For Comic Relief; here’s a Doctor Who short story I wrote back in 2004, for the Big Finish anthology Past Tense. It’s called The Thief Of Sherwood, and it remains one of my favourite Doctor Who things that I’ve done. Sadly Past Tense is long out of print, and so
is Re:Collections which also included
it, as Big Finish no longer have the
rights to release Doctor Who short
stories in print. As you will see, this story wouldn’t work if read aloud, so
there’s no chance of it being released that way either. And, as the rights have
reverted, I thought it would be nice to share it. If you read it and enjoy it,
please make a donation to Comic Relief.
[When it was printed in Past Tense, the editor, Ian Farrington, went to great pains to use the correct typefaces. Unfortunately I cannot reproduce that to full effect here. Please also note: this is the story as delivered; it was slightly re-written in Past Tense to link up to Joe Lidster's story That Time I Nearly Destroyed The World Whilst Looking For a Dress]
The Thief Of Sherwood
“At one time, I suggested giving the Doctor an adventure
where he met Robin Hood!” – William
Hartnell
--
Radio Times, 19th
September 1964:
5.30
DR. WHO
An adventure in space and time
starring
WILLIAM HARTNELL
WILLIAM RUSSELL
JACQUELINE HILL
and
CAROLE ANN FORD
*
The Deserted Castle
by Godfrey Porter
Dr. Who.............................William Hartnell
Ian Chesterton......................William Russell
Barbara Wright......................Jacqueline Hill
Susan Foreman....................Carole Ann Ford
Little John...............................Archie Duncan
Will Scarlet …………...............Ronald Hines
Sheriff Of Nottingham….…Frank Thornton
Maid Marion………….............Judith Denton
Peddler…...…………..………..Milton
Johns
Villager……………………….Carl
Bernard
Man-at-arms………………………Ivor
Colin
Title music by Ron
Grainer
with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Incidental music composed and
conducted by Harper C.
Bassett
Story editor, David Whitaker
Designer, Barry Newbery
Associate producer, Mervyn Pinfield
Producer, Verity
Lambert
Directed by, Patrick Whitfield
Is the castle as deserted as it appears? Or is it
a trap for the unwary traveller?
--
Radio Times, 19th
September 1964:
DR. WHO
and the Outlaws
We all know that it is impossible to wind back the hands of
history - and equally impossible for us to launch ourselves into the realms of
future space. Impossible for us - but not for the strange old gentleman of time
and space, Dr. Who (William Hartnell)
- who has no problem in travelling to far-flung worlds or through time to the
dark days of twelfth-century Sherwood.
Such is the setting for Saturday’s instalment of a new tale
for the Doctor and his group. Written by Godfrey Porter, the story is
essentially a re-telling of the Robin Hood myth - the travellers become
involved in a case of mistaken identity which leads them to the dungeons of the
infamous Sheriff of Nottingham. The story does not affect the course of history
but instead utilises it as a thrilling backdrop for adventure.
--
Radio Times Doctor Who
10th Anniversary Special, 1973:
The Bandits
The TARDIS lands in the dungeons of Nottingham
castle. Ian and Susan are captured and brought before the Sheriff. The others are
captured by bandits and taken to Sherwood Forest
where they discover that Robin Hood is Ian’s double. The Merry Men elect to rescue
Ian and Susan but the attempt fails and Robin is killed. The Doctor saves Susan
from execution by posing as a monk. Ian gives away all of Robin’s loot.
--
Doctor Who – Story
Nine, Doctor Who Weekly 26, 1980:
THE THIEVE OF
SHERWOOD
This six part
adventure was first shown on BBC television on September 19th, 1964.
The TARDIS has recently journeyed through the fourth and
fifth dimensions. From their positions by the controls the Doctor, Susan, Ian
and Barbara watch the scanner. They have landed in sheer darkness!
They emerge into a dungeon cell. A skeleton is chained to
the wall! “That was a human being. We are on Earth!” proclaims the Doctor. They
decide to split up to explore. The Doctor and Barbara go upstairs and discover
they are in a deserted medieval castle.
Ian and Susan, meanwhile, meet a pretty young girl called Marion being held
prisoner. Ian attempts to force the door to her cell, but the lock is too
strong. He heads back to the TARDIS for cutting tools, but discovers that the
door to that cell is now also locked. They are not alone…
The Doctor and Barbara reach a nearby village. The houses
are all boarded up and the occupants live in fear for their lives.
Back in the dungeons, the man-at-arms who watched Ian and
Susan meets with the Sheriff Of Nottingham. “Your plan has succeeded, my Lord!”
he says. “The bandits have entered the castle!”
Ian and Susan are shocked when a portcullis drops, trapping
them. Suddenly soldiers emerge from every door and passageway. It is a trap!
The Doctor and Barbara attempt to return to the castle… but
are caught by a gang of bandits who take them to their hideout in Sherwood forest. “Unhand me,” cries the Doctor. “This is
no way to treat a Gallifreyan!”
The bandits identify themselves as Little John and Will
Scarlet. Barbara guesses they are being taken to meet Robin Hood! The Doctor is
more sceptical. “Robin Hood is a myth. He is no more real than Sherlock
Holmes!”
But the Doctor is proved wrong when they arrive at the
outlaw’s lair. Their leader, Robin Hood, steps out of the shadows. And he looks
exactly like Ian!
--
Doctor Who Episode Guide, Doctor Who Monthly 51, 1981:
Doctor Who Episode Guide, Doctor Who Monthly 51, 1981:
THE OUTLAWS
(Serial I, 6 episodes)
The Deserted Castle (19th
September 1964)
A hushed silence falls over the forest clearing as the
Doctor and Barbara await the arrival of the murderous bandit leader, Robin
Hood. They are shocked when Robin is revealed to be Ian’s double!
The Thief Of Sherwood
(26th September 1964)
Learning that he has Robin prisoner in his dungeons, the Sheriff
of Nottingham orders his execution. But it is Ian who is placed in the stocks.
The man-at-arms raises his axe…
The Alchemist (3rd
October 1964)
The Doctor convinces the Sheriff that he can create gold. But
it is a ruse, and using gunpowder, the Doctor blows the door of the workshop
off its hinges. But he is knocked unconscious by the explosion, as the flames
lick ever nearer.
Errand Of Mercy (10th October 1964)
The Merry Men’s rescue attempt has failed, and Robin and Susan
have sought sanctuary in the castle dungeons. But they are discovered by the
Sheriff’s guards and Susan is horrified as Robin is run through with a sword.
Ransom (17th
October 1964)
Ian (posing as Robin) has agreed to meet the Sheriff to
arrange Susan’s release. As he enters the peddler’s shop, he discovers the
owner’s corpse and realises that he has entered a trap. The door opens and a
shadowy figure approaches Ian’s hiding place.
A Guest For The
Gallows (24th October
1964)
In the forest clearing, Ian has returned Robin Hood’s gold
to the villagers, and the four travellers have returned to the TARDIS. As the
take off sound begins, the Doctor warns of a build-up of “space pressure”
outside…
--
Gallifrey Guardian,
Doctor Who Monthly 69, 1982
THIEFS RE-CAPTURED!
A television station
in Cyprus
has returned three prints from the missing William Hartnell story ‘The Theives
Of Sherwood’ to the BBC film archive at Windmill Lane.
The prints comprise parts 1, 2 and 4 of this classic
adventure where the Doctor encounters Robin Hood and the Sheriff Of Nottingham.
Part 6 is already held by the archive, but parts 3 and 5 remain sadly missing,
but BBC archive selector Sue Malden remains hopeful of more Doctor Who episode
finds in the future.
--
Doctor Who – A Celebration, 1983
Doctor Who – A Celebration, 1983
The Thief Of Sherwood
Billed in the BBC press handout as a ‘thrilling adventure
with Robin Hood’, this story followed in the tradition of the serials Ivanhoe and William Tell. However, it was also a sophisticated and witty exploration
of how legends might arise.
Landing in the dungeons of Nottingham
castle during the time of the Crusades, Ian and Susan are captured by the
Sheriff. The Doctor and Barbara meet the less-than-philanthropic Robin Hood,
who turns out to be the exact double of Ian. The Doctor plans to negotiate his
companion’s release by offering the Sheriff the secret of alchemy. When Robin
is killed, Ian substitutes for him and leads the Merry Men in an attempt to
rescue Susan before she is executed. The Doctor intervenes at the last moment,
posing as the priest giving the last rites, and Ian returns the bandits’ plunder
to the villagers, thereby creating the myth of Robin Hood.
--
Radio Times Doctor Who
20th Anniversary Special,, 1983
The Thief Of Sherwood was an intelligently-scripted piece of
historical adventure, with Ian playing a dual role, himself and Robin Hood, who
was Ian’s double. Robin Hood was depicted as a villain, and when he is killed,
Ian replaces him and seals his reputation.
--
Doctor Who – The Thief
Of Sherwood, Target Novelisation, Godfrey Porter, 1986
First Extract from
the Letters of Barbara Wright
Should I ever return to your front room, Auntie Margaret, what
a story I would have to tell! Ever since I was shanghaied into time and space
by the Doctor, my life has been a succession of unsavoury disasters. Poisoned
by radiation, hailed as a goddess, possessed by an alien brain and let down by
a Frenchman, nothing could have prepared me for my current ordeal. Kidnapped by
a band of uncouth, unwashed and unshaven bandits, I found myself thrust into
their dismal forest lair, a collection of makeshift tents camouflaged by
foliage. My wrists were chafed by bondage and my ankles ached from walking the
miles from Nottingham to Sherwood. I collapsed
at the feet of an exceptionally malodorous figure and found myself at the
unfriendly, not to mention business, end of a crossbow. But although I was hungry,
tired and soaked to the skin, my spirits remained undampened as I thought of
happier times and places, and in particular of your toasted buttered muffins.
You may recall me mentioning one of my colleagues, Mr Ian
Chesterton. You recommended him to me during one muffin encounter as a ‘very
eligible young man’. Well, as I looked up I discovered that the figure at the
friendly end of the crossbow was the exact double of that very eligible young
man. Admittedly his hair was bedraggled and his chin was bearded, and his cheeks
were smeared in mud, but otherwise it could have been the Ian with whom you once
enjoyed several steaming mugs of Ovaltine.
In my confusion, I asked him in what boys’ play-acting game
he was indulging. He responded in a thick brogue that I should not speak unless
ordered to. I quickly realised that this was not my Ian, but perhaps one of his
less salubrious ancestors.
Despite our predicament, my companion, the Doctor, had lost
none of his gumption. He travelled the universe as though inspecting a rather dissatisfactory
country garden. Upon learning that the name of our lime-garbed companion was
Robin Hood, he tutted like a parakeet. ‘My dear sir,’ ejaculated the Doctor.
‘Whomsoever you might be, you are not Robin Hood. Robin Hood is a character
originating, I believe, from the ballads of the late middle ages!’
Robin responded to the Doctor’s outburst pointedly with his
crossbow. ‘I am Robin Hood,’ he
snarled. ‘The most feared, most deadly outlaw of them all! I pillage, I murder,
I show no mercy. Not to the King’s men, nor his citizens, nor quacking old beggars!’
‘Who are you calling old?’
snapped the Doctor. ‘I would have you know I am in my prime.’ His fingered his
lapels like a barrister in an Ealing comedy. ‘So you are Robin Hood are you?
Hmm. So do you steal from the rich and give to the poor?’
There was an incredulous silence. And then a roar of
laughter rocked the glade.
‘Give to the poor, lads?’ he shouted. ‘Why should we do
that? We steal from the poor too!’
--
Archive: The Thief Of
Sherwood, The Doctor Who Magazine 103, 1985
EPISODE THREE
Ian’s life is spared when the castle receives a new visitor
– the Doctor, posing as an apothecary to King John. The Doctor tells him that he
is on his way to tell the King of a means to turn base substances into gold. He
will grant the Sheriff the secret in return for Ian’s safe release. The Sheriff
greedily agrees.
The Merry Men then recapture Barbara and the peddler. He is
forced to tell them about the secret passageway into the castle. Robin decides
he will go with Little John to rescue Marion.
But in the tunnel they are ambushed by guards. Robin is left for dead.
Little John is brought before the Sheriff and forced to reveal
the location of the bandits’ hideout. He is locked up with Ian, who he cannot
believe is not his friend Robin.
In the meantime, the Sheriff sends his men to Sherwood to kill
the Merry Men. He then visits the Doctor in the castle workshop. The Doctor is
about to demonstrate how he will turn charcoal, saltpetre and sulphur into
gold. As the Sheriff watches, the Doctor sets light to the mixture. The resultant
explosion blows the workshop doors off their hinges and knocks the Doctor and
the Sheriff unconscious. The workshop is filled with flames.
--
Interview: Godfrey
Porter, Doctor Who Magazine 172, 1991
“After demob, I returned to Oxford to finish my history degree. I studied
mediaeval literature, which would later stand me in good stead on Doctor Who.”
Godfrey entered television scriptwriting by an unusual
route. “My landlord was working as a writer on a series called William Tell, and in lieu of rent I
would occasionally fill in bits of script for him. When he moved on from the
show, he recommended me to the producer. So after that I did some scripts for
ATV, an adventure series called Longboat
which was about the Vikings. That was huge fun, and I edited some shows for
ATV, and then along came Doctor Who.”
“I had to do it. My kids wouldn’t believe I was a writer
unless I did a Doctor Who. We’d all
been watching it since the one with the Daleks. I knew David [Whitaker] through
the Screenwriters’ Guild, and suggested a Robin Hood story.
“I’d watched William Hartnell, who I thought had been very
good in Brighton Rock. I liked him.
He was very professional, but he could be short-tempered with less experienced
actors. But he was always charming to me. I didn’t realise he was ill, I
thought that was the acting.
“The idea was to do a serial set in the past, but to make it
a mixture of fact and fiction. To explore how legends might be shaped on the
basis of second-hand accounts. For a children’s show, it was quite sophisticated.
After Doctor Who I
worked at Rediffusion, writing a series called The Long Arm which was a precursor of Z Cars. I then did some editing work on Compact and a couple of episodes of The Challengers with Dennis Spooner.
Godfrey did submit one more script, during the 1970s. “There
was one I wrote called “Doctor Who and the Sprites”. It would have been for Tom
Baker, but the script editor at the time wasn’t keen, so I never finished it.”
--
The Discontinuity
Guide, Virgin, 1995
DIALOGUE TRIUMPHS
Sheriff of Nottingham: 'You claim to practice alchemy?'
Doctor: 'Practice? Never, my dear sir - I am a professional!'
Barbara: ‘Historians never let facts get in
the way of a good story.’
FLUFFS
William Hartnell: 'I will turn these base substances into
pure coal!'
TRIVIA
William
Hartnell was absent from the recording of episodes four and five due to
illness, necessitating a last-minute script re-write.
Each
episode was structured so that William Russell’s costume and make-up changes
could take place during recording breaks.
GOOFS
The
TARDIS landing sound can be heard after it has materialized.
When
Robin wakes up after being knocked unconscious, he is in a different tunnel.
After
the gaoler has locked Susan in with Maid Marion, the cell door swings open.
Robin’s
accent and moustache varies from episode to episode.
Much
of the story is historically and geographically inaccurate.
FASHION VICTIM
Robin’s costume is replete with a leather jerkin and peacock-feathered
cap.
--
Doctor Who: The Television Companion, BBC Books, 1998
Doctor Who: The Television Companion, BBC Books, 1998
ANALYSIS
Perhaps
aware that a Robin Hood action adventure serial may be beyond the constraints
of Doctor Who’s budget, Godfrey Porter decorated his scripts with occasional
vignettes of comical humour – perhaps most conspicuously in the
whimsical digression of the Doctor bluffing as an incompetent and hapless alchemist.
He also avoided concentrating on the physical action sequences, instead making
the story a farce of mistaken identity and an exploration
into how modern myths and romances may arise.
‘What
makes this story is Robin’s characterisation’, documented Gary Russell in the
second issue of Shada dated January 1981. ‘William Russell gives one of his
finer performances in the dual role of Robin and Ian, making Robin an
unsympathetic and callous treat. The only drawback is the “trouble-up-at-t’mill”
accent he adopts.’
The
production, whilst not perhaps revisiting the glories of the preceding
historicals, was quite good. The finished product is polished if lacking in scale,
though Barry Newbery’s detailed and richly-textured sets are deserving of being
singled out for special attention.
All
things considered, whilst not an undisputed classic, ‘The Thief Of Sherwood’ is
something of a curate’s egg.
--
The Time Team, Doctor
Who Magazine 285, 1999
EPISODES 046 TO 053
The Team have assembled at Peter’s for another eight
exciting episodes of monochrome magic. As Peter sends young Harry to bed,
Clayton, Jac and Richard return to the edge of their seats, where they had been
left sitting by the previous instalment, Errand
Of Mercy.
‘Robin Hood is dead!’ gasps Clayton. ‘But he can’t be! He
was a real historical figure, like Marco Polo and the Scarlet Pimpernel!’ Jac
corrects Clayton. ‘No, he’s fictional. That’s what this story is all about. And
the Scarlet Pimpernel wasn’t real either.’ ‘He was,’ protests Clay. ‘If he’s not real, then who killed The
Hunchback Of Notre Dame?’
Peter returns with a cheeky dry chardonnay. ‘What I like
about this story is that you’re always watching it with a view to how the
mythology built up afterwards. Very clever’ ‘It is very self-referential,’
agrees Jac. ‘The story is almost a post-modern deconstruction.’ Richard breaks
his silence. ‘I wish there were more monsters. And there is too much talking
about stuff that we don’t get to see.’
For Ransom, it’s
back to the crackly tape recording. Jac has some reservations. ‘The Sheriff’s
plan makes no sense. When he learns the whereabouts of Robin’s den he sends all
his guards to destroy it, leaving the castle unguarded.’ ‘He does only have two
guards, to be fair,’ muses Peter.
Ian returns to the hideout where the Merry Men are not
feeling quite so merry, believing their leader to be dead. Until Ian dons the legendary
feathered cap. ‘It’s very touching seeing Ian reunited with Barbara,’ says Jac.
‘She was obviously attracted to Robin, as he was Ian with a bit of rough thrown
in, but with Ian it’s true love.’
The Sheriff’s latest nonsensical plan is to exchange Susan
for Robin. The venue is, conveniently, the peddler’s shop. ‘Everything happens
in that shop!’ snorts Peter. ‘I’m surprised he keeps that secret passage of his
secret, what with everyone popping in and out all the time!’ ‘It is good to see
him back, though,’ says Jac. ‘He is a wonderfully devious character.’ ‘Yes,’ adds
Clay as a packet of Wotsits explodes over his lap. ‘Milton Johns, you’ve been
gone too long.’
But when Ian enters the shop, he discovers the peddler has
peddled his last. Ian ducks for cover as a cloaked figure enters the shop…
‘It’s Billy!’ shout the Team in unison at the beginning
of A
Guest For The Gallows. ‘But where has he been for the last two episodes?’ complains
Peter. ‘The last we saw of him he was coughing and falling through a window into
the castle moat!’
--
Archive: The Thief Of
Sherwood, Doctor Who Magazine 332, 2003
A Guest For The
Gallows
The Doctor warns that Ian has walked into a trap. Sure
enough, the Sheriff’s guards emerge from the secret passage. The Sheriff decides
to execute Susan in the village square the following morning. Returning to the
camp, Ian, Barbara and the Doctor learn of the Sheriff’s plan from Maid Marion.
Still posing as Robin, Ian strikes a bargain with the villagers.
The next morning, Susan is brought before the gallows and a
priest administers the last rites. However, before the execution can begin, the
villagers and the Merry Men attack and the priest reveals himself to be the
Doctor. The Sheriff flees, deciding that it would be safer to join the crusades.
As the villagers celebrate, Ian rewards them for their help
by handing them the bandits’ gold. From now on, the bandits and villagers will
work together. Marion
says her farewells to Ian and promises to keep Robin’s memory alive. It will be
her love-struck and ill-informed accounts of Robin Hood that form the legend. Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor sets the
controls for 1964, but the fault locator warns of a build up of space pressure
outside…
In Production
A Guest For The
Gallows was recorded the following day at Riverside Studio 1, on Friday 25 September;
main recording took place between 8.00 and 9.45pm.. The episode began with a re-enactment of the
previous week’s cliff-hanger, but without Milton Johns reprising his role. The
opening title captions were superimposed over eight feet of 35mm stock film of
woodland taken from The Norman Conquests.
A recording break was scheduled before the execution sequence to allow Hartnell
to change into the priest’s habit, and a second break allowed the regular cast
to move to the TARDIS set.
Unfortunately the fight sequence caused some parts of the
cramped set to visibly shake! The Sheriff’s escape on horseback utilised the
footage that had been pre-filmed at Ealing nine weeks earlier on 35mm. The
TARDIS dematerialisation was achieved using an inlay effect, and the episode
ended with the caption ‘Next Episode: Planet Of Giants’.
During editing, a single cut was made to A Guest For The Gallows at the end of the rescue sequence to remove a shot of a collapsing scenery flat! This removed the final lines from the scene where it is hinted that the Doctor may leave Earth without Barbara or Ian. ‘You promised to get them home,’ replies Susan. ‘You made that promise to me, too, grandfather.’
During editing, a single cut was made to A Guest For The Gallows at the end of the rescue sequence to remove a shot of a collapsing scenery flat! This removed the final lines from the scene where it is hinted that the Doctor may leave Earth without Barbara or Ian. ‘You promised to get them home,’ replies Susan. ‘You made that promise to me, too, grandfather.’
The Thief Of Sherwood
was previewed in a half-page Radio Times feature
headlined ‘DR WHO and the Outlaws’; illustrated
by a photograph of Robin, Susan and the Doctor. The serial was praised in The Daily Sketch, whilst a letter in Junior Points Of View indicated that the historical inaccuracies of
the serial had provoked a lively classroom discussion. The
Morning Star was more critical, wishing for a return of the ‘villainous
Dalek creatures from outer-space’. The BBC board of managers were concerned
about the storyline seeming too frivolous, and Kenneth Adam, Director of
Television, said that his three-year-old daughter thought history adventures
were silly because ‘you always knew they would end happily’.
Early episodes of the serial ran opposite the end of the ITV
shows Thank Your Lucky Stars and Hawkeye And The Last Of The Mohicans (ATV
London). The ratings were weak at first but improved due to the earlier nights
and the move to a 5.30pm
time slot.
The Thief Of Sherwood was marketed by BBC Enterprises as a set of 16mm film recordings. Australia purchased the serial in May 1965 and rated it ‘A’, though after removing the sequence of Robin’s death it was revised for ‘G’. It was first broadcast in November 1965. The serial was also purchased in 1965 by Hong Kong, Jamaica, Nigeria, Singapore and Zambia. In 1966 it was sold to Cyprus, Kenya, New Zealand and to Saudi Arabia in the early 1970s. By 1974, BBC Enterprises had withdrawn the story from sale and the prints were junked.
The Thief Of Sherwood was marketed by BBC Enterprises as a set of 16mm film recordings. Australia purchased the serial in May 1965 and rated it ‘A’, though after removing the sequence of Robin’s death it was revised for ‘G’. It was first broadcast in November 1965. The serial was also purchased in 1965 by Hong Kong, Jamaica, Nigeria, Singapore and Zambia. In 1966 it was sold to Cyprus, Kenya, New Zealand and to Saudi Arabia in the early 1970s. By 1974, BBC Enterprises had withdrawn the story from sale and the prints were junked.
On Wednesday, 17 August 1967 all six 405-line master tapes
were cleared for wiping. The BBC Film Library retained a 16mm print of A Guest For The Gallows, and in 1982 Cyprus returned
episodes one, two and a slightly trimmed print of episode four. A complete fan-made
audio recording survives, along with some poor quality silent 8mm extracts
filmed off-screen from the Australian transmissions. These include clips of the
Doctor preparing the gunpowder and the Sheriff questioning Barbara. A version
of A Guest For The Gallows with an
Arabic soundtrack also exists in a private collection.
In 2004, The Thief Of Sherwood was cleaned up by the BBC’s unofficial Doctor Who ‘Restoration Team’ and released on a BBC video, with linking narration by William Russell substituting for the missing instalments.
In 2004, The Thief Of Sherwood was cleaned up by the BBC’s unofficial Doctor Who ‘Restoration Team’ and released on a BBC video, with linking narration by William Russell substituting for the missing instalments.
With thanks to the
Time Team and Andrew Pixley, to whom this story is dedicated.
If you have
enjoyed this story, I would be delighted if you could make a donation to Comic Relief. .
