Post by Lucy of Ravenscar on Apr 25, 2018 18:59:01 GMT
Convention Review – The Hooded Man II - 2016
Date: 30th April – 1st May 2016
Venue: St Pierre Marriott Hotel, Chepstow
Organiser: Barnaby Eaton-Jones
Review by: Lucy Collin
Guests: Jason Connery (Robert of Huntingdon), Michael Praed (Robin of Loxley), Judi Trott (Marion), Clive Mantle (Little John), Mark Ryan (Nasir), Peter Llewellyn Williams (Much), Phil Davis (Prince/King John), Philip Jackson (Abbott Hugo), Rula Lenska (Morgwyn of Ravenscar), Jeremy Bulloch (Edward of Wickham), Claire Toeman (Meg), Michael Craig (Earl of Huntingdon), Marcus Gilbert (Lucifer), James Coombes (Grendel) and Esta Charkham (Casting director/Producer)
*Note: I started writing this soon after the con, with everything fresh in my memory, although I had taken notes during the panels. I managed to write it up to Saturday lunchtime, at which point life got in the way and I didn't get round to finishing it until now. Unfortunately some of the details have become lost in the mists of time, but hopefully my notes have been good enough to get most of what happened across.*
This was the second Hooded Man convention, the first was held two years previously at the same location, celebrating 30 years since the programme began. This time we were celebrating 30 years since Jason Connery took over the role of Robin, as well as the first new 'Robin of Sherwood' story for years in the form of 'The Knights of the Apocalypse' audio adventure, which had just completed production.
There was an amazing guest list as you can see above, with guests from the previous convention returning, and many who had never been to one before. Sadly, Nickolas Grace couldn’t make it as his mother was ill, and Ian Ogilvy was unwell himself and so couldn’t come.
The hotel was a wonderful find for a RoS convention; only a short distance from two filming locations, Chepstow Castle and Caldicot Castle, its centre is a beautiful old building with facilities built around that that form a good base for a convention. It is set on a golf course, which means that you’re surrounded by greenery and a lake, and there are enough grassy areas next to the hotel for children to play, and for the re-enactment group, Bowlore, to set up their tents and archery range.
The entrance to the hotel
I went with my husband, Dennis, and our 13 year-old son. After a slightly slow journey, especially across the Severn Bridge, we arrived on the Friday night, and quickly joined the queue for registration. It was quite long, and slow moving, but not as bad as last time when it was only possible to register on the Saturday. Once that was done we met up with a couple of friends and headed to one of the restaurants for a carvery dinner, and the fun of the weekend started in earnest. It was great to chat to our friends, and spot some of the guests as they ate their dinner next door – look, it’s Rula Lenska choosing her salad, and there’s Jason Connery getting a bread roll!
We finally made it to the bar in time to catch up with some members from the board, including one we’d not met in person before, so it was great to put a face to the name. After a couple of drinks, and a lot of catching up, we headed to bed to get some rest before the day ahead.
Saturday dawned, we managed to get up early enough, and filled up on the delicious breakfast. The schedule for the two days of the convention was quite complex, with talks, autographs and photos with the guests, so we had to work out where we needed to be to do what we wanted. As we’d got a lot of autographs before, we focused on the actors we hadn’t seen before, which still meant we needed seven autographs. I also wanted to get a couple of photos, and hoped I’d be able to fit those in between the talks.
But first, there was the opening panel with Jason Connery, Clive Mantle, Mark Ryan and Peter Llewellyn Williams. They came out to tumultuous applause, particularly for Peter who, since he hasn’t been in the acting business for a while has been harder to get to conventions. (All the panels were hosted by Ian Kubiak and Andrew Orton (author of The Hooded Man books), who were both extremely good at interviewing the guests. They did them separately, but unfortunately I didn’t note which one of them did which panel).
The guests were asked how they got the job on RoS. Clive was playing Little John in the theatre when he was asked, and was apparently the only actor considered for the part. Obviously, it was a harder task to choose Jason, particularly as he was taking over from Michael. The thing that swung it for him over the other candidates was that he was good at the fighting, and at the love scenes. Mark then commented that, “That’s not what Judi said!” to which Jason replied, “What happens in the forest stays in the forest!”
They then reminisced about how, when Jason started, they were at a club and got all these girls to go up to Jason and have their photo taken with him. I think Jason was feeling really popular, until he saw all the others laughing about it!
Clive admitted that he had initially slightly resented Jason coming in as the new lead, but as he got to know Jason he soon got over that feeling. Lots of silly pranks helped the bonding, including the infamous returning gristle. The story goes that they were eating in the catering bus on set, and Jason’s steak had a large fatty/gristly bit. He left this on his plate, but it was picked up by one of the others, and after that it kept appearing on Jason’s plate, getting more and more disgusting as time went on. At one point, Jason threw it out of the upper deck bus window into some long grass, but the others still managed to find it. The last time it made an appearance was in a Bloody Mary that Jason was drinking – he says that he then stuck it in Clive’s drink!
Mark told us a story about taking some swords through airport Customs – they were taken to be examined, but then he caught sight of the airport staff having a swordfight with them!
Jason was asked about the relationship between Robert and Marion, and he explained that he and Kip (Richard Carpenter) had talked about it in detail, to make sure that the love between them developed slowly and realistically. Peter added that Kip was always open to ideas about their characters, and Clive agreed – Kip would always let them discuss their characters each episode, and listen to any good ideas, which is (and was) very unusual in television.
They were then asked about 'The Knights of the Apocalypse' audio. Clive explained that he had recorded his lines on his own, which was rather strange, including a scene where he’s climbing up a castle toilet and he ended up having hysterics. Jason described how Barnaby, who was delivering all the lines for characters who weren’t there, refused to say ‘I love you’ to him when he was playing Marion, but Jason refused to say his line until he did. Mark said how impressed he was at how easily Peter got back into his character, and how shocked he was at Nasir having lines!
Then the opening panel was over, and we went off get some autographs and photos. I queued up for photos with Philip Jackson and Phil Davis, and I must say, the organisation was very efficient. I took Flauros to be in the photo too and so had a very quick chat with them about it. I then still had time to join Dennis in the autograph queue. We’d got our large piece of artwork which we’ve been collecting autographs on since getting it at a convention in 1993. Since it’s an original piece the guests are usually interested in it, and in the various signatures around the edge. It was a delight to meet Peter, Clive and Rula, none of whom we’d ever seen before. They were all very friendly, and I tried asking Clive if he remembered which one of the swords he’d picked up to use in The Swords of Wayland (I’d asked Mark at the previous Hooded Man and he knew it wasn’t Flauros that he’d used). Clearly that isn’t the kind of thing that sticks in Clive’s memory though as he didn’t have a clue. I’m still trying to work out which one of the characters used Flauros. Rula was very interested to see one of the swords of Wayland again. She asked us if we remembered the words she had spoken in the show, then she said ‘Schemes Amathia!’ in just the creepy voice she used in the episode!
Again, the autograph system worked pretty well, once you got into the room, after queueing outside for a while, you had a chance to get autographs from whoever is in there. Later on during the convention, when you might only want one autograph, the stewards were good at letting you in if that person was free.
I next got a photograph with Clive, Peter and Mark, and then hurried to the next panel, with Phil Davis and Philip Jackson. Again, I don’t think either of them has ever been to a RoS convention (or many others for that matter) and I was really interested to hear what they said about the show.
They were asked how they played a good villain. Philip Jackson (PJ) said that you have to believe you’re right, and Phil Davis (PD) said that you don’t apologise – he played John as a spoilt brat. PJ felt that the key to Hugo was to imagine he had bad digestive problems, that was why he was always so grumpy. PD was very pleased to have been asked to play royalty, as he’d always played the rougher kind of villain before. When the cast of 'The Prophecy' first met up, apparently John Nettles was not pleased to be playing his servant!
PD remembered his first day on location at Alnwick Castle. He had been up late in the bar the night before and was presented with a huge white horse that he had to ride. He’d never ridden before, but was just told, ‘Kick it to start and pull the reins to stop.’ That was fine as long as it was going slowly, but then it started to canter and he was half falling off it by the end. Add to that the fact that he didn’t know how to get off a horse, and his first attempt at riding was not very dignified.
PJ was sent off for horse training but was never very confident, so later on he asked to have a cart, which was duly supplied. PD joked that this was the medieval equivalent of a mobility scooter!
They then chatted about working on 'Death in Paradise' together. It looks like the perfect job, going to Guadeloupe, but they went in the hurricane season when the hotel they stayed in was closed, everyone was gone and the food was cold!
PD was asked about working on 'Sherlock' (he was the murderous taxi driver in the first episode) and said that he’d thought the modern day reinvention was a good idea, and that it was a wonderful script. He has ended up getting a bit of flak from taxi drivers, but he was at least satisfied that Sherlock didn’t manage to work out that his character was the murderer.
PJ then talked about working as Inspector Japp on 'Poirot'. He said that he’d tried not to make the character too stupid – the bumbling cop to Poirot’s intelligent detective. Instead, he’d played him as an honourable man who was determined to uphold the law. Apparently David Suchet had actually played Japp himself in another production before he got the role of Poirot. Suchet would keep up his Belgian accent all day when he was on set, he would give a talk to all the guest cast members like that, and would even talk to family members on the phone with the accent!
When PD was asked about his experiences working on 'Doctor Who' (as the villain in 'The Fires of Pompeii') he said that he’d hoped to go to Italy (where some of it was filmed), but he ended up in November, in a quarry in Swansea in the middle of the night, freezing in a toga, acting against a CGI monster!
PJ talked a bit about 'Boomers', where he plays the eternally grumpy Alan, saying that they were worried that the first series wasn’t funny enough but then that the second series was too silly. When we met him later for an autograph we told him how much we enjoyed Boomers, and that we thought both series were very funny, and he told us that his wife says that he just plays himself.
Talking about more roles that they’d played (these two have been very busy throughout their careers) PJ mentioned playing the leader of a religious sect in 'Hamish Macbeth', and then PD recalled his role as the Devil in 'Being Human'. He was a horrible old man in a nursing home and he would mutter things into people’s ears which would convince them to commit suicide. He demonstrated this for us with an incomprehensible but really creepy mumble.
PD also talked about roles in 'Merlin', where he played an assassin who didn’t manage to kill Tony Head, and in 'Whitechapel' which, when they started, they didn’t know was going to end up with supernatural elements. He mentioned 'Quadrophenia' briefly, saying that it hadn’t been that popular when it first came out, but it gradually turned into a cult.
A member of the audience told PD that his portrayal of John had led to her becoming a historian and studying King John, who is not considered as much of a villain these days. Talking about playing John, PD said ‘When you’re acting, there’s a little voice in your ear saying “Don’t go over the top”. I ignored it.’
Asked about their favourite memory of working on RoS PD remembered a scene which was shot all in one take. He wasn’t sure which episode, but he was on a dais, walking around various nobles and talking to them. They rehearsed it several times, then shot it all in one go, which meant they got to finish early. Then he suddenly remembered the scene where he’s chasing Judi Trott around his bedroom, and said that was his favourite.
PJ talked about an episode with a big banquet scene with lots of extras, including little people dressed as jesters and entertainers. The director, who was not very PC, wanted them to do cartwheels down the long tables, but was told that none of them could do that, to which he crossly replied, ‘What’s the point of being a dwarf if you don’t do cartwheels!’
The panel ended and we chatted to a few of the attendees and then headed off for a bit of lunch – the hotel did a selection of filled baguettes, and we’d brought lots of snacks with us.
Our son, who's watched RoS but isn't a massive fan, decided to skip a lot of the panels and instead spent most of his time with Bowlore. He had a go at the archery, and then they taught him the basics of sword fighting, which he absolutely loved.
One of the best things about a convention is enjoying all the costumes that fans dress up in (and dressing up yourself). We'd seen a family that were dressed as Hounds of Lucifer, looking brilliant, and when they heard that we'd brought our Ravenscar Abbey banner from 'The Swords of Wayland' with us, they had to get some photos with it, and with Flauros. We also got together with other fans to get photos of Flauros with another original sword, Solas, and with a couple of replica Albions.
After lunch there was a panel with Rula Lenska, James Coombes and Marcus Gilbert. Rula said that Morgwyn was one of her favourite roles, partly because the character had two distinct sides so she pretty much got to play two characters, and partly because she was brought up Catholic so she found it quite scary. Marcus talked about the schleral caps (extra-large contact lenses) that he had to wear as Lucifer and Rula mentioned that the lenses that the Merries had to wear when she enchanted them were really uncomfortable.
James talked about how Mark Ryan taught him to fight in Herne's Son, which he found very fast and scary. He loved working with Richard O'Brien in both his stories.
Rula mentioned how she loved being in control of lots of gorgeous men in 'The Swords of Wayland', even if they did end up trampling her to death! In that scene they didn't use a stunt double, so she did all of that herself. She also remembered her young daughter trying on the Satanic costumes. Talking of costumes, James tried to get rid of his wolf costume, as it covered his face. He revealed that he couldn't ride, but said he could to get the job, and had great fun on the show, playing like a kid. He said the mystical quality was great.
Marcus talked about having fun on 'Doctor Who' (he played Ancelyn in 'Battlefield'), where he got to do a lot sword fighting, and he wished he could have done some swordplay on RoS. Rula remembered that she had to ride side-saddle in 'The Swords of Wayland' and that it was rather painful.
Since James was the Milk Tray man in the 80s he was presented with a box of said chocolates (which later ended up in the auction). Talking about modern TV, Marcus said he hadn't got time to catch up on 'Game of Thrones', saying his wife made him feel guilty for everything. When asked about his role in 'Riders' he only had one thing to say: "My buttocks aren't what they used to be!"
There was a bit of a gap after this panel for people to get autographs and photos, and to go and see Bowlore if they wanted.
The last panel of the day started with Jeremy Bulloch and Claire Toeman, where they were asked how they got their parts. Jeremy simply replied, "Talent" , whereas Claire was friends with Esta and auditioned for the role. She said that she was never recognised because of the wig she wore. When she met her (now ex-) husband he didn't recognise her without the wig. When asked if she watched the episodes she was in she said she did at the time, but she can't get her kids to watch them with her. Claire currently works in casting, mostly for overseas commercials. On Friday she was casting naked men! She also talked about how she'd known Clive since she was 14 at youth theatre, and that there was a really lovely atmosphere on RoS.
Conversation turned to the show, and Jeremy mentioned that when he was whacked in the face by Gisburne's horse (Fury) while standing in his cabbages it wasn't meant to happen, it was totally an accident on Robert Addie's part.
At this point Clive, Jason, Mark and Peter joined the panel, and Barnaby officiated in the marriage of Meg and John, since it never happened on the show. Much silliness ensued, including Jason holding Little John's staff!
On Saturday evening the banquet was held, quite a tall order considering the number of guests. I must admit that at the previous con, held in the same hotel, I had been less than impressed with the banquet food (although the restaurant food was just fine). That time they had served the food at the tables, which had taken ages. This time the food was self-service at the front of the hall, and we were told when to come up and get it, table by table. As is typical, it seemed that our table was one of the last to be called, and negotiating our way between the tightly packed tables was quite a challenge. I thought the food (when we got it) was much tastier than the previous time, there was more variety, and it had not (as I had worried) run out before we got there. The trouble is, that however the hotel tries to organise it, feeding that many people at once is quite a difficult task. Still, some of the guests made it more fun by wandering around chatting to fans, our neighbours were good company, and we enjoyed ourselves that evening. After the meal we headed to the bar to relax and chat with friends, making sure we didn't get to bed too late.
On Sunday, the con was off to a flying start with a panel featuring Jeremy Bulloch, Mark Ryan and Peter Llewellyn Williams. Peter said how much he was enjoying himself at his first convention (at least for a long time), and Mark talked about what has kept RoS fandom together for so long. In the eighties it was about hope, a group of disparate characters who were prepared to die for each other, whereas now shows are full of characters who stab each other in the back.
They talked about the friendship of the actors who worked on the show at the time, and Jeremy mentioned working on the James Bond films, saying that Roger Moore laughed after every take. Mark mentioned some of the things he's worked on over the years, including the Bold 2-in-1 adverts! He talked about Hollywood and LA, saying it should stand for Lunatic Asylum. He worked with Eric Idle, going on tour all around the US with his show, 'Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python', including Carnegie Hall. Highlights for him included wearing a green sparkly dress and singing 'Sit on my face and tell me that you love me'!
The interviewer talked to Peter about his life. As he's now a plumber, he asked 'Do you charge much?' to groans from the audience. Peter said that he wouldn't mind acting again, and then told us about rowing across the Atlantic.
Mark talked about being an enthusiastic swordsman when he started working on RoS, and long before. He made wooden swords as a kid, and was expelled from school for throwing knives. He studied iaido (a Japanese sword-based martial art), and his swordsmanship got better after doing it every day on RoS. He said that on the show it was choreography, an art form, a conversation in steel, and all that started with Terry Walsh (stunt coordinator). He also talked about the politics in RoS, showing the oppressed classes, and how Kip was a most underrated writer. With a phrase like 'nothing's forgotten' he captured an essential spirituality. Kip also liked actors, and asked them what they thought, a point that had already been mentioned on a panel the day before, so it's obviously something that really stuck with the actors, and another reason why they remember Kip so fondly.
At lunchtime there was a panel all about the new audio adventure 'The Knights of the Apocalypse' (KOTA), produced by Spiteful Puppet, which was due to come out about a month or so after the convention. On the panel were Barnaby, Iain Meadows (sound design), Mark, Peter, Judi and Jason.
Jason wondered if he was now the oldest Robin Hood (which he might well be, certainly older than his dad was in 'Robin and Marian') and said that it felt a bit weird getting into character for the first 10-15 minutes. He said that he got his younger sounding voice by wearing tight underwear! Judi said that it felt very natural and comfortable to be back in the part. She worked together with Nickolas Grace, Phil Rose, Mark and Peter which was a bit easier than Jason who mostly did his lines on his own (with some help from Barnaby). Mark noted that he had more lines in the audio than he did in three series of the television series, and he and Peter agreed that it was very easy to get back into character.
They talked about the script, which Kip had written in the late eighties with the intention to make a two part or feature-length episode to continue the show after it was cancelled. This had never happened, and the script had been bought some time ago at an auction by a fan. After the previous Hooded Man convention she gave it back to Kip's estate, as they didn't have a copy, and the idea to make it as an audio story came about. Iain Meadows said that Spiteful Puppet had wanted to do RoS audios a little while back, but couldn't get the rights and so did a series of Robin Hood stories called 'Hood' instead.
It proved difficult to get the rights from ITV to make KOTA, and it took long negotiations and the fact that the profits were going to go to charity to get them eventually. In contrast, the cast came on board fairly easily. Jason was happy to do it as long as it was done properly. It was mentioned that Barnaby played all the parts of the actors who weren't in any given session and Jason said, 'Amazing acting - on our part!'
Barnaby said that when he was playing the part of Marion opposite Jason's Robin his phone buzzed, and it was Michael Praed!
The actors were asked whether it was difficult playing the part without the other actors there, and Jason said it wasn't hard because they know each other well, and mentioned that he threw himself into the fight scenes, physically acting them out. Mark didn't have a problem as he's used to doing voices on the Transformers films. Judi told us about Robert Young directing her as Marion is supposed to be riding away. She had to do this in the studio, and treated us to impression, which looked very funny!
A couple of the roles had to be recast due to the deaths of the original actors. Daniel Abineri played his father's role of Herne, and sounded exactly like him, whether he was proclaiming or whispering. When it came to recast Gisburne, the actor needed to have a rapport with Nickolas Grace, and in fact he suggested Freddie Fox, who really enjoyed himself.
At this point in the panel the hotel had a power cut, but it continued nonetheless. (The power cuts happened on and off for the next couple of hours, which was annoying, but the actors were very good at projecting, so it was easy to hear them even without microphones.)
They talked about the fact that Freddie worked with other actors in most of his scenes, but the other main guest stars, Tony Head and Colin Baker worked alone. Mentioning Colin led the questioning to Jason's 'Doctor Who' role in 'Vengeance on Varos', and he remembered that Owen Teale, who played a guard, was wearing a helmet that went right down to his chin. He wanted to take it off but the director wouldn't let him.
We had been promised that the actors would now perform a cut scene from the audio, which they proceeded to do, despite the power going on and off several times. It started with the characters going to rescue Marion from the convent. However, it soon became clear that this was not a cut scene, it was a spoof, and a very funny one too, with the actors taking it very seriously, even though they were wildly out of character. Here's a little bit to give you the idea, it got even sillier after this!
LITTLE JOHN:
Anyway, where's Much. I thought you were bringing him with us?
ROBIN:
Yes, I did want Much with us but I couldn't find him. He must have been off in the forest, foraging for nuts.
NASIR:
Pardon? Fondling his...?
LITTLE JOHN: (Interrupting)
'Foraging', you great ninny. It means 'looking for'.
NASIR:
He was looking for his nuts?
ROBIN:
Let's leave it now.
Trying to read their scripts during a power cut
The panel ended with a trailer of the audio, which was very atmospheric, and instantly transported the audience back to Sherwood forest.
After a gap for people to get lunch, Jason Connery hosted a presentation about his new film, 'Tommy's Honour', which he had been working on for four years. Based on a true story that was told in a book it's a love story full of drama and tragedy. It's set around 1866 in Scotland at the beginning of golf as a sport. Old Tommy (Peter Mullan) is the head groundsman at St Andrews and his son, young Tommy (Jack Lowden), is a great golfer who won the British Open at the age of 17. It's the story of how he questions the way things are done, and ensures that the golfers get the winnings from tournaments, and also about the woman that he marries, played by Ophelia Lovibond.
It was shot in Scotland where they built an old style golf course, and over a thirty-three day shoot it only rained one day! The film went on to be the gala opening film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and won Best Feature Film at the Scottish Bafta Awards.
Jason talked about why he had been drawn to a film about golf. As a child he'd played golf with his father, with a cut-off club, and had caddied for him, and it had been one of the best times to have a good conversation with him. But the film isn't just about golf, he said that the film had been described as 'a chick-flick for men', which isn't a bad tagline.
When the power finally came back on again Jason showed us the trailer for the film, which looked very good.
After this, Michael Craig joined Jason on stage for his panel, and Jason mentioned how they had quite an emotional scene in KOTA. Michael Craig's main memory of their first RoS episode together, 'Herne's Son', was trying to keep a hawk on his wrist, which wasn't easy!
Michael talked about his long career, saying that he's done lots of roles, although some of them weren't very creditable. He started out in the Merchant Navy then was under contract to Rank for seven years, moving to Columbia Pictures after that. He got £13 and 6 shillings per week with Rank to start, and if he got loaned out to another studio they charged a full year's salary, so they didn't have to pay for the rest of the year.
He moved to Australia before the RoS episode 'Rutterkin' was filmed, but at that time he was on tour with a play in Aberdeen and so had to go to Bristol overnight to film at 8.00am, galloping on a horse!
He was asked about working on the Doctor Who episode 'Terror of the Vervoids' with Colin Baker, and he remembered that the spacecraft he was piloting was made of cardboard. He had to mime a meteor storm, but was told not to hit the walls in case they broke!
Michael also talked about a film he'd made in 1959 called 'The Angry Silence', starring Richard Attenborough, which was very well received. It is the story of a man working in a factory who refuses to join an unofficial strike, and the way he is treated after that. As well as playing one of the main characters Michael also helped write the film, and said that it was made in black and white as that was considered more serious at the time. Musicals were made in colour, but newsreels were in black and white, and so that was used for more serious films.
After a gap of a couple of hours where the guests were available for photos and autographs, the final panel of the con started, with Michael Praed, Esta Charkham and Judi Trott.
The two actors were asked about how they got their roles in RoS. Judi went up for the part in February and was called back a month later, when she met Kip, Paul Knight (producer) and Esta and was offered the part. Esta said that she always casts on instinct, not like these days when too many producers cast by committee. She used to cast newer actors, and often cast the same people once she knew they were good. For example, she had fairly recently cast Phil Davis in 'Silk' and 'Undercover'.
Michael thought he had got the role when Kip and Paul saw him in 'Pirates of Penzance' by chance, but Esta actually led them to it. He was asked out to lunch, where they talked about making a Robin Hood show like 'The Magnificent Seven', which he didn't really understand. When asked about how he approached the role, Michael talked about how an actor like Christopher Walken in 'True Romance' played against expectations and said he tried to do that himself. He watched classic Robin Hoods Errol Flynn and Richard Greene but played the role how he wanted. He felt that if you can learn not to be intimidated by what's around you, you'll succeed. With good actors, you believe what they do.
As he wasn't so familiar with TV acting, Ian Sharp (director) showed him three close-ups that he'd done, and asked which was best. It turned out that the one that was best was the one where he wasn't feeling well so he just wanted to sit down. That made him still, and as Esta said, for a naturalistic feel the actor needs to stay still and listen.
When it came to the action elements of the series Michael said that he had fenced at school, which helped. They relied on Terry Walsh as the stunt coordinator, whose main job was to make sure that no-one got hurt. He would send the actors and stuntmen off to work out how a fight should go. One stuntman was fine in rehearsals but would go mad in the fight itself, and nearly hit Michael.
Judi liked using bows and arrows, but she wasn't so good with the flaming arrows, especially when the cameras were rolling and she was told she had to get it right or it would be very expensive. Michael said, 'They lied to you!'
When asked if they used to get recognised by the public when they were in the show, Judi said she wasn't, but Michael did, he used to have to get low in the car to avoid being spotted and got mobbed on occasion. Once a woman in a club asked him a question you don't expect to be asked in public!
Esta talked about becoming a producer on the show - apparently Paul said she might as well as she interfered with everything anyway. For example, on the first day with Oliver Tobias he had a swordfight and tore a ligament, so she ended up dealing with insurance, medical, etc.
Talking about series three, Esta said that they needed new writers for the longer series, and so asked for 3-4 page ideas. They got a young man delivering the whole script for 'Adam Bell', that was Anthony Horowitz, who wrote four other episodes, and has gone on to have a very successful career as a writer.
Michael was asked whether it was true that Esta made him tell the others that he was leaving. He couldn't remember but said that if she said it, it must be true. Esta felt that there was no point keeping an actor if he doesn't want to stay. Michael pointed out that he wasn't unhappy in the role. He was contracted for two series, and if they had said he had to stay for series three he would have stayed.
They were asked when they first realised that RoS was special, and Judi said it was when she first saw the rushes. Esta said it just had a special feeling, like it was always summer. Judi then talked about how it was often muddy and it wasn't easy to run in a skirt. She tried to hold it up but it got muddy, and it was never washed - it was continuity mud.
The convention was finished with a charity auction, with lots of posters and photos selling for good sums, and some original 'Look-In' art doing particularly well. James Coombes had signed the box of Milk Tray he was given, and that was sold for £20!
All the rest of the guests who were still there then joined the stage for the closing ceremony, where Esta thanked Barnaby for all his hard work organising and running the convention, and there was a standing ovation for him and all the guests.
Throughout the weekend, the Bowlore re-enactment group were busy in their encampment. They did a show every day, showing the use of all sorts of weaponry and demonstrating different fighting styles. They included a 'Robin Hood and the Sheriff' segment that was very entertaining, comparisons between shooting longbows and crossbows, and showed what sharp weapons can do by cutting through milk cartons filled with water. At all other times attendees could go and try some archery themselves against a selection of targets, including the Sheriff of Nottingham peeking out of a castle window! They would score these attempts, and at the end of the con the three archers with the best scores would go head-to-head. I was quite pleased with my score, and ended up near the top of the leader board, but our son was actually in the top three (four in the end, as two people got the same score). He didn't win the final contest, but we were both inspired enough to take up archery afterwards and join a local club.
Robin Hood defeats the Sheriff
The archery targets, including the Sheriff
We stayed that night so we had more time to socialise, and lots of time to say goodbye to everybody on the Monday morning. We had a brilliant time, the con was well organised and ran smoothly (power cuts notwithstanding!) and all the guests were entertaining in panels and lovely to meet for photos and autographs. Some of them were happy to hang around the bar in the evenings so it was possible to join them for a drink and a chat. The convention was a good size - big enough to be able to get a lot of guests, but not so big that you couldn't meet up with your friends and make new ones.
When I started writing this the next convention, Hooded Man III, was two years away, and I was already looking forward to it. Now it's only two weeks away, and I can't wait - if you're going, do come and say hello!
All photos taken at panels, auction and signings copyright of Hooded Man Events and used with permission.
All other photos copyright Lucy Collin.
Date: 30th April – 1st May 2016
Venue: St Pierre Marriott Hotel, Chepstow
Organiser: Barnaby Eaton-Jones
Review by: Lucy Collin
Guests: Jason Connery (Robert of Huntingdon), Michael Praed (Robin of Loxley), Judi Trott (Marion), Clive Mantle (Little John), Mark Ryan (Nasir), Peter Llewellyn Williams (Much), Phil Davis (Prince/King John), Philip Jackson (Abbott Hugo), Rula Lenska (Morgwyn of Ravenscar), Jeremy Bulloch (Edward of Wickham), Claire Toeman (Meg), Michael Craig (Earl of Huntingdon), Marcus Gilbert (Lucifer), James Coombes (Grendel) and Esta Charkham (Casting director/Producer)
*Note: I started writing this soon after the con, with everything fresh in my memory, although I had taken notes during the panels. I managed to write it up to Saturday lunchtime, at which point life got in the way and I didn't get round to finishing it until now. Unfortunately some of the details have become lost in the mists of time, but hopefully my notes have been good enough to get most of what happened across.*
This was the second Hooded Man convention, the first was held two years previously at the same location, celebrating 30 years since the programme began. This time we were celebrating 30 years since Jason Connery took over the role of Robin, as well as the first new 'Robin of Sherwood' story for years in the form of 'The Knights of the Apocalypse' audio adventure, which had just completed production.
There was an amazing guest list as you can see above, with guests from the previous convention returning, and many who had never been to one before. Sadly, Nickolas Grace couldn’t make it as his mother was ill, and Ian Ogilvy was unwell himself and so couldn’t come.
The hotel was a wonderful find for a RoS convention; only a short distance from two filming locations, Chepstow Castle and Caldicot Castle, its centre is a beautiful old building with facilities built around that that form a good base for a convention. It is set on a golf course, which means that you’re surrounded by greenery and a lake, and there are enough grassy areas next to the hotel for children to play, and for the re-enactment group, Bowlore, to set up their tents and archery range.
The entrance to the hotel
I went with my husband, Dennis, and our 13 year-old son. After a slightly slow journey, especially across the Severn Bridge, we arrived on the Friday night, and quickly joined the queue for registration. It was quite long, and slow moving, but not as bad as last time when it was only possible to register on the Saturday. Once that was done we met up with a couple of friends and headed to one of the restaurants for a carvery dinner, and the fun of the weekend started in earnest. It was great to chat to our friends, and spot some of the guests as they ate their dinner next door – look, it’s Rula Lenska choosing her salad, and there’s Jason Connery getting a bread roll!
We finally made it to the bar in time to catch up with some members from the board, including one we’d not met in person before, so it was great to put a face to the name. After a couple of drinks, and a lot of catching up, we headed to bed to get some rest before the day ahead.
Saturday dawned, we managed to get up early enough, and filled up on the delicious breakfast. The schedule for the two days of the convention was quite complex, with talks, autographs and photos with the guests, so we had to work out where we needed to be to do what we wanted. As we’d got a lot of autographs before, we focused on the actors we hadn’t seen before, which still meant we needed seven autographs. I also wanted to get a couple of photos, and hoped I’d be able to fit those in between the talks.
But first, there was the opening panel with Jason Connery, Clive Mantle, Mark Ryan and Peter Llewellyn Williams. They came out to tumultuous applause, particularly for Peter who, since he hasn’t been in the acting business for a while has been harder to get to conventions. (All the panels were hosted by Ian Kubiak and Andrew Orton (author of The Hooded Man books), who were both extremely good at interviewing the guests. They did them separately, but unfortunately I didn’t note which one of them did which panel).
The guests were asked how they got the job on RoS. Clive was playing Little John in the theatre when he was asked, and was apparently the only actor considered for the part. Obviously, it was a harder task to choose Jason, particularly as he was taking over from Michael. The thing that swung it for him over the other candidates was that he was good at the fighting, and at the love scenes. Mark then commented that, “That’s not what Judi said!” to which Jason replied, “What happens in the forest stays in the forest!”
They then reminisced about how, when Jason started, they were at a club and got all these girls to go up to Jason and have their photo taken with him. I think Jason was feeling really popular, until he saw all the others laughing about it!
Clive admitted that he had initially slightly resented Jason coming in as the new lead, but as he got to know Jason he soon got over that feeling. Lots of silly pranks helped the bonding, including the infamous returning gristle. The story goes that they were eating in the catering bus on set, and Jason’s steak had a large fatty/gristly bit. He left this on his plate, but it was picked up by one of the others, and after that it kept appearing on Jason’s plate, getting more and more disgusting as time went on. At one point, Jason threw it out of the upper deck bus window into some long grass, but the others still managed to find it. The last time it made an appearance was in a Bloody Mary that Jason was drinking – he says that he then stuck it in Clive’s drink!
Mark told us a story about taking some swords through airport Customs – they were taken to be examined, but then he caught sight of the airport staff having a swordfight with them!
Jason was asked about the relationship between Robert and Marion, and he explained that he and Kip (Richard Carpenter) had talked about it in detail, to make sure that the love between them developed slowly and realistically. Peter added that Kip was always open to ideas about their characters, and Clive agreed – Kip would always let them discuss their characters each episode, and listen to any good ideas, which is (and was) very unusual in television.
They were then asked about 'The Knights of the Apocalypse' audio. Clive explained that he had recorded his lines on his own, which was rather strange, including a scene where he’s climbing up a castle toilet and he ended up having hysterics. Jason described how Barnaby, who was delivering all the lines for characters who weren’t there, refused to say ‘I love you’ to him when he was playing Marion, but Jason refused to say his line until he did. Mark said how impressed he was at how easily Peter got back into his character, and how shocked he was at Nasir having lines!
Then the opening panel was over, and we went off get some autographs and photos. I queued up for photos with Philip Jackson and Phil Davis, and I must say, the organisation was very efficient. I took Flauros to be in the photo too and so had a very quick chat with them about it. I then still had time to join Dennis in the autograph queue. We’d got our large piece of artwork which we’ve been collecting autographs on since getting it at a convention in 1993. Since it’s an original piece the guests are usually interested in it, and in the various signatures around the edge. It was a delight to meet Peter, Clive and Rula, none of whom we’d ever seen before. They were all very friendly, and I tried asking Clive if he remembered which one of the swords he’d picked up to use in The Swords of Wayland (I’d asked Mark at the previous Hooded Man and he knew it wasn’t Flauros that he’d used). Clearly that isn’t the kind of thing that sticks in Clive’s memory though as he didn’t have a clue. I’m still trying to work out which one of the characters used Flauros. Rula was very interested to see one of the swords of Wayland again. She asked us if we remembered the words she had spoken in the show, then she said ‘Schemes Amathia!’ in just the creepy voice she used in the episode!
Again, the autograph system worked pretty well, once you got into the room, after queueing outside for a while, you had a chance to get autographs from whoever is in there. Later on during the convention, when you might only want one autograph, the stewards were good at letting you in if that person was free.
I next got a photograph with Clive, Peter and Mark, and then hurried to the next panel, with Phil Davis and Philip Jackson. Again, I don’t think either of them has ever been to a RoS convention (or many others for that matter) and I was really interested to hear what they said about the show.
They were asked how they played a good villain. Philip Jackson (PJ) said that you have to believe you’re right, and Phil Davis (PD) said that you don’t apologise – he played John as a spoilt brat. PJ felt that the key to Hugo was to imagine he had bad digestive problems, that was why he was always so grumpy. PD was very pleased to have been asked to play royalty, as he’d always played the rougher kind of villain before. When the cast of 'The Prophecy' first met up, apparently John Nettles was not pleased to be playing his servant!
PD remembered his first day on location at Alnwick Castle. He had been up late in the bar the night before and was presented with a huge white horse that he had to ride. He’d never ridden before, but was just told, ‘Kick it to start and pull the reins to stop.’ That was fine as long as it was going slowly, but then it started to canter and he was half falling off it by the end. Add to that the fact that he didn’t know how to get off a horse, and his first attempt at riding was not very dignified.
PJ was sent off for horse training but was never very confident, so later on he asked to have a cart, which was duly supplied. PD joked that this was the medieval equivalent of a mobility scooter!
They then chatted about working on 'Death in Paradise' together. It looks like the perfect job, going to Guadeloupe, but they went in the hurricane season when the hotel they stayed in was closed, everyone was gone and the food was cold!
PD was asked about working on 'Sherlock' (he was the murderous taxi driver in the first episode) and said that he’d thought the modern day reinvention was a good idea, and that it was a wonderful script. He has ended up getting a bit of flak from taxi drivers, but he was at least satisfied that Sherlock didn’t manage to work out that his character was the murderer.
PJ then talked about working as Inspector Japp on 'Poirot'. He said that he’d tried not to make the character too stupid – the bumbling cop to Poirot’s intelligent detective. Instead, he’d played him as an honourable man who was determined to uphold the law. Apparently David Suchet had actually played Japp himself in another production before he got the role of Poirot. Suchet would keep up his Belgian accent all day when he was on set, he would give a talk to all the guest cast members like that, and would even talk to family members on the phone with the accent!
When PD was asked about his experiences working on 'Doctor Who' (as the villain in 'The Fires of Pompeii') he said that he’d hoped to go to Italy (where some of it was filmed), but he ended up in November, in a quarry in Swansea in the middle of the night, freezing in a toga, acting against a CGI monster!
PJ talked a bit about 'Boomers', where he plays the eternally grumpy Alan, saying that they were worried that the first series wasn’t funny enough but then that the second series was too silly. When we met him later for an autograph we told him how much we enjoyed Boomers, and that we thought both series were very funny, and he told us that his wife says that he just plays himself.
Talking about more roles that they’d played (these two have been very busy throughout their careers) PJ mentioned playing the leader of a religious sect in 'Hamish Macbeth', and then PD recalled his role as the Devil in 'Being Human'. He was a horrible old man in a nursing home and he would mutter things into people’s ears which would convince them to commit suicide. He demonstrated this for us with an incomprehensible but really creepy mumble.
PD also talked about roles in 'Merlin', where he played an assassin who didn’t manage to kill Tony Head, and in 'Whitechapel' which, when they started, they didn’t know was going to end up with supernatural elements. He mentioned 'Quadrophenia' briefly, saying that it hadn’t been that popular when it first came out, but it gradually turned into a cult.
A member of the audience told PD that his portrayal of John had led to her becoming a historian and studying King John, who is not considered as much of a villain these days. Talking about playing John, PD said ‘When you’re acting, there’s a little voice in your ear saying “Don’t go over the top”. I ignored it.’
Asked about their favourite memory of working on RoS PD remembered a scene which was shot all in one take. He wasn’t sure which episode, but he was on a dais, walking around various nobles and talking to them. They rehearsed it several times, then shot it all in one go, which meant they got to finish early. Then he suddenly remembered the scene where he’s chasing Judi Trott around his bedroom, and said that was his favourite.
PJ talked about an episode with a big banquet scene with lots of extras, including little people dressed as jesters and entertainers. The director, who was not very PC, wanted them to do cartwheels down the long tables, but was told that none of them could do that, to which he crossly replied, ‘What’s the point of being a dwarf if you don’t do cartwheels!’
The panel ended and we chatted to a few of the attendees and then headed off for a bit of lunch – the hotel did a selection of filled baguettes, and we’d brought lots of snacks with us.
Our son, who's watched RoS but isn't a massive fan, decided to skip a lot of the panels and instead spent most of his time with Bowlore. He had a go at the archery, and then they taught him the basics of sword fighting, which he absolutely loved.
One of the best things about a convention is enjoying all the costumes that fans dress up in (and dressing up yourself). We'd seen a family that were dressed as Hounds of Lucifer, looking brilliant, and when they heard that we'd brought our Ravenscar Abbey banner from 'The Swords of Wayland' with us, they had to get some photos with it, and with Flauros. We also got together with other fans to get photos of Flauros with another original sword, Solas, and with a couple of replica Albions.
After lunch there was a panel with Rula Lenska, James Coombes and Marcus Gilbert. Rula said that Morgwyn was one of her favourite roles, partly because the character had two distinct sides so she pretty much got to play two characters, and partly because she was brought up Catholic so she found it quite scary. Marcus talked about the schleral caps (extra-large contact lenses) that he had to wear as Lucifer and Rula mentioned that the lenses that the Merries had to wear when she enchanted them were really uncomfortable.
James talked about how Mark Ryan taught him to fight in Herne's Son, which he found very fast and scary. He loved working with Richard O'Brien in both his stories.
Rula mentioned how she loved being in control of lots of gorgeous men in 'The Swords of Wayland', even if they did end up trampling her to death! In that scene they didn't use a stunt double, so she did all of that herself. She also remembered her young daughter trying on the Satanic costumes. Talking of costumes, James tried to get rid of his wolf costume, as it covered his face. He revealed that he couldn't ride, but said he could to get the job, and had great fun on the show, playing like a kid. He said the mystical quality was great.
Marcus talked about having fun on 'Doctor Who' (he played Ancelyn in 'Battlefield'), where he got to do a lot sword fighting, and he wished he could have done some swordplay on RoS. Rula remembered that she had to ride side-saddle in 'The Swords of Wayland' and that it was rather painful.
Since James was the Milk Tray man in the 80s he was presented with a box of said chocolates (which later ended up in the auction). Talking about modern TV, Marcus said he hadn't got time to catch up on 'Game of Thrones', saying his wife made him feel guilty for everything. When asked about his role in 'Riders' he only had one thing to say: "My buttocks aren't what they used to be!"
There was a bit of a gap after this panel for people to get autographs and photos, and to go and see Bowlore if they wanted.
The last panel of the day started with Jeremy Bulloch and Claire Toeman, where they were asked how they got their parts. Jeremy simply replied, "Talent" , whereas Claire was friends with Esta and auditioned for the role. She said that she was never recognised because of the wig she wore. When she met her (now ex-) husband he didn't recognise her without the wig. When asked if she watched the episodes she was in she said she did at the time, but she can't get her kids to watch them with her. Claire currently works in casting, mostly for overseas commercials. On Friday she was casting naked men! She also talked about how she'd known Clive since she was 14 at youth theatre, and that there was a really lovely atmosphere on RoS.
Conversation turned to the show, and Jeremy mentioned that when he was whacked in the face by Gisburne's horse (Fury) while standing in his cabbages it wasn't meant to happen, it was totally an accident on Robert Addie's part.
At this point Clive, Jason, Mark and Peter joined the panel, and Barnaby officiated in the marriage of Meg and John, since it never happened on the show. Much silliness ensued, including Jason holding Little John's staff!
On Saturday evening the banquet was held, quite a tall order considering the number of guests. I must admit that at the previous con, held in the same hotel, I had been less than impressed with the banquet food (although the restaurant food was just fine). That time they had served the food at the tables, which had taken ages. This time the food was self-service at the front of the hall, and we were told when to come up and get it, table by table. As is typical, it seemed that our table was one of the last to be called, and negotiating our way between the tightly packed tables was quite a challenge. I thought the food (when we got it) was much tastier than the previous time, there was more variety, and it had not (as I had worried) run out before we got there. The trouble is, that however the hotel tries to organise it, feeding that many people at once is quite a difficult task. Still, some of the guests made it more fun by wandering around chatting to fans, our neighbours were good company, and we enjoyed ourselves that evening. After the meal we headed to the bar to relax and chat with friends, making sure we didn't get to bed too late.
On Sunday, the con was off to a flying start with a panel featuring Jeremy Bulloch, Mark Ryan and Peter Llewellyn Williams. Peter said how much he was enjoying himself at his first convention (at least for a long time), and Mark talked about what has kept RoS fandom together for so long. In the eighties it was about hope, a group of disparate characters who were prepared to die for each other, whereas now shows are full of characters who stab each other in the back.
They talked about the friendship of the actors who worked on the show at the time, and Jeremy mentioned working on the James Bond films, saying that Roger Moore laughed after every take. Mark mentioned some of the things he's worked on over the years, including the Bold 2-in-1 adverts! He talked about Hollywood and LA, saying it should stand for Lunatic Asylum. He worked with Eric Idle, going on tour all around the US with his show, 'Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python', including Carnegie Hall. Highlights for him included wearing a green sparkly dress and singing 'Sit on my face and tell me that you love me'!
The interviewer talked to Peter about his life. As he's now a plumber, he asked 'Do you charge much?' to groans from the audience. Peter said that he wouldn't mind acting again, and then told us about rowing across the Atlantic.
Mark talked about being an enthusiastic swordsman when he started working on RoS, and long before. He made wooden swords as a kid, and was expelled from school for throwing knives. He studied iaido (a Japanese sword-based martial art), and his swordsmanship got better after doing it every day on RoS. He said that on the show it was choreography, an art form, a conversation in steel, and all that started with Terry Walsh (stunt coordinator). He also talked about the politics in RoS, showing the oppressed classes, and how Kip was a most underrated writer. With a phrase like 'nothing's forgotten' he captured an essential spirituality. Kip also liked actors, and asked them what they thought, a point that had already been mentioned on a panel the day before, so it's obviously something that really stuck with the actors, and another reason why they remember Kip so fondly.
At lunchtime there was a panel all about the new audio adventure 'The Knights of the Apocalypse' (KOTA), produced by Spiteful Puppet, which was due to come out about a month or so after the convention. On the panel were Barnaby, Iain Meadows (sound design), Mark, Peter, Judi and Jason.
Jason wondered if he was now the oldest Robin Hood (which he might well be, certainly older than his dad was in 'Robin and Marian') and said that it felt a bit weird getting into character for the first 10-15 minutes. He said that he got his younger sounding voice by wearing tight underwear! Judi said that it felt very natural and comfortable to be back in the part. She worked together with Nickolas Grace, Phil Rose, Mark and Peter which was a bit easier than Jason who mostly did his lines on his own (with some help from Barnaby). Mark noted that he had more lines in the audio than he did in three series of the television series, and he and Peter agreed that it was very easy to get back into character.
They talked about the script, which Kip had written in the late eighties with the intention to make a two part or feature-length episode to continue the show after it was cancelled. This had never happened, and the script had been bought some time ago at an auction by a fan. After the previous Hooded Man convention she gave it back to Kip's estate, as they didn't have a copy, and the idea to make it as an audio story came about. Iain Meadows said that Spiteful Puppet had wanted to do RoS audios a little while back, but couldn't get the rights and so did a series of Robin Hood stories called 'Hood' instead.
It proved difficult to get the rights from ITV to make KOTA, and it took long negotiations and the fact that the profits were going to go to charity to get them eventually. In contrast, the cast came on board fairly easily. Jason was happy to do it as long as it was done properly. It was mentioned that Barnaby played all the parts of the actors who weren't in any given session and Jason said, 'Amazing acting - on our part!'
Barnaby said that when he was playing the part of Marion opposite Jason's Robin his phone buzzed, and it was Michael Praed!
The actors were asked whether it was difficult playing the part without the other actors there, and Jason said it wasn't hard because they know each other well, and mentioned that he threw himself into the fight scenes, physically acting them out. Mark didn't have a problem as he's used to doing voices on the Transformers films. Judi told us about Robert Young directing her as Marion is supposed to be riding away. She had to do this in the studio, and treated us to impression, which looked very funny!
A couple of the roles had to be recast due to the deaths of the original actors. Daniel Abineri played his father's role of Herne, and sounded exactly like him, whether he was proclaiming or whispering. When it came to recast Gisburne, the actor needed to have a rapport with Nickolas Grace, and in fact he suggested Freddie Fox, who really enjoyed himself.
At this point in the panel the hotel had a power cut, but it continued nonetheless. (The power cuts happened on and off for the next couple of hours, which was annoying, but the actors were very good at projecting, so it was easy to hear them even without microphones.)
They talked about the fact that Freddie worked with other actors in most of his scenes, but the other main guest stars, Tony Head and Colin Baker worked alone. Mentioning Colin led the questioning to Jason's 'Doctor Who' role in 'Vengeance on Varos', and he remembered that Owen Teale, who played a guard, was wearing a helmet that went right down to his chin. He wanted to take it off but the director wouldn't let him.
We had been promised that the actors would now perform a cut scene from the audio, which they proceeded to do, despite the power going on and off several times. It started with the characters going to rescue Marion from the convent. However, it soon became clear that this was not a cut scene, it was a spoof, and a very funny one too, with the actors taking it very seriously, even though they were wildly out of character. Here's a little bit to give you the idea, it got even sillier after this!
LITTLE JOHN:
Anyway, where's Much. I thought you were bringing him with us?
ROBIN:
Yes, I did want Much with us but I couldn't find him. He must have been off in the forest, foraging for nuts.
NASIR:
Pardon? Fondling his...?
LITTLE JOHN: (Interrupting)
'Foraging', you great ninny. It means 'looking for'.
NASIR:
He was looking for his nuts?
ROBIN:
Let's leave it now.
Trying to read their scripts during a power cut
The panel ended with a trailer of the audio, which was very atmospheric, and instantly transported the audience back to Sherwood forest.
After a gap for people to get lunch, Jason Connery hosted a presentation about his new film, 'Tommy's Honour', which he had been working on for four years. Based on a true story that was told in a book it's a love story full of drama and tragedy. It's set around 1866 in Scotland at the beginning of golf as a sport. Old Tommy (Peter Mullan) is the head groundsman at St Andrews and his son, young Tommy (Jack Lowden), is a great golfer who won the British Open at the age of 17. It's the story of how he questions the way things are done, and ensures that the golfers get the winnings from tournaments, and also about the woman that he marries, played by Ophelia Lovibond.
It was shot in Scotland where they built an old style golf course, and over a thirty-three day shoot it only rained one day! The film went on to be the gala opening film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and won Best Feature Film at the Scottish Bafta Awards.
Jason talked about why he had been drawn to a film about golf. As a child he'd played golf with his father, with a cut-off club, and had caddied for him, and it had been one of the best times to have a good conversation with him. But the film isn't just about golf, he said that the film had been described as 'a chick-flick for men', which isn't a bad tagline.
When the power finally came back on again Jason showed us the trailer for the film, which looked very good.
After this, Michael Craig joined Jason on stage for his panel, and Jason mentioned how they had quite an emotional scene in KOTA. Michael Craig's main memory of their first RoS episode together, 'Herne's Son', was trying to keep a hawk on his wrist, which wasn't easy!
Michael talked about his long career, saying that he's done lots of roles, although some of them weren't very creditable. He started out in the Merchant Navy then was under contract to Rank for seven years, moving to Columbia Pictures after that. He got £13 and 6 shillings per week with Rank to start, and if he got loaned out to another studio they charged a full year's salary, so they didn't have to pay for the rest of the year.
He moved to Australia before the RoS episode 'Rutterkin' was filmed, but at that time he was on tour with a play in Aberdeen and so had to go to Bristol overnight to film at 8.00am, galloping on a horse!
He was asked about working on the Doctor Who episode 'Terror of the Vervoids' with Colin Baker, and he remembered that the spacecraft he was piloting was made of cardboard. He had to mime a meteor storm, but was told not to hit the walls in case they broke!
Michael also talked about a film he'd made in 1959 called 'The Angry Silence', starring Richard Attenborough, which was very well received. It is the story of a man working in a factory who refuses to join an unofficial strike, and the way he is treated after that. As well as playing one of the main characters Michael also helped write the film, and said that it was made in black and white as that was considered more serious at the time. Musicals were made in colour, but newsreels were in black and white, and so that was used for more serious films.
After a gap of a couple of hours where the guests were available for photos and autographs, the final panel of the con started, with Michael Praed, Esta Charkham and Judi Trott.
The two actors were asked about how they got their roles in RoS. Judi went up for the part in February and was called back a month later, when she met Kip, Paul Knight (producer) and Esta and was offered the part. Esta said that she always casts on instinct, not like these days when too many producers cast by committee. She used to cast newer actors, and often cast the same people once she knew they were good. For example, she had fairly recently cast Phil Davis in 'Silk' and 'Undercover'.
Michael thought he had got the role when Kip and Paul saw him in 'Pirates of Penzance' by chance, but Esta actually led them to it. He was asked out to lunch, where they talked about making a Robin Hood show like 'The Magnificent Seven', which he didn't really understand. When asked about how he approached the role, Michael talked about how an actor like Christopher Walken in 'True Romance' played against expectations and said he tried to do that himself. He watched classic Robin Hoods Errol Flynn and Richard Greene but played the role how he wanted. He felt that if you can learn not to be intimidated by what's around you, you'll succeed. With good actors, you believe what they do.
As he wasn't so familiar with TV acting, Ian Sharp (director) showed him three close-ups that he'd done, and asked which was best. It turned out that the one that was best was the one where he wasn't feeling well so he just wanted to sit down. That made him still, and as Esta said, for a naturalistic feel the actor needs to stay still and listen.
When it came to the action elements of the series Michael said that he had fenced at school, which helped. They relied on Terry Walsh as the stunt coordinator, whose main job was to make sure that no-one got hurt. He would send the actors and stuntmen off to work out how a fight should go. One stuntman was fine in rehearsals but would go mad in the fight itself, and nearly hit Michael.
Judi liked using bows and arrows, but she wasn't so good with the flaming arrows, especially when the cameras were rolling and she was told she had to get it right or it would be very expensive. Michael said, 'They lied to you!'
When asked if they used to get recognised by the public when they were in the show, Judi said she wasn't, but Michael did, he used to have to get low in the car to avoid being spotted and got mobbed on occasion. Once a woman in a club asked him a question you don't expect to be asked in public!
Esta talked about becoming a producer on the show - apparently Paul said she might as well as she interfered with everything anyway. For example, on the first day with Oliver Tobias he had a swordfight and tore a ligament, so she ended up dealing with insurance, medical, etc.
Talking about series three, Esta said that they needed new writers for the longer series, and so asked for 3-4 page ideas. They got a young man delivering the whole script for 'Adam Bell', that was Anthony Horowitz, who wrote four other episodes, and has gone on to have a very successful career as a writer.
Michael was asked whether it was true that Esta made him tell the others that he was leaving. He couldn't remember but said that if she said it, it must be true. Esta felt that there was no point keeping an actor if he doesn't want to stay. Michael pointed out that he wasn't unhappy in the role. He was contracted for two series, and if they had said he had to stay for series three he would have stayed.
They were asked when they first realised that RoS was special, and Judi said it was when she first saw the rushes. Esta said it just had a special feeling, like it was always summer. Judi then talked about how it was often muddy and it wasn't easy to run in a skirt. She tried to hold it up but it got muddy, and it was never washed - it was continuity mud.
The convention was finished with a charity auction, with lots of posters and photos selling for good sums, and some original 'Look-In' art doing particularly well. James Coombes had signed the box of Milk Tray he was given, and that was sold for £20!
All the rest of the guests who were still there then joined the stage for the closing ceremony, where Esta thanked Barnaby for all his hard work organising and running the convention, and there was a standing ovation for him and all the guests.
Throughout the weekend, the Bowlore re-enactment group were busy in their encampment. They did a show every day, showing the use of all sorts of weaponry and demonstrating different fighting styles. They included a 'Robin Hood and the Sheriff' segment that was very entertaining, comparisons between shooting longbows and crossbows, and showed what sharp weapons can do by cutting through milk cartons filled with water. At all other times attendees could go and try some archery themselves against a selection of targets, including the Sheriff of Nottingham peeking out of a castle window! They would score these attempts, and at the end of the con the three archers with the best scores would go head-to-head. I was quite pleased with my score, and ended up near the top of the leader board, but our son was actually in the top three (four in the end, as two people got the same score). He didn't win the final contest, but we were both inspired enough to take up archery afterwards and join a local club.
Robin Hood defeats the Sheriff
The archery targets, including the Sheriff
We stayed that night so we had more time to socialise, and lots of time to say goodbye to everybody on the Monday morning. We had a brilliant time, the con was well organised and ran smoothly (power cuts notwithstanding!) and all the guests were entertaining in panels and lovely to meet for photos and autographs. Some of them were happy to hang around the bar in the evenings so it was possible to join them for a drink and a chat. The convention was a good size - big enough to be able to get a lot of guests, but not so big that you couldn't meet up with your friends and make new ones.
When I started writing this the next convention, Hooded Man III, was two years away, and I was already looking forward to it. Now it's only two weeks away, and I can't wait - if you're going, do come and say hello!
All photos taken at panels, auction and signings copyright of Hooded Man Events and used with permission.
All other photos copyright Lucy Collin.