Okay, now that I've got your attention, here's what this really is. What we have here are some random behind-the-scenes photographs taken during the production of what clearly appears to be the 1955 British television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. I stumbled upon them during one of my periodic rambles around the boot fairs and curiosity shops, and as a baby boomer TV and film buff (see my author's page by clicking on the blue highlight above) immediately recognised them for what they are.
I present them here without superfluous comment or guesswork, as seen, as a social and historical document for pop culture enthusiasts, TV archivists and social historians, and-if you're the right age-as a nostalgic trip down memory lane. You may have a better idea of what and who the pictures show than I do, as I'm not a personal fan of the show, but as a general enthusiast for the period's television, I remember and recognise Richard Greene, Alexander Gauge, Archie Duncan, and Alan Wheatley. I cherry-picked as many of the best of them that I could afford, and if sales are modest, I might even break even in three or four years, but as a TV historian, I felt they deserved-needed-to be preserved and seen as a valuable record of a part of U.K. TV history and its production process, so I did my duty, rescued them from the damp cardboard box they were scattered in and present them here as found history. Enjoy.
Jon Abbott was born in Lambeth, London, England in June, 1956. Thanks to Huckleberry Hound and Supercar, Jon Abbott has been writing professionally about popular culture for around thirty years, during which time he has written over four hundred articles on American film and television for over two dozen different trade, specialist, and populist publications in the U.K. These have included City Limits, Television Weekly, TV Comic, Video Today, Starburst, Stills, Media Week, Adult Movies on Video, What Video, What Satellite, TV Zone, Time Out, The Face, The DarkSide, Video Buyer, Video World, Cult Times, Comedy Review, SFX, Home Entertainment, Infinity, and Dreamwatch. He has a wide range of interests in 20th century film, television, and music, including gangster films ranging from Cagney through to Corman and Scorsese, classic cartoons, 1950s sci-fi movies, 1960s TV and comics, and 1970s cinema. He is particularly fond of the work of Laurel and Hardy, Phil Silvers, Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, Termite Terrace, Tamla Motown, the Beatles, Hanna-Barbera, Irwin Allen, Gerry Anderson, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood, Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, and Stephen J. Cannell. He's also a fan of Tom and Jerry, Republic Serials, The Untouchables, The Outer Limits, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Man from UNCLE, the Daleks, the Adam West Batman, the Emma Peel Avengers, The Invaders, the original Star Trek, Godzilla and Gamera films, pulp magazine covers and pop art, cheesy, sleazy sex films ( and good ones), shameful Italian comedies, Chinese gangster films (especially with Chow Yun Fat), Fawlty Towers, Frasier, and The Sweeney. Despite the above, he doesn't live in the past, because he's bought the best of it into the future with him, and he prefers his i-pad, i-pod, DVDs, and big screen TV to vinyl, censorship, and two-channel television.
