Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, TV | Tagged: green arrow, mike grell, Robin Of Sherwood

Mike Grell Writes Official Robin Of Sherwood Novels Set Decades Later

Green Arrow legendary writer Mike Grell writes the official Robin Of Sherwood novels set decades later after the end of the TV series

Mike Grell, of Green Arrow fame, is to write official sequel novels to the eighties ITV series Robin Of Sherwood, set decades after the end of the show. But how did this all come about?

In the mythology of the television show Robin Of Sherwood, it's stated that nothing is ever forgotten. And at the Herne's Arrow Robin Of Sherwood convention last month in Chepstow, England, it seems that the stories are being remembered once more. Robin Of Sherwood was an ITV show in the UK that ran for several years in the eighties and made stars of several of its cast, including Michael Praed, Clive Mantle and a young Ray Winstone. And over forty years later, the fandom is going strong, with conventions every couple of years, a sold-out Albert Hall for the band Clannad's final performance in 2024 playing songs from the show, and countless full-cast audio dramas and novels. And at the convention, actor Mark Ryan, who played Nasir on the show, gave an update to the future of the license itself, including information about a series of new books coming out.

Mark, alongside Harriet Carpenter, daughter of Richard Carpenter, creator of Robin Of Sherwood, revealed that not only is the license now being taken over, but that there is a trilogy of new Robin Of Sherwood novels in the works, in development. And, unlike the more recent novels set in clear spaces during the three seasons of Robin Of Sherwood, these will be set decades after the ending of the show. The first is set ten or so years after the ending of Robin Of Sherwood, the three books will follow the survivors of Robin's outlaw band, as we see where they are as new evils enter the forest of Sherwood, attacking the very power they believe in.

The stories are apparently based on conversations that Mark Ryan had with Richard Carpenter before he died, when there was a very serious opportunity to bring back the show at a later point, and because of this, they have plots that are effectively canon. During the panel, Mark explained that the writers would be Hal Laren, best known for his independent comics, and Tony Lee, who had already written a full-cast audio drama and novelisation for the previous license.

Oh yes, and the comics legend Mike Grell, best known to many of the audience as the writer of the Green Arrow series The Longbow Hunters, one of the most definitive Green Arrow stories of the DCU. Who is basically Robin Hood. And Mike Grell even gave a short video message to the crowd, explaining how excited he was to be involved in this, which has been handed to Bleeding Cool with his blessing…

@thatrichjohnston Mike Grell to write new Robin Of Sherwood novels set a decade after the TV show #bleedingcool #robinofsherwood #mikegrell #greenarrow @MURUGIAH ♬ original sound – Rich Johnston

Not much more was given on the series, and a release date or storylines were kept very close to the chest. But a quote from Tony Lee, read out by Mark during the panel, said "anyone who's read my books or heard my full cast audio knows how important Robin of Sherwood is to me. A few years ago, I had an idea for continuing the story, but I never managed to write it. Now that Mark and the Carpenter Estate have breathed new life into the franchise, that possibility of telling new stories of an older Robin, Marian and the Merries, writing alongside icons like Mike Grell, who's Green Arrow run cemented my love of comics in the eighties, is a second bite of a cherry I never thought I'd get, a chance to bring out Albion and Herne's Silver Arrow one more time and head up to Sherwood to prove that nothing is forgotten." More as we have it…

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