The bow-slinging outlaw in green tights and his band of merry men get the prestige television makeover in the latest MGM+ original Robin Hood.
Retelling the folk tales of the rebel outlaw with gritty action and top-notch actors, Robin Hood pairs the Saxon rebel ‘Rob’ alongside the Norman noblewoman Maid Marian and other timeless characters as they wage their personal war against the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham.
Doubling as a period drama and a political thriller, there’s a lot of stealthy forest action and Middle Ages warfare to be experienced as the outlaws challenge the authorities of medieval England. But in their pursuit to stick to the source material, did the crew of the new series actually set up production at Nottingham and its lush, green Sherwood forest?
Production designers Jovana Cvetković and Jelena Sopić talk to Time Out to break down the locations behind the series.
Where was Robin Hood filmed?
It turns out that while the story is still set in 12th-century England of the Middle Ages, all of the filming actually took place in Serbia. The Norman-Saxon rivalry is re-enacted through elaborate sets and soundstages that double as the Sheriff’s stone-walled feudal court and armed fortifications while Serbian mountains and forests provide the green outdoors for the Saxon localities.
‘Since the period we’re depicting has no surviving structures, all the sets were built from scratch and the forest scenes were carefully chosen from preserved locations,’ Production designer Jovana Cvetković told Time Out summing up the 103-day shoot.
Meanwhile, Cvetković’s co-production designer Jelena Sopić was all praises for the many craftsmen and painters involved, ‘It was wonderful to see how sketches, which only yesterday were papers on office walls, became walls and 10m high facades.’ Gothic architectural styles were paramount with pointed arches and grim, gray facades.
What’s interesting is that some of the set elements were also interchanged to use the same location for multiple settings.
Cvetković added, ‘With small adjustments, such as inserting or removing stained glass windows, we can make one space easily represent different rooms or even different floors of the palace. For example, a corridor might serve as multiple floors just by changing the windows and set decoration.’
Robin Hood could’ve just been filmed at a beatdown manor or castle from an eternity ago but the team was clearly not cutting any corners. Here’s where the medieval epic came to life.
Nottingham and the Sheriff’s castle were filmed at PFI Studios in Serbia
Nottingham is the heart of every Robin Hood story and this time around it’s recreated on the sets and backlots of PFI Studios in Šimanovci, a village 28km outside Belgrade.
The first task that lay ahead of Cvetković and Sopić was to estimate the size of the town, the widths of the streets, and the distance between the city and the castle. After all, this is the city where the villainous Sheriff rules from his castle, where public hangings take place amidst the daily street markets, and where Robin Hood first fires his arrows of rebellion.
Nottingham’s town square and castle was built on a field in the studio backlot during a biting Serbian winter while the castle’s interior sets were built on stages.
Westminster Palace was recreated on PFI Studios sound stages
With the Sheriff unabashedly expressing his bootlicking devotion to the Crown, Robin Hood occasionally shifts the action from the Nottingham castle to the Westminster palace. This is where the Sheriff crosses paths with Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of history’s most influential women.
While Eleanor’s husband Henry II is king, it’s the queen who calls most of the shots in the series. So, be it routine court appearances or lavish dinners, the Westminster palace had to double the pizzazz of Nottingham’s relatively humble castle. Again, the palace’s interiors were all built on soundstages. But in this case, the colour palette was flashier.
Adds Cvetković: ‘Contrasting with the dark medieval image of dirty, grey and brown facades, worn by wars and time, the guideline for the royal palace was to be bright and colourful, built of bright sand-coloured limestone.’
So while the forest-dwellers, stable keepers and blacksmiths of Nottingham live through drab, colourless misery, the upper echelons enjoy vivid colours on their flags, coat of arms, tapestries and canopies. Eleanor of Aquitaine, for example, is mostly illuminated with halos of rich textures and fabrics.
Calling it the ‘most demanding and technically challenging set’, Cvetković revealed that the Westminster palace was also heavy on handcrafted trinkets from the workshop. Everything from the 12th-century glass cups and goblets to carved chairs and chandeliers were handcrafted exclusively for the series.
Locksley Manor was built in Serbia’s Rudnik Mountains
Locksley Manor originally belonged to Rob’s father before the ruthless Earl of Huntington took over the property during the Norman invasion. What was supposed to be his birthright becomes a distant reality for Rob – a plot of land he’ll be chased out of if he so much as sets foot there.
The estate’s courtyard also encompasses a pond where the Earl’s daughter Marian grew up, eventually meeting Rob in secret and striking a romance with him.
This key location was built in the Rudnik Mountains, which also appears in spectacular overhead drone shots and as background scenery. The pond in the courtyard was created from scratch.
Sherwood Forest is Fruska Gora woods in Serbia
No Robin Hood adaptation is complete without the Sherwood Forests where Rob assembles his ragtag bunch of thieves, tricksters and outlaws. In the series though, the forests also acquire a ritualistic dimension with the Saxons embarking on ceremonial hunts and seeking out naturalistic deities. With Saxon men like Rob’s father also driven out of their estates, it’s in the forests where they set up their makeshift villages.
Sherwood Forest is like one of the main characters
‘We chose the forest either according to its purpose, what should happen in it, how many horses and carriages there are, or according to the character of the scene,’ says Sopić. ‘Sherwood Forest is like one of the main characters. It can be gentle, cruel, romantic, magical…’
While the woody expanse of the Fruska Gora forests came in handy for most scenes, Sopić reveals that sets were also constructed in the countryside. Most of these still featured untouched forests and meadows, with ‘just a bit of dressing and props’.
The carriage ambush was filmed on the Mlava river in Serbia
Serbia’s serene Mlava river also makes an appearance in Robin Hood. Its banks hosted a visually impressive but technically demanding ambush scene. The sequence features horse-drawn carriages crossing a road in opposite directions and cutting through the river.
What is Robin Hood about?
Robin Hood takes place in England at a time when the Saxons lived under the crushing authority of the Normans. Our hero is Robert, a young man from Locksley who is driven to his limits after the Sheriff of Nottingham executes his forester father and usurps his land.
Amid growing tensions, Rob adopts a new alter ego and gathers a band of Saxon rebels, defying the Sheriff, the Barons, and the Norman royals. Occasionally, his paths cross with the noblewoman Marian who is torn between her royal background and her love for this defiant forest leader.
How is this Robin Hood different from previous adaptations?
While there have been several reiterations of the folk legend with A-listers like Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, and more recently Taron Egerton, Robin Hood is unique in the sense it’s rooted more in historical detail, including the ideological and religious clashes between the ‘pagan’ nature-worshipping Saxons and the Catholic Normans.
Marian is also no damsel in distress, either, as she navigates the networks of power in the Sheriff’s court, attacking a morally broken system from within.
It’s more Peaky Blinders in tone than any other Robin Hood
And then there’s the matter of capturing Rob’s youthful angst before he even becomes Robin Hood. As co-showrunner John Glenn puts it: ‘This is the story of a boy becoming a man, and then that man becoming an outlaw, and that outlaw a legend. It’s more Peaky Blinders in tone than any other Robin Hood I’ve seen.’
Who stars in Robin Hood?
Newcomer Jack Patten stars as Rob, a Saxon forester’s son who becomes the leader of the rebel outlaws. Hollyoaks actress Lauren McQueen plays the Norman noble Marian who strikes a romance with Rob and aids him in his quest for justice and freedom.
Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings alumnus Sean Bean is no stranger to costume dramas and here, he gets to sink his teeth as the villainous Sheriff who rules Nottingham with an iron hand. The show finds another genre star in Gladiator and Wonder Woman’s Connie Nielsen as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Other cast members include Steven Waddington (The Last of the Mohicans), Angus Castle-Doughty (A Thousand Blows), Marcus Fraser (Foundation), and online influencer Henry Rowley.
Where can I watch Robin Hood?
Robin Hood debuts with a two-episode premiere on MGM+ on Sunday, November 2. New episodes air on ensuing Sundays.
Is there a trailer?
Yes, you can watch the trailer for Robin Hood below.
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