![]() In keeping with the gritty aesthetic of the show Carpenter’s band of ‘Merry Men’ were anything but merry nor wore green tights, like in their previous adaptations. ![]() No longer reduced to some damsel-in-distress, the vivacious red-haired Trott brought in a sense of steely determination and resolve, which allowed for her Marian to hold her own against the male dominated cast of the show, with ease. The effervescent Judie Trott too, breathed life to a different iteration of the Lady Marian character. A genius move which worked brilliantly and was weaved into the narrative fabric artfully. Praed went on to play the hooded-man, for two seasons before he was killed off and replaced by Jason Connery.Īs various accounts of the Robin Hood legend over the years have put their own spin to the mix, describing the character as either a lowly villager or an upper-class nobleman, Carpenter capitalized on it by delivering two versions of the enigmatic figure which embodied both personas. ![]() I warmed to him immediately and thought he embodied all the qualities I was looking for in my version of Robin Hood,” spoke Carpenter of his decision to cast Praed as the lead. “We were looking for someone with a fey quality or sort of a woodland quality, and Paul (Knight) suggested that we go see Michael Praed, who was playing a part in The Pirates of Penzance with Tim Curry. His dashing, otherworldly looks and undeniable screen presence made him the ideal candidate for the titular character. Michael Praed, then an up-and-coming actor, got his lucky break when he was spotted by the casting director of Robin of Sherwood during the West End theater production of The Pirates of Penzance. Thankfully, the casting of the actors for Robin of Sherwood was simply pitch-perfect and much of the show’s enduring success can be attributed to this sublime group of performers who are, without a doubt, the heart and soul of this iconic series. But even the most exquisite production designs or meticulously crafted story beats, would be wasted if the right casting wasn’t accomplished at the very outset of production. Blaise Castle Estate of North Bristol and Vassals Park to the south served as the primary locations, with some forest scenes being shot on Bradford-on-Avon. We are putting a lot of effort and money to the production and it takes a subject as strong as Robin Hood to make it all worthwhile,” elaborated producer Paul Knight, who’d worked with Carpenter on Dick Turpin and Smuggler previously.įilming began in 1983, shot entirely on location, in and around Bristol and the adjacent counties. ![]() This show is an attempt at retelling that enduring tale for the 1980s and it stands that. “There are only a few subjects, out there, that continually fascinate foreign audiences in my experience and the Robin Hood legend is one of them. But incorporating all these disparate elements came with a hefty price-tag., as each episode of Robin of Sherwood cost around £500,000 to film. Carpenter’s decision to infuse the show with real-life history, pagan myth and literary fiction elements, was a stroke of brilliance that had a tremendous impact on the production. Unlike erstwhile adaptations and retellings of the legend, Robin of Sherwood possessed a gritty aesthetic which relied heavily on mood and atmospherics. And the idea of the rebel, the man-on-his-own, has always been throughout history and legend, appealing to the anarchist in all of us and that’s what fascinated me most, about the character.” I think he’s an amalgam of true stories and made-up stories. And the thing that really attracted me to Robin Hood is its connection to nature, the woodlands and the old pre-Christian religions of England. “I’ve always been deeply interested in the Robin Hood story, it’s one of the first books I owned as a child and probably one of the first stories that most children read. Across the Pond, in the USA it was televised on Showtime and picked up by PBS later on.Ĭarpenter, who had previously been involved in period drama TV series like Dick Turpin and Smuggler, had always wanted to take a stab at adapting Robin Hood for the small screen and he had this to say during a behind-the-scenes interview: However, there is this one exception, which not only has had a profound impact on the Robin Hood mythos, but on modern pop-culture as well, and that is none other than Robin of Sherwood.Ĭreated by Richard Carpenter, the series was a collaborative production between HTV and Goldcrest Films, and ran from 28th April 1984 to 28th June 1986, on the ITV network in UK. Even when it came to the small screen, any television show that centered on this mythical hooded-man, yielded mostly mixed to middling results. ![]() Robin Hood has always been a property that Hollywood and its ilk have struggled to adapt. Hasitha Fernando revisits the classic 80s series Robin of Sherwood… ![]()
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