RoS Blu-ray Discs, DVDs & Videos

Network RoS Blu-ray Discs, DVDs & videos

Network Fulfilment
Sony DADC
6 Solar Way
Innova Park off Mollison Ave
Enfield
Middlesex
EN3 7XY
United Kingdom
phone: (UK) 01992 657756
email: shop@networkdvd.net

Blu-ray Discs (Region B)

The Series 3 (Jason Connery) Blu-rays will be available on 31 October 2011.

DVDs (Region 0 PAL / Region 1 NTSC)

The RoS DVDs feature new digital transfers, newly enhanced Dolby Surround track and the original mono track.
Picture: 4:3 (16:9) colour.
Sound: Dolby Surround English.
Subtitles: NONE! (i.e. not even English, let alone German or French or Dutch or any other language - see below for the DVD releases in other languages).
Special features:

• Vol 1: Commentary with creator Richard Carpenter and director Ian Sharp (Episodes 1 and 2), "The Electric Theatre Show" documentary from 1983, "The Making of Robin of Sherwood" Part 1 of a 2-part documentary, Clannad promo for "Robin the Hooded Man", Stills gallery, French titles.
• Vol 2: Commentary with creator Richard Carpenter and director Ian Sharp (Episode 6), "The Making of Robin of Sherwood" Part 2 of a 2-part documentary, Series 1 out-takes, Richard Carpenter's original treatment, Biographies, Stills gallery, Textless titles.
• Bonus Disc 3: "The Electric Theatre Show" unseen footage, Clannad promo footage.
  N.B.: This disc is no longer part of the boxed sets anymore since about October 2005.
• Vol 3: Music only tracks, Stills gallery, Series 2 French Titles.
• Vol 4: "The Swords of Wayland" commentary with director Robert Young and producer Paul Knight, "The Making of Robin of Sherwood" Series 2 documentary, Stills gallery, Series 2 out-takes, US titles.
  N.B.: The sound on the Season 2 "making-of" documentary was mixed on the wrong amount of channels, so whether you can hear it or not depends on what sort of sound system it's playing on -- it is not an individual disc problem!
• Vol 5: Commentaries with Jason Connery, Mark Ryan and Clive Mantle (episodes 1 and 2), Music only track (episodes 1 and 3), "The Making of Robin of Sherwood" Series 3 documentary (Part 1), Stills gallery, "Robin Hood 1-2-3 Screen Swordplay short.
• Vol 6: Commentaries with Jason Connery, Mark Ryan and Clive Mantle (episodes 4 and 5), Music only track (episode 5), Promotional Stills gallery, Biographies, "It's Showtime" promotional short from 1985.
• Vol 7: Stills gallery, US titles, Commentaries with Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Nickolas Grace and Anthony Horowitz, Series 3 out-takes.
• Vol 8: Esta Charkham's Photographic Retrospective, "The Making of Robin of Sherwood" Series 3 documentary (Part 2), Clannad Interview, TV-am location report, Commentary with director Sid Roberson and producer Esta Charkham (episodes 12 & 13).

Robin of Sherwood came on:

• Eight DVDs with 3 episodes per DVD, costing £14.99 each (7952118: Robin Hood and the Sorcerer 1 & 2, The Witch of Elsdon; 7952119: Seven Poor Knights From Acre, Alan A Dale, The King's Fool; 7952120: The Prophecy, The Children of Israel, Lord of the Trees, The Enchantment; 7952121: The Swords of Wayland 1 & 2, The Greatest Enemy; 7952122: Herne's Son 1 & 2, The Power of Albion; 7952123: The Inheritance, The Sheriff of Nottingham, The Cross of St Ciricus; 7952124: Cromm Cruac, The Betrayal, Adam Bell, The Pretender; 7952125: Rutterkin, The Time of the Wolf 1 & 2). No longer available.

  

• Four 2-disc "Complete Series" boxed sets of £17.35 (RRP £30.62) each (7952126, 7952127, 7952128, 7952129). The Complete Series 1 is no longer available.

  

• A 9-disc "The Complete Collection" boxed set (Series 1, 2 & 3 + bonus disc) boxed set of £39.99 (RRP £99.99) (7952137). The "New Packaging" complete series (7952966 or 7953486) costs £39.82 (RRP £61.27) and contains only 8 discs, but still appears to have all the contents of the previous 9 discs.

  

  There was also a limited edition (2500 copies only, originally 1500) 9-disc (The Complete Collection Series 1,2 & 3 + bonus disc) boxed set in Region 1 (USA, Canada, and Japan) NTSC format released on 12 August 2003 for £99.99 (7952130). No longer available.

  

Regions

0. Informal term meaning "worldwide". Region 0 is not an official setting; discs that bear the region 0 symbol either have no flag set or have regions 1-6 flags set
1. United States, Canada, Bermuda, U.S. territories
2. Europe (except Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus), Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland
3. Southeast Asia, South Korea, Republic of China (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Macau
4. Mexico, Central America, South America, Oceania
5. India, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Africa (except Egypt, South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho), Central and South Asia, Mongolia, North Korea
6. People's Republic of China

There seems to be a bit of confusion about the region code of the RoS PAL DVDs. Network itself lists them as Region 0 (i.e. plays on any DVD player), but most of the resellers list them as Region 2 (Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East including Egypt). Some US buyers report that they don't play in their Region 1 (USA, Canada, US Territories) DVD player, others that they do, and they are also reported to play in some Region 1 computer DVD players. Of course, there is also the additional difference between PAL (most of Europe and Autralasia) and NTSC (USA, Canada, and Japan). The best shot for US RoS fans who want to buy and play the Region 0 PAL DVDs seems to buy a code free (also called region free) DVD player with a built-in PAL/NTSC convertor. One such DVD player that is reported to indeed play the RoS DVDs on a US NTSC TV is the Sampo Premium 611. An ordinary Region 1 DVD player that is reported to play the RoS DVDs is the Apex 1500, which also has a built-in PAL/NTSC convertor. Some useful Websites for buying code free DVD players:

• DVDCity
• World Import

The Blu-ray Disc region coding scheme divides the world into 3 regions, labeled A, B, and C:

1. includes most North, Central and South American and Southeast Asian countries plus the Republic of China (Taiwan), Japan, Hong Kong, Macau and Korea
2. includes most European, African and southwest Asian countries plus Australia and New Zealand
3. contains the remaining central and south Asian countries, as well as the People's Republic of China and Russia

RoS Blu-ray Discs and DVDs for USA and other languages

USA (Acorn Media)

Acron Media also released Robin of Sherwood Set 1 (i.e. with all 13 episodes from Series 1 and 2) on Region A Blu-ray Disc on 7 June 2011 for SRP U$79.99. This 3-BD/1-DVD set features: English and Polish Subtitles (main program); 5 episode commentaries by series creator Richard Carpenter, director Ian Sharp, and producer Paul Knight; behind-the-scenes documentary, The Electric Theatre Show, upgraded and expanded from the original series; Nothing's Forgotten: The Making of Robin of Sherwood (remastered), two documentaries about the making of Series 1 and 2 (102 min.); new featurettes for three episodes; 40-page booklet with extensive production notes; photo galleries with nearly 500 images in HD; outtakes; PDF material including PR, Richard Carpenter's original story treatment, and several scripts (access via the bonus DVD via your computer); and more!

Other languages

• Polish, by Montezuma (was: Studio Printel). Series 1 (DVDs 1+2) was released on 1 December 2005, Series 2 (DVDs 3+4+5) on 15 February 2006 and Series 3 on ???. The disks cost 19.00 Zloty (PLN) each.
  
• German (partly dubbed and partly subtitled), by Koch Media. The 3-DVD Series 1 box (DVM000216D) was released on 11 Aug 2006, the 3-DVD Series 2 box (DVM000217D) on 10 Nov 2006, and the 4-DVD Series 3 box (DVM000218D) on 9 Feb 2007. The boxes cost EUR 29.99 each.
  
• Dutch (subtitled), by Just Entertainment. The 2-DVD Season 1 box (8717344728157) was released on 22 Jan 2007, the 3-DVD Season 2 box (8717344728706) on 8 Mar 2007, and the 4-DVD Season 3 box (8717344728720) on 11 May 2007. The boxes cost EUR 19.95 each. There are also a 5-DVD Season1&2 (8717344731577) box and a 9-DVD complete series box (8717344728447), the latter costing EUR 29.95.
  
• Scandinavian (subtitled in Swedish, Danish, Norse and Finnish), by DVD Data-Mate. The 2-DVD Season 1 box was released on 25 Jul 2007, the 2-DVD Season 2 box on 17 Sep 2007, and the 4-DVD Season 3 box on 31 Oct 2007. The boxes cost DKK 199 each.
  

Videos (PAL and NTSC)

On 13 September 1999 Network released the first and second RoS series and on 8 October 1999 the third RoS series on new PAL (most of Europe and Autralasia) videos. Digitally remastered, with new covers, some minor editing of the episodes, improved picture and sound quality, and with 4 wonderful postcards per box (i.e. 32 postcards in total).

Since March 2000 they also delivered the tapes in NTSC (USA, Canada, and Japan) format, but these tapes are unfortunately completely sold out and there are currently no plans to reproduce them in that format.

As from 13 March 2000, the complete series was also available in two limited edition boxed sets, "THE MICHAEL PRAED COLLECTION" and "THE JASON CONNERY COLLECTION", each set with 5 tapes featuring 13 episodes and 16 postcards. The boxes costed £49.99 each and were available in both PAL and NTSC format. Unfortunately, the limited edition Praed and Connery box sets are now sold out and the titles deleted.

The videotapes are no longer available, but regularly show up on Internet auctions like eBay.

Video Gems RoS videos (PAL only)

Playhouse Video/CBS Fox RoS videos (NTSC only)

1. Robin Hood and The Sorcerer,
2. Robin Hood and The Swords of Wayland,
3. Robin Hood: Herne's Son,
4. Robin Hood: Time of the Wolf.

These are long since on moratorium but you can come across them at Internet auctions like eBay.

Spirit of Sherwood Video Library

RoS Blooper Tapes

However, some of the outtakes feature on the Network RoS DVDs...(see above).

Silver Arrow / Legend convention videos

Mr. Eric De Bock
Jezuietenlaan 36
B-2610 Antwerp
Belgium
Phone: +3238279526
E-mail: TalesSherwoodForest@mail.be

RoS video on-line