legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers.
The programme was produced by Sapphire Films Ltd for ITC Entertainment, filmed at Nettlefold Studios with some location work, and was the first of many pre-filmed shows commissioned by Lew Grade. In 1954, Grade was approached by American producer Hannah Weinstein to finance a series of 39 half-hour episodes, at a budget of £10,000 an episode, of a series she wished to make called The Adventures of Robin Hood. She had already signed Richard Greene to the project as Robin Hood and been given the backing of US distribution company, Official Films Inc, who were confident of selling it to the US market. Grade was so impressed by her proposal that he agreed immediately to back the series,[3] hoping to make large profits by selling programmes to the lucrative American market. In the UK, the series premiered on ATV London,[4] on Sunday 25 September 1955.[5] ATV Midlands began the series on Friday 17 February 1956,[6] with a staggered start across other regions from 1956 to 1961 as the ITV regional stations came on-air for the first time in the UK. The US premiere was on Monday 26 September 1955 by CBS. 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 (the series was sponsored in the US by Johnson & Johnson (baby products, Band-Aid) and Wildroot Cream-Oil.
In Australia, the show aired on TCN9 in Sydney NSW and HSV7 Melbourne Victoria, actually being the first drama series broadcast by this station and CBC in Canada, and on CBS[7] in the US. In France, RTF1 aired the show from 1965 to 1969 and RTF2 from 1969 to 1972. In Italy, Rai 1 aired the show from 1959 to 1964 and Rai 2 from 1965 to 1967. In Malaysia, RTM aired the show from late 1974 to early 1978. In the Philippines, ABS-CBN aired the show from 1963 to 1967, RBS (now GMA Network) from 1967 to 1972. In Indonesia, TVRI aired the show during the 1970s. In Romania, TVR aired the show from 1966 to 1980. In Poland aired the show in the late 1960s/early 1970s, in a popular programme for young people (each episode of the weekly programme "Ekran z bratkiem" ended with the broadcast of one episode of the series).
The programme continues to air in the United Kingdom on the Talking Pictures TV channel, shown regularly on Saturday mornings and on Sunday afternoons.
- ^ a b First broadcast in UK by ATV London. See: TV Transmission dates at the BFI online website (British Film Institute). The series' first run was broadcast on Sunday afternoons at 5.30 or 5.25pm in the UK for all four series by ATV London from 1955–1959, other regions varied day and year of transmission. See: Wikipedia page: History of ITV. CBS in the US broadcast the first three series on Monday nights at 7.30pm from 26 September 1955 to 30 June 1958. See: epguides.com website. The fourth series episodes were screened in the US on Saturday mornings at 11.30am between 10 January 1959 and 26 September 1959. See: Robin Hood Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood website. Dates given on Network DVD release are incorrect for UK first run, as ATV London being the weekend London broadcast station did not transmit programmes on Monday evenings in 1955 and are in fact CBS US TX dates. Network dates for series 4 are for a UK TX on ABC Weekend Television (Midlands & the North) not first run ATV London.
- ^ Series at the BFI retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ TV Heroes Lew Grade part 4 by Carl Ellis:Transdiffusion Broadcasting System website Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ Riding through the Glen by David Brockman(2006):Transdiffusion Broadcasting System website Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 3 March 2011
- ^ TV Transmission at the BFI Retrieved 7 March 2011
- ^ 'The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure' by Dave Rogers published by Boxtree Limited in association with Independent Television Publications Ltd in 1988 ISBN 1-85283-217-7
- ^ Airdates at Robin Hood Bold outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood website retrieved 28 February 2011.