Manchester University Press
4 Rebels with a cause
Abstract
This chapter focuses on four British swashbucklers of the 1980s, Dick Turpin, Smuggler, Adventurer and Robin of Sherwood that represent a distinct cycle within the genre. These series shared the same production team of writer Richard Carpenter and producer Paul Knight and collectively they demonstrated a consistent ideology and social politics. Dick Turpin was a Gatetarn/Seacastle production for London Weekend Television (LWT), which after an uncertain start had become the largest and most lucrative of the Independent Television (ITV) franchise operators by the end of the 1970s. Smuggler was a vehicle for Olivier Tobias, returning to swashbuckling for the first time since Arthur of the Britons. Adventurer has been unfairly overlooked in the popular historiography of television in comparison to the other Carpenter-Sidney Cole-Knight productions. The production discourse of Robin of Sherwood emphasised its difference from other versions of the oft-told story.
Abstract
This chapter focuses on four British swashbucklers of the 1980s, Dick Turpin, Smuggler, Adventurer and Robin of Sherwood that represent a distinct cycle within the genre. These series shared the same production team of writer Richard Carpenter and producer Paul Knight and collectively they demonstrated a consistent ideology and social politics. Dick Turpin was a Gatetarn/Seacastle production for London Weekend Television (LWT), which after an uncertain start had become the largest and most lucrative of the Independent Television (ITV) franchise operators by the end of the 1970s. Smuggler was a vehicle for Olivier Tobias, returning to swashbuckling for the first time since Arthur of the Britons. Adventurer has been unfairly overlooked in the popular historiography of television in comparison to the other Carpenter-Sidney Cole-Knight productions. The production discourse of Robin of Sherwood emphasised its difference from other versions of the oft-told story.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Exporting Englishness 10
- 2 Fantasy factories 49
- 3 Revisionist revivals 103
- 4 Rebels with a cause 137
- 5 Heritage heroes 171
- 6 Millennial mavericks 212
- Conclusion 255
- Select bibliography 262
- Index 267
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Exporting Englishness 10
- 2 Fantasy factories 49
- 3 Revisionist revivals 103
- 4 Rebels with a cause 137
- 5 Heritage heroes 171
- 6 Millennial mavericks 212
- Conclusion 255
- Select bibliography 262
- Index 267
