Talk:The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)

Ring Lardner
Is the "Ring Lardner" mentioned in the article the same Ring Lardner as the article? Daniel Quinlan 09:56 26 Jul 2003 (UTC)~
 * Propably not, the article's Lardner died 22 years before the first episode aired. -- JeLuF 10:13 26 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * I cribbed that bt of information from the Richard Greene page. Was there maybe a Ring Lardner Jr? -- Lee M 12:04 26 Jul 2003 (UTC)

The one who worked on Robin Hood was Ring Lardner, Jr. Zephirine (talk) 13:02, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

ITC project
Please consider joining the project! HowardBerry 19:16, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

Maybe a list of episodes would be in order? 74.47.65.210 (talk) 19:47, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

"One large fake oak tree"
The comment about Sherwood being represented by one large fake tree needs to be verified. As it stands, I totally disagree with this statement. I have the entire four seasons on DVD and I do not think it to be accurate, and could evidence this with screen grabs from the show if necessary. Howie &#9742;  09:54, 22 March 2009 (UTC)
 * The additions made by the anon IP referencing TV Guide from 1956 are now verified. When User:The Cool Kat removed the additions without an edit summary, I decided to track down a copy of the TV Guide in question to check if that was a fair thing to do.  This morning my eBay purchased copy of a 1956 TV Guide arrived on my doorstep and I'm very happy to say that all the details mentioned in the article in TV Guide match the referenced content here. If anyone would like to check, I'll happily scan the article in question. Howie  &#9742;  15:18, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Supporting Cast
People always write that, oh yes, Paul Eddington played lots of parts and John Dearth did lots - but how were they contracted? I also have all the series on DVD, and if you watch in sequence it is quite clear that actors were on contract for a spell, for non-specific roles. It is more consistent than could be accounted for by casting directors having 'runs' on people, though this of course does happen. Willoughby Gray, Shaun O'Riordan, John Dearth, Charles Stapley, Graham Stewart, Martin Lane, Paul Hansard, Patrick Troughton and numerous others all appear for periods on the 'Robin Hood Rep'. It is actually more like the way the BBC 'Rep' worked in radio than anything else I know of in television. Another actor who did a stint was Peter Welch, who quite extraordinarily appears to be working as an extra in several episodes in which he has no individual role - presumably as a result of a multi-episode contract.

I would love to know more. This pattern is shared with The Adventures of Sir Lancelot and The Adventures of William Tell. Another pattern these series share is that, in parallel with there being a pool of supporting actors, there is a pool of minor characters - or at least names for them. In 'Sir Lancelot', these of course include other Knights of the Round Table. In 'Robin Hood' there are often outlaws called Edgar and Quentin, and the Sheriff has a sergeant named Bault and a lieutenant named Howard. In 'William Tell' Gessler similarly has a lieutenant named Frederick, and Tell's band includes Hans and Fritz. There seems little or no attempt to match the actors to these named characters! Sometimes the regulars practically swop character names from one episode to the next.

Yet another form of doubling in 'Robin Hood' is that there is quite a lot of outdoor shooting, frequently intercut in a complex way with studio work. It can be distractingly obvious which is which. And, on the whole, the characters in exterior shots seem to be doubled by others - often stunt people or horse men and women, no doubt. The exterior doubling for Leslie Phillips, in more than one character, is particularly noticeable.

Rogersansom (talk) 08:22, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It's interesting you mention the supporting cast being like the BBC rep. I'm currently building a list of the ITC contract players - those who appeared in several ITC productions in guest or starring roles. Roger Delgado was in 16 productions (and possibly in several episodes on many, such as Count of Monte Cristo on which he was a regular), and Cyril Shaps was in 14. Even people like Annette Andre were in at least 6 different productions. It's currently only on my computer as I can't find a good way to recreate my spreadsheet effectively on Wikipedia, but there is a basic text version over on the ITC wikiproject page. Howie  &#9742;  12:07, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

I believe the doubling and re-casting was simply to do with the extremely tight budgets and schedules for these shows. They had a four-day shoot for each episode and the second-unit material (outdoor scenes) would all be shot with doubles so that it could be filmed at the same time as the actors were working in the studio. Similarly, if an actor wasn't available - ill, or working elsewhere - they didn't re-arrange the schedule but simply cast someone else. As most of the actors in those days would have worked in 'rep' they probably found this quite normal. Zephirine (talk) 12:47, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Communist Party links
I have changed the sentence in the Blacklisted Writers section which said that Sapphire Films was funded by the American Communist Party. I have done some research on Hannah Weinstein and have found no evidence of this. As far as I can see, the company was funded in the usual way, by sales of programmes and by loan finance. The Guardian article by Tom Dewe Matthews which supported the Communist Party statement doesn't give any sources for the assertion. I have put that Weinstein had left-wing views which is certainly verifiable.Zephirine (talk) 13:01, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Telegraph pole
At the time, it was rumoured that the arrow in the opening sequence went past a telegraph pole. Can anyone confirm or deny? Paul Magnussen (talk) 21:00, 15 May 2010 (UTC)
 * So there were no trees in the country the week they needed to film the opening sequence? Do some tree trunks resemble a "telegraph pole?" Yes. Edison (talk) 05:39, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
 * That doesn't answer the question. Paul Magnussen (talk) 00:20, 1 January 2011 (UTC)


 * No, is the answer, we see Robin fire the Arrow, cut to a whip pan, without arrow, and then cut to a short pan across to the tree with arrow imbedded, the arrow is never seen in flight so can't have passed a telegraph pole, if you freeze frame the whip pan you might see something who knows? but no the arrow never passes a telegraph pole or anything else, o.k.? It's amazing how good editing fools the eye.81.111.127.132 (talk) 13:21, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

35mm photography
I remember this show from more than 50 years ago, and the image & sound quality were far superior to what I'm seeing right now on an RTV rerun. It would be interesting to know if the DVDs were mastered from the original 35mm negatives or prints, or from lower-quality sources. WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 18:25, 23 August 2010 (UTC)


 * No, non of the DVD editions UK or US have been mastered from the original negatives, (should the series receive a Blu-ray release this will no doubt happen), what you are probably seeing are copies made from 16mm syndication prints in the US, prints that are obviously showing their age. US DVDs are mostly from this source, 16 or so eps on the season 1 DVD released by Mill Creek are either 35mm or 16mm syn prints the rest on that edition are poor NTSC transfers from PAl Video sourced eps, series 2-4 are slightly better transfers from PAL Video sources, lower quality sources seem to have been used by other US companys, in the UK 35mm archive prints and existing Video transfer copies of certain eps were used for DVD without any restoration.81.111.127.132 (talk) 14:00, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

Original research?
I removed the following unreferenced text: "At least one episode "The Knight who came to Dinner" had two different versions. The basic plotline (Sir Richard of the Lea's castle being subject to forfeit due to a debt; remains the same, however in the Alpha Video version the bondholder is a corrupt knight, while in the Mill Creek version of the episode the bondholder is a corrupt Abbot.  The shots not directly involving the Abbot or the Knight are identical.  The only other difference being that in the Mill Creek version Sir Richard refers to Maid Marian by a different surname suggesting that it might have been a pilot.  It is noteworthy that both versions have identical credits reflecting the Abbot and not the knight in the cast.  The Fact that the Knight is played by a regular member of the troop of actors who appear in the series also suggests it was made later, perhaps for American audiences." It is great that someone has watched several different releases, but it sounds like original research and speculation, and it gets undue weight when this much emphasis is placed on unexplained editing differences in different video releases. It's right up there with long trivial "I spotted a blooper" sections which degrade from articles about film or TV. Edison (talk) 05:36, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

Quite right, I have checked the American DVD (volume 10 from Alpha Video) in question and the unreferenced text is correct, there are two versions, have made a short note on the episode list page.81.111.127.132 (talk) 13:24, 4 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Additional: Quality Comics 1956 version of this tale also changed the Abbott to a Baron as the American comics code forbade that any religion be attacked or ridiculed, someone at CBS/Official Films must have applied the same mentality to the TV series. "The Wager" and "The Inquisitor" like "The Knight Who Came to Dinner" were also screened toward the end of the original US run (all three were TXed early in UK first run), we know "Knight etc.." was reshot and it would seem these two other episodes most likely also had to be reshot holding up their US tx dates, "The Wager" features Norman soldiers pretending to be Monks probably they were genuine Monks in the original version and "The Inquisitor" probably also had some evil monkery reshot, only the reshot versions of these two appear on DVD (UK/US), anyone know if any VHS releases contained different versions of these episodes?81.111.124.190 (talk) 12:57, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

How ATV began in 1955 and first TX Robin Hood
ATV began broadcasting as ABC(Associated Broadcasting Company), officially from Saturday 24th September 1955 at weekends only in the London region, week day transmissions were by Associated Redifussion from Thursday 22nd September 1955. Associated British Pictures Corporation who held the weekend franchise for Midlands and the North and were due to start transmissions in February 1956 brought a court action to gain legal rights to use the ABC name, The court ruled in their favour and so from October 1955 ABC (the London weekend broadcaster) changed its name to ATV (Associated TeleVision), (from Feb 17th 1956) ATV were the weekday broadcaster for the Midlands, Granada for the North. Having now re-checked ABC/later ATV first broadcast Robin Hood on Sunday 25th September 1955 at 5.30pm, not the 24th. will change. 26 of Sept could not have been tx date of 1st ep in UK as that date was a Monday in 1955, CBS in the US broadcast the series on Monday nights at 7.30pm from 26th Sept 1955.

Unfortunateley it seems no details of the first UK transmission dates have been published either online or in a book, apart, possibly, for the 4th series on one website, it seems all other sources refer to the CBS transmission dates for series 1-3, even Network DVD info, the only book to use non US info is Dave Rogers book "ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure" published in 1988 (ITV Books) he lists- 17th Feb 1956-12 Nov 1960 which would seem to refer to ATV Midlands TX dates, Is the "Transdiffusion Broadcasting System" website an acceptable source/reference??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.111.127.132 (talk) 01:20, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * 17th Feb 1956 was a Friday so would suggest ATV midlands but 12 Nov 1960 is a Saturday which would suggest ATV London. I always remember it broadcast on a saturday about 5.15pm after the football results but it was a long while ago when Mon-Fri there was no afternoon TV.REVUpminster (talk) 00:15, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for that REVUpminster, looking around the web I found a few annecdotes from other fans who remember it as a saturday show as well and some who recall it being broadcast three times a week due to their region showing the backlog of episodes already screened by ATV, to catch up to the current series I suppose. Amazing that it had so many repeat screenings through out the fifties/sixties, until it seems, about 1970. Anyway will change 1st uk tx date to 25 Sept 1955, if there are no objections? This will then be correct for uk ATV London first run: 25th September 1955 - 12th Nov 1960. For the CBS run: 26th Sept 1955(Mondays 7.30pm) - 26th Sept 1959 (Saturdays 11.30am), also note Canada first run from 22nd Sept 1955.

References: (1) [] 'Riding Through the Glen' by David Brockman:'Transdiffusion Broadcasting System' website./ (2) [] Airdates 'Robin Hood Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood' website./ (3) [] CBS airdates for Robin Hood 1955-58./ (4) [] 'History of TV  Studios in London' website./ (5) [] Blacklisted writers and TV in the 1950s and 1960s pdf pages 7-10 for Robin Hood. / (6) [] Lew Grade Part 4. 81.111.127.132 (talk) 03:00, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Found original UK airdates at BFI online Series 1:'25th September 1955 to 10th August 1956' 39 episodes/ Series 2: between 15th September 1956 and 15th September 1957' 37 episodes (the two missing episodes 'The Goldmaker' and 'Isabella' not screened on first run only during later repeat in 1961)/ Series 3: '29th September 1957 to 22nd June 1958' 39 episodes/ Series 4: '14th September 1958 to 1st March 1959' 26 episodes. original run from 25th September 1955 - 1st March 1959. UPDATE: found this website page [] with sample ATV London schedules that confirm BFI TX dates.UPDATE.81.111.127.132 (talk) 04:58, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Sponsors US series 1-3
Sponsor credits, Mill Creek DVD episode 'The Sheriff's Boots' series 1 has end sponsor titles for season 2 ep 'The Road in the Air' instead of its own (has credit for James Hayter as Tom the Miller/writer credit: Carol Warner Gluck & Albert A Dorner/Director credit: Robert Day), have changed text accordingly.81.111.127.132 (talk) 11:00, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

DVD Section
There is a DVD section on this page as well as the List of episodes page, someone should determine which page this is best placed on.81.111.127.132 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 13:41, 15 July 2011 (UTC).

Allington Castle
I just added a link to Allington Castle in the filming section, and noticed that it's in Kent, not Suffolk as the text formerly indicated. I can't find any Allington Castle in Suffolk, and pictures of the Kent castle do look very much like scenes from the show's Fitzwalter Castle, so I changed it to Kent. If any afficionados of this show know otherwise, please change it back!

Incidentally, I noticed a couple of unusual things in this article with a quick read. Are these changes OK? Thanks, Walkerma (talk) 03:03, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * The lede section has an entire paragraph about the wrap-up party. This is interesting, but surely a party doesn't warrant this prominence in the lede section?  Can I move that paragraph to the end of the Crew section?
 * There are few internal links missing, but I didn't want to make wholesale changes as I don't normally edit TV articles. I'd like to add links for the castles in the filming section, and remove the links to towns that are used to explain where the castles are.  For example, I think a link to Saltwood Castle is much more useful than a link to Hythe, Kent when describing Saltwood Castle.


 * Yes, I agree that the wrap-party story doesn't belong in the lede, especially as it is not represented in the main article. Valetude (talk) 19:03, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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1959 or 1960?
The BFI link states that the series ended in 1959, but a number of outher sources like the IMDb give 1960. What is correct? --Clibenfoart (talk) 14:41, 8 January 2022 (UTC)