The Adventures of Robin Hood stars Richard Greene as the eponymous hero in this 1950s serial.

The Adventures of Robin Hood stars Richard Greene as the eponymous hero in this 1950s serial. The true identity of Robin Hood will probably never be known; whether he was one person, a composite of several characters or just pure myth remains a mystery. However, for many people who first encountered the television series the first time around, Richard Greene is Robin Hood.

The Adventures of Robin Hood began in 1955, with a £10,000 an episode budget. The series was the inagural production of Lew Grade's then recently formed Incorporated Television Programme Company (ITP), later renamed Incorporated Television Company (ITC). The Adventures of Robin Hood was produced for ITP / ITC by Hannah Weinstein Productions and Sapphire Films Limited and was filmed at Nettlefold Studios in Surrey, England. The series, which was made for Independent Television, proved to be a highly successful during its run of 140 episodes. The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran until 1959, once boasted a 78% audience share, also did very well in the United States.

In each of the 30 minute black & white episodes, several minutes of location filming is used giving greater scope for realism. This location shooting, coupled with the larger floor space available at the studios at Walton-on-Thames enabled the producers to create an altogether more elaborate series.

The theme song for the series recorded by Dick James spent eight weeks in the UK Hit Parade in 1956, reaching number 14. Richard Greene later starred in a spin-off film directed by Terence Fisher entitled Sword of Sherwood Forest.

The writers for the series include, Ralph Smart, Eric Heath, Anne Rodney & John Dyson. Many of the American writers for the show either used pseudonyms or were not credited. This was the time of the so-called McCarthy 'witchhunts' and many of the writers were blacklisted in America. If the blacklisted writers had received credits, the series could not have been sold in America. Two such writers were Ring Lardner Jr. & Ian McLennan.

 

Listen to the intro

Regular cast:

Richard Greene as Robin Hood
Bernadette O'Farrell as Maid Marian (seasons 1 & 2)
Patricia Driscoll as Maid Marian (seasons 3 & 4)
Archie Duncan as Little John
Rufus Cruickshank as Little John (10 episodes in season 1)
Alan Wheatley as Sheriff of Notingham
Donald Pleasance as Prince John
Hubert Gregg as Prince John
Brian Haines as Prince John
Simone Lovell as Joan
Paul Eddington as Will Scarlett (season 4)