ROBIN OF SHERWOOD

Richard Carpenter

 

This series ran on independant television for three seasons on Saturday's at around the 6.30pm-7.30pm slot for the first series; from 28th April to 26th May 1984, and 5.35pm-6.30pm for series' two and three; from 9th March to 13 April 1985 and 5th April to 28th June 1986. Produced by HTV it was screened between 1984-86. The idea was devised by Richard Carpenter, who also wrote for the series, though other writers such as Anthony Horowitz also wrote episodes.

The first series consisted of five stories, the episodes were one hour long, but the first of each series was a two hour story over two weeks, presumably a device to establish viewer loyalty. The second series consisted of six stories, creating eleven separate tales starring the actor Michael Praed in the lead role. The third series starred Jason Connery, son of Sean Connery, as Robin Hood, though the rest of the outlaw band, and both Guy of Gisburne and the Sheriff of Nottingham were the same cast. This series consisted of eleven episodes, again the first being a two hour story. In this series the final episode was also a two hour, two week run, thus both Praed and Connery played Robin Hood for an equal amount of time. Neither version being given precedent. There is much debate about a fourth series which was to be made, but due to factors within HTV, failed to materialise. Richard Carpenter is very elusive when questioned about this, presumably it would have continued to star Jason Connery; a third Robin Hood would have stretched the traditional two existing versions a bit too far, although if we have established the name as a title rather than an individual, as Richard Carpenter chose to within this series, there is no reason why a third story could not have been created. This is a fascinating concept, a wholly new Robin based on Carpenter's own interpretation of the legend. We will never know. What we have, though, is a balance between the two versions.