This site is games | books | films

 The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1955) on IMDb

The Adventures of Robin Hood TV series (1955 – 1959)

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a British 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 Adventures of Robin Hood 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 of The Adventures of Robin Hood, at a budget of £10,000 an episode, of a series she wished to make called The Adventures of Robin Hood, for which 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] the US premiere was on Monday 26 September 1955 by CBS, ATV Midlands began the series on Friday 17 February 1956,[6] The Adventures of Robin Hood had a staggered start across the other regions from 1956–1961 as the ITV regional stations came on-air for the first time in the UK.

The Adventures of Robin Hood 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 (hair products).

To mark the end of production on The Adventures of Robin Hood Mr. and Mrs. Fisher (Hannah Weinstein and her new husband John Fisher) and Richard Greene threw a final wrap party at The High Pine Club on 10 December 1958,[7] cast members Alexander GaugeArchie DuncanPatricia Driscoll with husband Duncan LamontPaul EddingtonAlan Wheatley (the Sheriff) and John Arnatt (his deputy) attended. Also there were producer Sidney Cole, Ken Hodges (lighting cameraman), Noel Rowland (camera operator), Pip Pearson (sound), and directors including Compton BennettGordon ParryTerry BishopRobert Day, Peter Seabourne, and Anthony Squire, plus stuntman Rupert Evans.

In Australia, The Adventures of Robin Hood 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[8] 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 Phillipines, ABS-CBN aired the Show from 1963 to 1967, DZBB from 1967 to 1972. In Indonesia, TVRI aired the show during the 1970s. In Romania, TVR aired the show from 1966 to 1980.

The Adventures of Robin Hood TV series
Series title
  1.  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.
  2. ^ Series at the BFI retrieved 28 February 2011.
  3. ^ TV Heroes Lew Grade part 4 by Carl Ellis:Transdiffusion Broadcasting System website Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machineretrieved 28 February 2011.
  4. ^ Riding through the Glen by David Brockman(2006):Transdiffusion Broadcasting System website Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 3 March 2011
  5. ^ TV Transmission at the BFI Retrieved 7 March 2011
  6. ^ ‘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
  7. ^ [1] Dinosaur TV article
  8. ^ Airdates at Robin Hood Bold outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood website retrieved 28 February 2011.
Scroll to Top