The Adventures of Robin Hood, The British TV series, 1955 to 1960

The tune has a post-Robin Hood history. It was employed in the Monty Python sketch “Dennis Moore,” in which the lyrics were adjusted accordingly: “Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore, galloping through the sward,/Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore, and his horse Concorde.” In 2008 in his W., a biography of the forty-third president, Oliver Stone used the melody behind scenes of George W. Bush.

Edwin Astley and Albert Elms—notice the reversal of their respective initials—shared composing the Robin Hood scores, which varied from subtle aptness, sometimes quoting English folk songs, to blatant fanfares.

So much time has passed that a Robin Hood cast reunion would be foolhardy—and embarrassingly unattended—but I did want to find a performer who was still alive after almost sixty years. The place to look, I decided, would be among the youngsters. An eleven-year-old boy maybe? Eureka! Now sixty-six, Peter Asher played the future King Arthur in three episodes; he recently reunited with Gordon Waller in reviving their singing duo, Peter and Gordon. As a music and song producer, he has produced the films Armageddon and The Pirates of Penzance.

On a hunch, I researched some of the adults for longevity. And, sure, there are survivors. Simone Lovell, it seems, whenever called, played the comely Joan throughout the series—sixteen times to be exact. As of this writing she is still alive, though she retired in 1968 after a similar wallflower role in the BBC series The Wednesday Play. And, of course, there are a few other survivors, here and there.

Well, now . . . about that reunion——

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